Do your children know fairy tales?

[Night Elf]

I was taken by surprise the other day when my dd11 didn't recognize the storyline of Cinderella, though I can't remember why it came up in conversation. When I asked her about it, she didn't know what it was about at all. She didn't know Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, or the Little Red Hen. Now I know I read these to her when she was younger. I'm absolutely positive I did. I can't believe she doesn't recall them at all. On one hand, I don't think it really matters. But the other hand, wouldn't it be embarrassing for others to realize she doesn't know what they are?

 

Maybe I should repurchase some of Andrew Lang's Fairy books. She isn't too old for fairy tales, right? :bigear:

[abbeyej]

Actually, I think it matters a lot. :) The allusions to fairy tales in literature (and music, film, theater, etc) are almost as pervasive as allusions to the Bible, and a basic fluency in fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and Bible stories (regardless of personal faith) is vital to cultural literacy.

 

That said, I don't think your dd is unusual at all. When I taught drama in a large group of home schoolers (I had four classes of 22 students each, roughly evenly by grade from 3rd-6th), I found a very large percentage of them couldn't recall basic fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood... In order to work on our fairy tales unit, I had to reintroduce some very basic stories.

 

I'm not sure if Lang is the most exciting reintroduction to fairy tales. Unless she's champing at the bit for *quantity*, I'd probably check the local library for a selection of the most vital fairy tales in beautifully illustrated versions (K.Y.Craft, Marianna Mayer, Paul O Zelinksy, Jan Brett, and many others have really lovely individual re-tellings or translations of Grimm, Perrault, and others).

 

The ones I'd most want to make sure a child was familiar with:

Cinderella

Snow White

Beauty and the Beast

Rumpelstiltskin

Hansel and Gretel

Little Red Riding Hood

The Little Red Hen

Goldilocks

The Three Little Pigs

Puss in Boots (Marcellino is a beautiful one)

 

I'm assuredly leaving out some important ones... :) But that's where I'd start.

 

One nice thing about re-reading this as an older child is that she'll definitely see things in the stories that she didn't when you read them before. Actually, that's why so many of these stories have lasted for so long. She'll see something even more in a few years when she's a teen -- and you, as an adult, will see things differently still.

[KarenNC]

It may be that, even though you read them to her, it may not have been often enough for them to be well-remembered. For an older child, something like doing a comparative look at the same theme in tales from different cultures can be interesting and help cement the storyline. Sometimes they are stretches, or actual folk tales from other cultures have been modified to fit the storyline, though, so watch for that.

 

http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000849.shtml Cindrella stories from around the world

 

It can also be very instructive with an older child to compare things like the Disney version or the bowdlerized Victorian versions of fairy tales with the originals collected by the Brothers Grimm, etc. Good way to look at how societal expectations alter the stories. Do be aware that the original versions are often much darker, though, and they don't always have happy endings. Many were cautionary tales.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I once did a talk on the importance of fairy tales. Yes, they are important for cultural literacy and allusion. They are also helpful in moral development, sequential processing, story telling, etc. One juvenile detention program teaches fairy tales in order to help the inmates understand cause and effect.

[Night Elf]

I'm assuredly leaving out some important ones... :) But that's where I'd start.

 

 

I like the idea of library books better too. I bet she'd enjoy those books better than Lang as well. This could be a fun literature unit actually. How cool! Thanks for the list. It's nice to have a starting place and I couldn't think beyond Cinderella and Snow White. :)

[chanda7]

I have very sensitive children prone to nightmares. For now, we've skipped every fairy tale with witchcraft or paranormal references. Sadly, that doesn't leave much. :rolleyes:

[phathui5]

Yes, my kids do know them. We've read the books and they've seen the movies.

[hsmom3tn]

Mine are pretty familiar with fairy tales - although a couple of years ago I was surprised to find that they had never heard of Rumpelstiltskin... We recently listened to the Sisters Grimm series on CD and we loved it. It was really neat to be reminded of all those fairy tale characters. It also introduced them to a fairy named Puck, which led them to an interest in Shakespeare :)

 

On the other hand, my kids never heard many nursery rhymes when they were little. I think they had heard Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and maybe Humpty Dumpty, but that's about it. I never gave it much thought until we started studying poetry this year and they were pretty clueless :(

[justamouse]

Actually, I think it matters a lot. :) The allusions to fairy tales in literature (and music, film, theater, etc) are almost as pervasive as allusions to the Bible, and a basic fluency in fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and Bible stories (regardless of personal faith) is vital to cultural literacy.

 

 

 

Yup, yup yup!

[ekarl2]

Actually, I think it matters a lot. :) The allusions to fairy tales in literature (and music, film, theater, etc) are almost as pervasive as allusions to the Bible, and a basic fluency in fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and Bible stories (regardless of personal faith) is vital to cultural literacy.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. I'd add Greek and Roman myths, too.

[lionfamily1999]

We read them at bed time. At first, dh and I both laughed that I would do something so quaint, but I was surprised by the number of stories I didn't recognize and the kids really enjoy them.

 

We use a variety of sources, I have one book full of Hans Christian Anderson, a few Readers' Digest Grimm collections, that sort of thing. I'm not too picky about what books we use and the kids don't really care.

 

They're full of lessons too, besides the interesting connections to so many things modern.

