Before books and screens, stories traveled by voice, generation to generation. Br'er Rabbit outsmarting animals twice his size. Bruh Alligator learning the hard way to stay close to home. These are the tales Black families in America have been telling for generations, and this shadow puppet set is a fun (and screen-free!) way to bring them right into your kids' hands.

What's Included 10 shadow puppets, each representing a character from an Black American folktale:

+ Brer Rabbit Falls Down the Well

+ Mr. Rabbit Nibbles Up the Butter

+ Rabbit and Wild Hog

+ How Brother Rabbit Fooled Whale and Elephant

+ How Come Bruh Alligator Never Sleeps Far from the River Bank

Also included is a printed mini storybook with the full retelling of each tale, so your child gets the story right along with the puppet — no screen needed to read it, either.

Why These Stories Matter?

Most of the folktales kids grow up on come from Europe, and those are fun too! But we love introducing kids to a different cast of characters: clever rabbits, sly foxes, and stubborn alligators from a storytelling tradition that started in West Africa and grew right here along the Gullah Geechee Sea Islands and the Deep South. A few of these tales are even in danger of being forgotten — Gullah is considered an endangered language today — so every time one gets told again, it gets to stick around a little longer.

How to Use: just a flashlight, a plain wall or sheet, and your child's own two hands. It's a fun, screen-free activity for family story nights or a homeschool unit on Black American history, geography, and folklore.