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The Six Fools
THE SIX FOOLS Zora Neale Hurston
Who's the biggest fool?
Is it the girl who floods her basement with cider, the man who jumps into his pants, the farmer who feeds his cow on the roof, or the woman who tries to fill her wheelbarrow with sunshine?
Based on a story collected by Zora Neale Hurston during her travels in 1930s Gulf States, The Six Fools is an outrageously funny tale about a dashing young man who finds foolish folks aplenty and true love!
Who's the biggest fool?
Is it the girl who floods her basement with cider, the man who jumps into his pants, the farmer who feeds his cow on the roof, or the woman who tries to fill her wheelbarrow with sunshine?
Based on a story collected by Zora Neale Hurston during her travels in 1930s Gulf States, The Six Fools is an outrageously funny tale about a dashing young man who finds foolish folks aplenty and true love!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published December 27, 2005
177 people want to read
About the author
Zora Neale Hurston
188 books5,571 followersNovels, including
Their Eyes Were Watching God
(1937), and nonfiction writings of American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston give detailed accounts of African American life in the South.
In 1925, Hurston, one of the leaders of the literary renaissance, happening in Harlem, produced the short-lived literary magazine Fire!! alongside Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman shortly before she entered Barnard College. This literary movement developed into the Harlem renaissance.
Hurston applied her Barnard ethnographic training to document African American folklore in her critically acclaimed book Mules and Men alongside fiction Their Eyes Were Watching God . She also assembled a folk-based performance dance group that recreated her Southern tableau with one performance on Broadway.
People awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to Hurston to travel to Haiti and conduct research on conjure in 1937. Her significant work ably broke into the secret societies and exposed their use of drugs to create the Vodun trance, also a subject of study for fellow dancer-anthropologist Katherine Dunham, then at the University of Chicago.
In 1954, the Pittsburgh Courier assigned Hurston, unable to sell her fiction, to cover the small-town murder trial of Ruby McCollum, the prosperous black wife of the local lottery racketeer, who had killed a racist white doctor. Hurston also contributed to Woman in the Suwanee County Jail , a book by journalist and civil rights advocate William Bradford Huie.
In 1925, Hurston, one of the leaders of the literary renaissance, happening in Harlem, produced the short-lived literary magazine Fire!! alongside Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman shortly before she entered Barnard College. This literary movement developed into the Harlem renaissance.
Hurston applied her Barnard ethnographic training to document African American folklore in her critically acclaimed book Mules and Men alongside fiction Their Eyes Were Watching God . She also assembled a folk-based performance dance group that recreated her Southern tableau with one performance on Broadway.
People awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to Hurston to travel to Haiti and conduct research on conjure in 1937. Her significant work ably broke into the secret societies and exposed their use of drugs to create the Vodun trance, also a subject of study for fellow dancer-anthropologist Katherine Dunham, then at the University of Chicago.
In 1954, the Pittsburgh Courier assigned Hurston, unable to sell her fiction, to cover the small-town murder trial of Ruby McCollum, the prosperous black wife of the local lottery racketeer, who had killed a racist white doctor. Hurston also contributed to Woman in the Suwanee County Jail , a book by journalist and civil rights advocate William Bradford Huie.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 10, 2022
I was attracted to this for the April Mini Challenge for #The52BookClub but also because it was based on stories from folklorist, Zora Neale Hurston, who I enjoy a lot. This book did not disappoint at all! The illustrations by Ann Tanksley brought the story to life - I would like to buy two copies of the book simply to use the illustrations as prints in my home!
They would make marvelous storytelling conversation pieces, most definitely!
I checked this book out of the library and read it several times, enjoying it more with each subsequent read!
They would make marvelous storytelling conversation pieces, most definitely!
I checked this book out of the library and read it several times, enjoying it more with each subsequent read!
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February 14, 2018
A folk tale about a young man who travels the county side to find three fools to compare to three others that he encountered to see who is the biggest fool among them all.
July 12, 2019
Kind of funny, and it is interesting to see another side of Zora Neale Hurston's writing, but it is also a bit odd. There are fools everywhere, so pick the ones you want to be around, I guess?
February 22, 2014
Description: After a man meets his betrothed and her parents, he finds that they are fools. He ventures to find if there are three other people in the world as foolish as they were.
Genre: Folktale
Intended Audience: Kindergarden - 3rd Grade
Curriculum Connection: Since their are numerous characters I think students should study characterization with this book. Analyze their actions and what motivates them. The man thinks that they are just foolish but their actions are caused by some sort of character traits that they must possess.
Personal Reaction: When I first read this, I don't think I altogether understood it. Most traditional literature is this way for me. However, I like that the man does find 3 more fools and I think in real life, anyone can be a fool to someone else if you do not understand why they do what they do. The actions do not seem foolish to those doing the foolish activities, just to the man.
