Fairy Tales Kayla Martin, Kristen Marbury, Alexandra McGarry, Jill Melanson

What is a Folktale?  A tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk. What is a Fable?  A fable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are given human qualities, and that illustrates a moral lesson. …… THEN WHAT IS A FAIRY TALE???

What is a Fairy Tale?  A fairy tale is a kind of folktale or fable usually intended for children, involving fantastic forces and beings.

Examples of Popular Fairy Tales  Cinderella  Goldilocks and the Three Bears  Hansel and Gretel  Rumpelstiltskin  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  The Little Mermaid  Little Red Riding Hood  Sleeping Beauty  Thumbelina

Examples of Modern Fairy Tale Books  Ella Enchanted  The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales  Beastly  The Princess Bride  Wicked

Elements of Fairy Tales  Magic words or phrases (ex: “Once upon a time in a land far far away”, “They lived happily ever after”, etc.)  Monsters  Youngest vs. Oldest  Talking animals/objects  Sleep (death-like)  Guardians (ex. fairy godmothers)  Human strengths/powers and weaknesses  Cleverness/tricks/games  Struggle between good and evil, light versus dark  Impossible tasks  Quests and journeys

Distinguishing Features  Based on the definition, expected elements, and your prior knowledge of fairy tales what distinguishes it as its own genre of children’s literature?  What makes fairy tales different from other genres of children’s literature?

What Makes for Excellence?  A good, likeable character to root for  Exciting setting  Good imagery  Relatable characters  Familiar plot  A fresh take on the traditional tale

Old Tales Made New Today, some authors still like to retell and invent new fairy tales.  The Cinderella story was recently re-imagined by Diane Goode in her book Cinderella: The Dog and Her Little Glass Slipper.  Jon Scieszka's fractured fairy tales in The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales are another example of a retelling but with humor.

Different Cultures Same Tale Japanese CinderellaGerman Cinderella

In The Classroom!  A sense of oral tradition  Promotes creativity and imagination  Pleasure reading  Teach morals

Works Cited  lements.html  les.html  tales-around-world#sect-activities  tales  tml