Containing a collection of essays and practical suggestions for applying ideas from folklore to everyday life, this book is an important contribution to those engaged in education as well as the delivery of social services. There are great ideas about using the everyday culture of various communities for intervention work in a variety of employment settings. Teachers will find useful ideas and a well-written bibliography on the use of folklore in the classroom. Park and recreation workers will find a good resource for developing projects and programs that use locally-based cultural resources for their programming. The book contains ample ideas that can be used by those in medical fields, prisons, libraries, refugee services, and other organizations that work to deliver services to the public. The book also contains a good introduction to the history and practice of studying folklore, and the excellent bibliographic references will provide readers with a variety of resources for further developing the approaches offered in this volume.

I would recommend using the book only in advanced-level classes in folklore. The content is strong, and the presentation, in general, is clear. There is also a fine bibliography that will provide a useful reference resource for studying folklore. The main problem with using this book in introductory classes is that it is too complicated for most undergraduates. Also, there is a wide variety of examples that illustrate various points, but in the thrust to represent cultural diversity, the authors include too much material that simply is irrelevant and uninteresting to students. This book might be useful in a graduate course in folklore studies, but by the time that students begin studying folklore at advanced levels, they will probably be interested in more complex and thorough studies of folklore. The book might, however, be a good starting point for professors and students in other disciplines who are interested in folklore research. It also could be useful for researchers who wish to access the scholarly literature on folklore.