[BikeBookBread]

I always check out the fairy tale section (dewey decimal 398 - fairy tales and folklore) at the library when we go. The round-the-world fairy tales have been wonderful! The girls have especially liked the Asian and middle eastern stories...most have a moral, all are exciting, fun and exotic.

 

I highly recommend the Golden Book of Fairy Tales -- I spent quite a while finding the right fairy tale book. Yes, some of the stories are pretty gross, and seem shocking to us nowadays. Funny thing, this is the way I remember them: gross and yucky with wolves getting cut open, threats to boil people, etc... (aaack!) (Totally different thread -- are we too timid as a culture? Do we insulate our children from pain too much?

 

There are so many beautiful fairy tale books out there. Illustrations are a big part of the pull for my girls, so I always try to find ones that are exquisitely illustrated.

 

When I started reading them to DD5 as a 4 yo, I did a little bit of creative editing, but now I just read them as-is...every child is different...she's not that sensitive, and can tell when I'm making it up as I go alone :)-

 

That was too wordy of an answer, but yes, we do fairy tales.

Edited August 27, 2009 by BikeBookBread
Bad grammar

[Serendipity]

Yes, they do and we do the 'real' fairy tale endings along with the newer, happier versions of the endings. :)

[Moni]

wouldn't it be embarrassing for others to realize she doesn't know what they are?

 

 

That depends on your audience.

But , no, my kids don't know the Fairy Tales.

 

:seeya:

[Jayne J]

Just a suggestion--try http://storynory.com/

 

This site has tons of free classic fairy tales read by a wonderful reader (Natasha) in their entirety. We downloaded a bunch of them and listen to them in the car all the time. Of course, if you want your dc to read them instead of listening that won't work, but they are truly wonderful to listen to. More are added frequently, but all the biggies seem to be there. (You might be suprised by some of the original story lines from Perrault, Grimm and H.C. Anderson--for instance, did you know that Sleeping Beauty's MIL was an ogre?)

[BikeBookBread]

did you know that Sleeping Beauty's MIL was an ogre?)

 

YES! The prince goes away for a trip leaving "Sleeping Beauty" and her two little children with MIL who wants SB to COOK THEM for her to eat!!!!!

[Stacia]

I always check out the fairy tale section (dewey decimal 398 - fairy tales and folklore) at the library when we go. The round-the-world fairy tales have been wonderful!

 

:iagree:

 

We have read tons of fairy tales. My dd has always loved them & her bookcases are filled w/ them. My ds hasn't had as much exposure yet, though he does know many.

 

As someone has already mentioned, it is wonderful to go through & examine the similarities & differences between different versions of a tale.

 

I know what you're talking about w/ exposure to fairy tales, though. A couple of years ago, my nephew (around 11 at the time) didn't know Puss in Boots was a story/fairy tale (he thought Puss was just a character in the Shrek movies). My kids were totally surprised to hear him say that because Puss in Boots has always been a favorite around here.

[Impish]

*snip* did you know that Sleeping Beauty's MIL was an ogre?)

I didn't, having only really been exposed to Disney.

 

Who knew Sleeping Beauty and I had so much in common? :lol::lol::lol:

[abbeyej]

I wholeheartedly agree. I'd add Greek and Roman myths, too.

 

Oh, absolutely!!! (Although I did figure that WTMers would at least do a good job of covering those a few times over!)

[Night Elf]

I wholeheartedly agree. I'd add Greek and Roman myths, too.

 

Now see, those she knows! :lol:

[katilac]

Yes. My girls are 9 & 11, and I'm pretty sure they know at least the bare bones of most of the major fairytales.

 

We used to include them in our shared reading for school, and they have since both gone through phases of reading from our collection on their own. We have a pretty good variety, including some older and creepier ones ;).

[linders]

to Abbeyej's list of the classics? This thread got me thinking, and although I have some fairytale collections, we have been rather remiss in actually reading them. I want them to know more than Disney and Pixar versions.

 

Thanks for any responses.

[Jumping In Puddles]

to Abbeyej's list of the classics? This thread got me thinking, and although I have some fairytale collections, we have been rather remiss in actually reading them. I want them to know more than Disney and Pixar versions.

 

Thanks for any responses.

 

The Little Mermaid

 

Ali Baba and the 40 theives

 

Jack and the Beanstalk

[Dawn in OH]

Fairy tales are pretty important to know. References to them pop up all over the place.

 

After I realized that my children couldn't recognize or recall the story lines to many fairy tales and nursery rhymes that I know I had read to them repeatedly I ordered cd versions from the library for them. Now they listen to them when they are in their rooms playing or at night before going to sleep.

 

They just aren't old enough to be able to read them themselves yet and I read to them so much during the day for school that there's just not enough time left to read them all to them again after doing the cooking, cleaning and trying to spend time with their little brother.

 

It's actually worked out really well because they are retaining the information better this way. When I read to them it was always a matter of "he always sits next to you" or "I can't see the pictures", or the baby grabbing the book or some other crazy thing they came up with.

 

They also like to come an tell me about the story the just listened to.

[5knights3maidens]

My older 5 do. My ds (11) Hmmmm? I'll ask him tomorrow but I'm sure he knows many. My dd's ages 6 and 4 not many. These 2 girls would probably get really scared with some. I was actually thinking about this the other day and decided I will take it easy on them with fairy tales, for now.