GRAY HEROES: Elder Tales from Around the World
Viking 1999
ISBN# 0-14-027618-1 Penguin trade paperback
Published for adults.

An anthology of folk tales in which the heroes are all older or elderly. My contribution to the AARP set. (Of which I am a member in good standing.) I was surprised that there had never been any such volume before. A long essay on aging and storytelling begins the book. It was a winner of the 2000 Anne Izard Award

       Available in paperback.

What reviewers have said: "Gray Heroes is readable,browseable,and accessible to various age groups.It is a one book for a grandparent to read to a child or a spouse:the tales are often humorous,and the craft and cleverness of the elders more than supplant the loss of the physical prowess of an Athena or Achilles,physical abilities whichare naturally, but not always, gone in the elder tales." -- Marvels and Tales, a folklore Journal

"Yolen has done us all an immense service by bringing together a batch of stories from different cultures where elders "wear their long years well." ... These gray heroes model for us a new way of being." -- Spirituality & Health

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