Assessment of Visual Appeal: The colors used are bright oil paints. The images are bold and very clear so that children can see the foolish actions which are paramount to the overall story. I like that the final wedding picture looks framed. The pictures are also consistent with traditional folktales and upholds the integrity of this type of literature.
Genre: Folktale
Intended Audience: Kindergarden - 3rd Grade
Curriculum Connection: Since their are numerous characters I think students should study characterization with this book. Analyze their actions and what motivates them. The man thinks that they are just foolish but their actions are caused by some sort of character traits that they must possess.
Personal Reaction: When I first read this, I don't think I altogether understood it. Most traditional literature is this way for me. However, I like that the man does find 3 more fools and I think in real life, anyone can be a fool to someone else if you do not understand why they do what they do. The actions do not seem foolish to those doing the foolish activities, just to the man.
Assessment of Visual Appeal: The colors used are bright oil paints. The images are bold and very clear so that children can see the foolish actions which are paramount to the overall story. I like that the final wedding picture looks framed. The pictures are also consistent with traditional folktales and upholds the integrity of this type of literature.
May 20, 2008
“During her travels in the Gulf States in the 1930’s, Zora Neale Hurston recorded stories told by the people she met, to preserve their rich oral legacy. The Six Fools is one of the stories collected in Every Tongue Got to Confess, her third volume of folklore. It has been masterfully adapted for children by National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Thomas.”
The six fools is the story of a man who is about to marry a woman. While the family sits down to discuss matters, the woman is sent to go get cider from the basement. While waiting for the cider to fill the pitcher, she daydreams about what to name her future child. Soon the cider is pouring all over the floor. Each family member in turn goes down to see what’s taking so long and when he or she finds out the woman is thinking up baby names, they sit and think too. Finally the man comes down to find the whole family thinking while knee deep in cider and proclaims them fools. He says he is going traveling for a year and if he finds three fools as big as the family, then he’ll come back and get married. At the end of the year he has found three more fools and so comes back and gets married.
Although odd, I did like this story although I’d be interested in if preschoolers seem to like it.
The six fools is the story of a man who is about to marry a woman. While the family sits down to discuss matters, the woman is sent to go get cider from the basement. While waiting for the cider to fill the pitcher, she daydreams about what to name her future child. Soon the cider is pouring all over the floor. Each family member in turn goes down to see what’s taking so long and when he or she finds out the woman is thinking up baby names, they sit and think too. Finally the man comes down to find the whole family thinking while knee deep in cider and proclaims them fools. He says he is going traveling for a year and if he finds three fools as big as the family, then he’ll come back and get married. At the end of the year he has found three more fools and so comes back and gets married.
Although odd, I did like this story although I’d be interested in if preschoolers seem to like it.
October 1, 2013
The Six Fools is a colorful and engaging story about a man who discovers his betrothed and her parents sitting in a cellar flooding with cider, determines that they are fools, and decides that if he can find bigger fools than them during one year of travels, he would return and marry his betrothed. The illustrations, completed in what I think are oil prints illustrated in typical folk-art style, are arranged in a combination of single page, one and three-fourth page spreads, and single illustrations. I found the story line humorous. During his travels, the man meets a farmer who feeds his cow on the rooftop, a woman who is attempting to fill her wheelbarrow with sunshine, and a man who must jump into his pants. I also found the vibrant colors used in the illustrations appealing. I can see myself using this book in the classroom. After introducing and reviewing the book with the class, the students could conduct a journal activity where they could create a 7th fool, talk about what makes their fool foolish, and draw a picture of their fool. (Source - text pg 127).
January 28, 2010
The Six Fools was part of a selection of books my class was reading as we did an author study of Zora Neal Hurston. I think this books does a great job of showing her diversity in writing because many are more familiar with her more serious books. The story depicts a family of "fools" and the man wanting to marry into it. However he travels all around to see if he will find an even bigger set of fools. When he finds that he can he goes back to the ones he chose first, nevertheless his journey is very funny. This books shows a softer more humorous voice coming from Zora that is refreshing.
August 6, 2012
I wanted to think the story was leading us to recognize that, at some level, we're all fools. But the protagonist never demonstrated his own foolishness (except by returning to marry the daughter from the first 3 fools). I enjoyed the fools, the travels and their unique brands of foolishness - I recognized them. But it felt like a step was missing, or else I missed seeing/reading it. Great artwork, however. Illustrations are awesome and engaging.
April 28, 2008
This book was ok, telling the story of a young man about to marry, but then seeing just how big of fools his future wife and in-laws are. He decides to search the world and if he can find 3 fools as big as them, he'll resign himself to go back and get married. He has no problems finding fools.
April 20, 2012
Yep. Six Fools.
December 17, 2014
Great Book.
October 16, 2013
Eh, fun enough for a read, but nothing spectacular. The kids and I enjoyed the foolishness of the fools, but there's nothing that makes us want to read again.
April 17, 2015
I had to read this book twice to get the full gist of the story. Once I did, it is an important story, but a tad older for the audience that this book is written for.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews