Around the World In Folk
Tales
Enriching, enchanting and memorable:
fairy tales from around the world are the pinnacle in children's entertainment
over the centuries.
Reading folk tales and fairy tales
collected from around the world is a great opportunity to teach your child
about other countries. The themes are timeless and worldwide.
You could check out from the library
or purchase a children's literature anthology with folk tales from around the
world. Check out used ones on online bookstores and eBay. If you have a globe
or a world map, keep it in your child's room while you read these stories and
find the nation of origin each time you read a "global story" or two.
Here are suggestions for an
around-the-world tour of folk tales from many lands:
Russia:
The
Snow Child, retold by Freya Littledale, illustrated by Barbara LaVallee
An old couple yearns for a child,
shaped one out of snow, and the rest is magic!
China:
Tikki
Tikki Tembo
An excellent explanation for why you
should give a child a short, simple name!
England:
Dr.
Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
The author worked as a civil
engineer before coming up with his classic series about a veterinarian who
could understand the "speech" of animals.
Scotland:
Peter
Pan by J.M. Barrie
The world of childish whimsy has its
roots in tragedy: Barrie's older brother, his mother's favorite, was killed at
13, and both parents despaired and failed to warmly rear the rest of the kids,
so J.M. created his own world.
Denmark:
Thumbelina,
The Ugly Duckling, the Emperor's New Clothes, by Hans Christian Andersen
Poor boy makes good; did you know
the multitalented Andersen also did amazing papercutting?
France:
Cinderella,
The Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, Blue-Beard, by Charles Perrault
Some of the most famous children's stories
were written later in life by this French blueblood.
Austria:
Bambi
by Felix Salten
Bambi dates to the 1920s; Salten
also wrote a short story that was also adapted into a Disney hit, "The Shaggy
Dog."
Germany:
Snow
White, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Tom Thumb, by the
Brothers Grimm
When they were boys, their father
and grandfather died, leaving them in reduced circumstances, and it is thought
that that's why their stories usually give men a "pass," and there are so many
female villains!
Italy:
Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi
Saudi Arabia:
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and
"Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" from The
Arabian Nights
Greece:
Aesop's
Fables - many rewrites, including a set by Louis Untermeyer
Don't see your favorite country?
Here's a list with more links:
http://www.cln.org/themes/fairytales.html
