Fairy Tale Journeys

Tom Thumb’s Travels from the Grimms.

Tom Thumb from the Grimms.

This is the story of The Goose Girl at the Well by the Grimms. It will probably remind you of a great many other tales we have read or that you have read to yourself!

I thought of King Lear, Cap O’ Rushes, Love Like Salt, Toads and Diamonds, and many more!

This is a cumulative fairy tale called The Golden Goose, from the Grimms.

The Water of Life - The Grimm Brothers

The True Bride - The Grimm Brothers

The Goose Girl - From the Grimm Brothers

Here is the final chapter of this delightful literary fairy tale by John Ruskin. I hope you have enjoyed listening to it. Have a wonderful Christmas season and I will see you all in the New Year!

Enjoy chapter for of John Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River.

Here is chapter three of Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River.

Enjoy chapter two of John Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River.

The King of the Golden River is a literary fairy tale by John Ruskin. This is chapter one. Stay tuned for the next installments!

The Bremen Town-Musicians - Grimms

Brother and Sister - Grimms

Molle Holle - Grimms

The Old Woman in the Wood - Grimms

The Turnip - from the Grimms

Rumpelstiltskin from the Grimm Brothers

King Thrushbeard from the Grimm Brothers

Enjoy this variation on the Snow White story. How is it similar and how is it different from the Snow White we are all more familiar with? What other tales does this one remind you of. I think it has a very Northern feel.

This is another story from the Grimm Brothers.

Enjoy this Beauty and the Beast story from the Grimm Brothers.

This is the true Little Red Riding Hood story with a happy ending!

The Juniper Tree from the Grimm Brothers is rich with symbolism and layers of meaning. Enjoy!

Enjoy Hansel and Gretel - from the Grimm Brothers.

The Golden Bird from the Grimm Brothers

The Twelve Dancing Princesses from the Grimm Brothers

The White Snake from the Grimm Brothers

The Six Servants from The Grimm Brothers

Enjoy part two of the Two Brothers from Grimms. You will no doubt be reminded of a great many other stories and I would love to hear about the connections you make. What else do you notice? Do you have any questions about this story?

Enjoy part one of The Two Brothers from the Grimms. And then you might like to listen to Snow White again, or read Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline in full or in Leon Garfield’s Shakespeare Stories Volume II.

Snow White - Grimm Brothers

This is Sleeping Beauty - Grimm Brothers

Welcome to our first Grimms fairy tale - the beloved Cinderella. How is the similar to or different from other Cinderella type stories that you know?

We begin with an English Fairy Tale from Joseph Jacobs, because it goes with the Legend of Lier and Shakespeare’s King Lear that we have been reading in co-op this week.

Jacobs was one of the people influenced by the Grimm Brothers to collect folktales.

To start our new year of fairy tales, I want to share this introduction to the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

If you would like to learn more about the Grimm Brothers, I recommend The Brothers Grimm by Ann Schmiesing. You can find it as an audiobook on Audible and Hoopla, or purchase a hard copy. This biography is detailed and presents the brothers sensitively and favorably without glossing over some of their weaknesses. There is also a biography written for children by Donald Hettinga called The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy. It is harder to find, but worth getting if you come across it in a used bookshop or online used booksellers. 

I also highly recommend the House of Humane Letters How to Read Fairy Tales class. Angelina Stanford shares a lot of background and biographical information about the Grimms, and teaches how to understand the symbolism inherent in fairy tales, making the reading of them a very rich experience. 

I hope you enjoy this year of reading the Grimms Tales together!

Here is a wonderful Italian Folk Tale that reminds me of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.

An Italian Folk Tale

Another Italian folk tale heroine named Catherine.

This is another Italian Folk Tale. One of many with a female heroine named Catherine.

This is an Italian tale.

Welcome to the Summer Season of Fairy Tale Journeys. This is another Italian tale.

An Italian literary fairy tale

An Italian Folk Tale

A story from Italy.

A story from Italy.

A story from Italy.

This is a story from Italy.

This is a fairy tale from Italy.

Note: In case the children wonder what blood sausage is, it is a sausage like food made by cooking blood (usually of pigs) together with fillers such as meat, bread, suet, oats, etc. It is considered a delicacy in several countries.

A Fable from Italy

A fable from Italy.

An Italian Folk Tale

A Fable from Italy

A Tale from Italy

Does this folktale from Italy remind you of stories from other countries? Remember our three questions: What does it remind me of? What do I notice? What do I wonder? And enjoy!

We are beginning our survey of Italian Fairytales today! I am reading from the tales as retold by Italo Calvino. Enjoy!

