The Knee-High Man and Other Tales is a collection of stories written by Julius Lester. The book was first published in 1972. Julius Lester was born in St. Louis in 1939 to a Methodist minister. He is the father of five children and currently lives in Massachusetts. His father was a storyteller and Lester grew up with a love for stories. In college he really began to look into stories and their meanings.
The book The Knee-High Man and Other Tales is a collection of six African American folktales. The stories included in the book are “What is Trouble?,” “Why Dogs Hate Cats,” “Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear,” Why the Waves Have Whitecaps,” “The Farmer and the Snake,” and “The Knee-High Man.” Each story has a lesson that it teaches or explains why something is the way that it is. The Mr. Rabbit character has its roots in the slave/ master experience.
This was not a book that I personally enjoyed. Many of the lessons were hard lessons to learn. They were not the kind of stories that turned out good in the end. Most of the characters were very dark and the good characters seemed to be brought down by the bad ones. However, despite my personal views I can appreciate the value that this book holds. It could be a great teaching resource when talking about African American culture.
Some other books that have been written by Julius Lester include To Be A Slave, Search for the New Land, Two Love Stories, The Tales of Uncle Remus:The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story, The Autobiography of God, Cupid: A Novel, and The Hungry Ghosts. These are just a few of the books that Lester has written. He has written many more books many based on African American traditions and customs.
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