Tailypo

Wahl, Jan. Tailypo. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1991. Print.

Way down in the big woods of Tennessee an old man lived all by himself in a one-room cabin.  One night as the man was finishing his dinner he noticed a creature crawling up the wall.  With one lick the man cut of the creature's tail, cooked it up and ate it.  No sooner did the man try to go to sleep when he heard something crawling up the side of the cabin, calling for his "tailypo".  He called his dogs and they chased the Creature off into the woods.  The man tried to sleep again and awoke when he heard the scratching, and the Creature calling for his "tailypo.  Again the dogs chased the Creature off into the swamp.  Close to morning the man heard something asking for the tailypo.  This time when the man called the dogs they did not come.  Once again the man went back to sleep.  The next time he awoke because there was something in his room, climbing up the bed, asking for "my tailypo."  The man insist that he does not have the tailypo, but the Creature does not believe him and gobbles the man up.

Cultural Origins:

There is nothing specific from the author regarding origin.  The reviews included in the book does mention that this is an African American tale.

Audience:

I think this tale would be most appropriate for grades 4 and up because it depending on the tone during the telling it could be scary for some youth.  I think middle and high school age youth would enjoy this in a libray or classroom setting.  Adults would also be appropriate audience for this story.

Adaptation:

The most important adaptation would be voice to capture the scariness of the story.  It would also add to the telling if the story could be told in a room with dimmed lights for maximum effect.