Amazon.com description: Product Description: Folklore has been described as the unwritten literature of a culture: its songs, stories, sayings, games, rituals, beliefs, and ways of life. "Encyclopedia of American Folklore" is a comprehensive and accessible reference guide that helps readers explore the topics, themes, figures, and issues related to this popular and endearing subject. This new book connects folk forms from the United States with their cultural origin, historical context, and social function, making this volume a well-rounded resource for fans of folklore. Appendixes include a bibliography, a category index, and a discussion of starting points for researching American folklore. Coverage includes: Folk heroes and legendary figures, including Paul Bunyan and Yankee Doodle, Fables, fairy tales, and myths often featured in American folklore, including "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Princess and the Pea", American authors who have added to or modified folklore traditions, including Washington Irving, Historical events that gave rise to folklore, including the civil rights movement and the Revolutionary War, Terms in folklore studies, such as fieldwork and the Folklife Movement, Holidays and observances, such as Christmas and Kwanzaa, topics related to folklore in everyday life, such as sports and courtship/dating folklore, and, Folklore related to cultural groups, such as Appalachian and African-American folklore.