This is an exciting tale from Russia.

Welcome Back. We are continuing on with our Russian Fairy Tales.

Here is another Russian tale. Do pay attention to some common threads that are in the stories, and also how they are similar and different to tales from other countries.

Welcome back! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break. We are going to spend some time reading Russian fairy tales together. Enjoy!

This is a Persian Tale retold by Anne Mehdevi: The Golden Candelabra

Welcome back! This is the first of several tales I plan to read over our Christmas break. Enjoy!

Li Chi Slays the Serpent is a fun twist on the dragon slaying stories.

A tale from China

This story is said to be similar to the Great Flood story we read last time. This is a Grimms tale.

We must read about dragons when reading Chinese stories!

A Chinese Great Flood story with a twist.

A Tale from China

And so we begin our tour of Chinese folk tales. . .

This tale is a legend about 15th century Japanese artist, Sesshu Toyo. I am reading from the translation by Lefcardio Hearn and the illustrations are beautiful woodcuts. Take a look!

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-49f8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99/book#page/1/mode/2up

The Tongue Cut Sparrow - A Folk Tale from Japan

This fairy tale has so many layers, including a legend about Mt Fuji.

Here is a very fun Japanese fairy tale! Enjoy!

The Lucky Tea-Kettle is a story from Japan.

This is a Japanese folk tale with many Bible story connections. Enjoy the story for its own sake and pay attention to what you notice, what you wonder, and what you are reminded of. Can you find Japan on the map? It is a country in Asia.

* For sensitive listeners, be aware that a dog dies in this story.

Also Mochi is pronounced MŌ-CHEE - I misprounounced it in the story.

Part 3 of Habermany the Serpent Prince

Part two of Haberman the Serpent Prince

This is a tale from Armenia. Notice how it is similar and different to Yasmin and the Serpent Prince. What else do you notice? What do you wonder? And what are you reminded of?

This is part 2 of Yasmin and the Serpent Prince. I would love to hear about all the connections to other stories you make!

10.3.24 I am so sorry - somehow I had uploaded part 1 again instead of part 2. I have corrected the file now so enjoy part 2!

This is part 1 of Yasmin and the Serpent Prince, as told in Folk Tales of Ancient Persia. This tale will probably remind you of many Bible stories, fairy tales, and literary fairy tales, so pay attention to what you notice, what you wonder, and what it reminds you of!

The Wishes of Savitri is a fairy tale and trickster tale from India. Enjoy!

The Adventures of Little Pea is a story from Persia as retold in Folk Tales of Ancient Persia.

It is a fairy tale with a parent and child separation and restoration with a feast at the end, and the defeat of the bad characters. It is also a trickster tale. Sometimes we think of tricksters as the bad character in a story, and sometimes they are! But other times the trickster is someone with cunning who uses their wits to outsmart the wicked characters. As you listen to this story, and the next story called The Wishes of Savitri, you can think about other stories they remind you of. Are there good tricksters in the Bible?

This story is from the Arabian Nights, retold in The Blue Fairy Book. This retelling combines several stories about Aladdin. What are some of the things you have noticed about the Persian stories we have been reading? Are you seeing repeated things? Do they remind you of other stories?

This is the second part of the frame story for 1001 Days, as retold by Willi Fehse. This one is quite long because it has stories within stories - pay attention when you are listening to any story and the story teller tells a new story within his story! It is always important!

This Persian story comes from the 1001 Days as retold by Willi Fehse.

Have you ever heard of the 1001 Days? It is another collection of stories from Persia. Like the 1001 Nights, it has a frame story that begins and ends the collection, with many delightful tales between.

The Prince and the Flowery Meadow is the frame story and today we are going to read part one. This is from the retelling by Willi Fehse. Enjoy!

Our last tale for this week is The Peasant's Son and the Forty Robbers, from Armenia. This one reminded me of SO many stories. Pay attention to how this one is similar and also really different from the other tales we read this week. You might like to draw a picture of your favorite story.

The Thirteen Bandits is a story from Italy.

This tale is from Russia. Notice how it is similar to Ali Baba, and how it is different. What else does it remind you of. Do you have any questions about the story?

This week I am sharing four tales that are all in the same family. We begin with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. This is a Persian tale from the Arabian Nights, retold in The Blue Fairy Book.

Keep thinking about the things you notice, what the story reminds you of, and questions you wonder about.

The Prince and the Large and Lonely Tortoise from the 1001 Arabian Nights.

What does this story remind you of? What do you notice about this story? What do you wonder? Those are great things to think about when you're reading stories. You might also like to draw a picture of the story or tell the story to a friend.

Enjoy!