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When Albert Einstein was asked how to develop intelligence in young people, he answered: "Read fairy tales. Then read more fairy tales." It may also be true that exposure to fairy tales helps develop imagination.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about folk and fairy tales.
People
To See Things To Do Teacher
Resources Bibliography
Places To GoThe following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out about folk and fairy tales.
Cinderella Stories From Around The World
Check out all the versions of Cinderella from cultures around the world. Have your students compare them.
Check out all the versions of Cinderella from cultures around the world. Have your students compare them.
Folktales
from China
Travel to China and read Chinese folk tales. Then travel to Japan and experience Japanese folk tales.
Travel to China and read Chinese folk tales. Then travel to Japan and experience Japanese folk tales.
The Moonlit
Road
Take a walk down this spooky, moonlit road to experience folk tales of the American south.
Take a walk down this spooky, moonlit road to experience folk tales of the American south.
Shelley Duvall's
Fairy Tale Theatre
Check out some of these videos. They are wonderful. The Three Little Pigs starring Jeff Goldblum and Billy Crystal as two of the little pigs is a jewel.
Check out some of these videos. They are wonderful. The Three Little Pigs starring Jeff Goldblum and Billy Crystal as two of the little pigs is a jewel.
People To SeeAesop's
Fables Online Collection
Meet Aesop he lived sometime between 500 and 600 BC. He is famous for his moralizing fables. From this site, you can read full text of all the fables.
Meet Aesop he lived sometime between 500 and 600 BC. He is famous for his moralizing fables. From this site, you can read full text of all the fables.
Hans
Christian Andersen
Get to know Hans Christian Andersen. Did you realize that he wrote The Little Match Girl, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Princess and the Pea, and more? All in all, he wrote 169 fairy tales.
Get to know Hans Christian Andersen. Did you realize that he wrote The Little Match Girl, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Princess and the Pea, and more? All in all, he wrote 169 fairy tales.
Things To DoFolk
and Fairy Tales
Browse through this list of several hundred tales and discover one you've never heard of. What about The Cat's Elopement or Cannetella or The Star Dollars?
Browse through this list of several hundred tales and discover one you've never heard of. What about The Cat's Elopement or Cannetella or The Star Dollars?
Folklore
and Mythology Electronic Texts
Find 15 versions of Cinderella, 5 versions of the Emperor's New Clothes, 9 different kinds of Frog Kings, and more.
Find 15 versions of Cinderella, 5 versions of the Emperor's New Clothes, 9 different kinds of Frog Kings, and more.
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories
Read this book by James Garner. Does "The Duckling That Was Judged On Its Personal Merits And Not On Its Physical Appearance" sound better than the traditional title?
Read this book by James Garner. Does "The Duckling That Was Judged On Its Personal Merits And Not On Its Physical Appearance" sound better than the traditional title?
Snow
White
Kay Vandergrift of Rutgers University has written extensively about the many versions (there are 36 versions!) and aspects of Snow White. Read her hypertest version of Snow White to learn about "the fairest of them all".
Kay Vandergrift of Rutgers University has written extensively about the many versions (there are 36 versions!) and aspects of Snow White. Read her hypertest version of Snow White to learn about "the fairest of them all".
Stories,
Folklore, and Fairy Tales Theme Page
Find curricular resources for the study of folk and fairy tales. There are also links to instructional materials like lesson plans which will help teachers provide instruction in this theme.
Find curricular resources for the study of folk and fairy tales. There are also links to instructional materials like lesson plans which will help teachers provide instruction in this theme.
Stories
to Grow By
Read folk and fairy tales from around the world. There are teaching materials and activities to go with many of the stories.
Read folk and fairy tales from around the world. There are teaching materials and activities to go with many of the stories.
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Have your students read this book by Jon Scieszka. It's a great book to teach the concept of point of view because this tale is told through the eyes of the wolf (who claims that he is not big or bad and that he was framed).
Have your students read this book by Jon Scieszka. It's a great book to teach the concept of point of view because this tale is told through the eyes of the wolf (who claims that he is not big or bad and that he was framed).
Teacher Resources
Bibliography
- Betts, Louise. The Classic Grimm's Fairy Tales. Philadelphia, Pa. : Courage Books, c1989.
- Carter, Angela. Strange Things Sometimes Still Happen:Fairy Tales from Around the World. Winchester, MA: Faber and Faber, 1993.