“The Princess on the Glass Hill“ is one of the more obscure fairy tales, but the image of the suitors trying to get up the glass hill to the princess is familiar to most of us. Since our state frameworks mandate the use of of folk and fairy tales up… Continue reading
The golden goose in this story is not the goose in Jack and the Beanstalk that lays golden eggs. This is a goose with golden feathers, whose story is less well-known, but it’s a good story nonetheless. Since the story is not as familiar, we’ll tell it to you. The… Continue reading
The Elves and the Shoemaker is a tale from the Brothers Grimm. In it, a poor shoemaker has only enough leather for one pair of shoes. He cuts the shoes out and leaves them ready to make in the morning. In the morning when he gets up, he finds (usually) two… Continue reading
Many cultures have trickster tales: stories about a clever person or animal who plots to play tricks on others. Sometimes the tricksters have an undercurrent of danger, sometimes they’re mean, sometimes they’re foolish, and sometimes they’re just funny. Anansi the Spider, Jack of stories like “Jack the Giant-Killer,” and Coyote… Continue reading
The Emperor’s Cool Clothes is a cool new take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes. In it, a penguin who has always wanted to be cool and his counselors, who are very proud of how cool they are, are taken in by a couple of tricksters. The idea… Continue reading
Los tres cabritos is Eric Kimmel’s Tex-Mex take on the traditional story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. In this story, Chupacabra, the “goat sucker,” a monster traditionally found in Puerto Rico but also part of folklore in other Hispanic communities, lives under the bridge across the Rio Grande which… Continue reading
“The Emperor’s Nightingale” is a story by Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author, set in China. In the story, the Emperor of China discovers a nightingale, a bird which sings so beautifully that its song restores the ailing Emperor’s health. The Emperor of Japan sends a mechanical singing bird to… Continue reading
Get medieval for inspiring lessons on social studies, science, and art. The Middle Ages lasted from the sack of Rome in 400 AD to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 15th century, so there’s plenty to work with. Let us share our favorite lesson plans for working on… Continue reading
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a fun ghost story by early American writer Washington Irving. Read the whole story online with photos at the website of the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad includes Disney’s terrific cartoon version, voiced by Bing Crosby. It makes… Continue reading
