Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with His Daughter, by Barry H. Lopez

For trickster tales, check out Barry H. Lopez's collection of Native American trickster tales, Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping With His Daughter. (By "bring" I mean "tell you about," since I can't afford to ship you all a copy....)

Who better to turn to, if you're looking for a trickster, than Coyote? This collection explores the world of Coyote and a cast of other animal-spirited being, from creation story to moral tale. As the first sentence says, "THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE MYTHOLOGY AND folklore of the American Indian know already, perhaps, that Coyote was not necessarily a coyote, nor even a creature of strict physical dimensions."

Honestly, it's been a few years since I looked through this book. I bought it originally for my Fables and Fantasy class, waaaay back during freshman year of college.... At the time I was not familiar at ALL with Native American Folklore, and the stories amazed and fascinated me. This book is fun, well written, and should be in your collection right next to your Aesop's Fables.