Friday, January 21, 2011

Fairy Tale Fridays: Happily Ever After

On January 22, 2010, I announced a new feature on Tif Talks Books known as Fairy Tale Fridays thanks to a little inspiration from John Connolly and his novel, The Book of Lost Things.  It was the start to a weekly visit with fairy tales from my childhood to tales from around the world as well as little known tales from the well-known storytellers.  Fairy Tale Fridays has been quite the ride, but it is now time for me to say goodbye.  Let's take a stroll through the tales we visited during the past year . . .

January 29, 2010:  Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm

February 5, 2010:  Rumpelstiltskin by The Brothers Grimm

February 12, 2010:  The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen

February 19, 2010:  The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen

February 26, 2010:  The Monkey and the Camel by Aesop

March 5, 2010:  Cinderella by The Brothers Grimm (featuring Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal:  A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman)

March 12, 2010:  Your Childhood Favorite -- Stone Soup

March 19, 2010:  Rapunzel by The Brothers Grimm

March 26, 2010:  The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen

April 2, 2010:  The Goose with the Golden Eggs by Aesop

April 9, 2010:  Little Red-Cap (Little Red Riding Hood) by The Brothers Grimm

April 16, 2010:  A New, Modern Tale --  Rapunzel's Revenge & Calamity Jack by Shannon & Dean Hale

April 23, 2010:  The Butterfly by Hans Christian Andersen

April 30, 2010:  One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes by The Brothers Grimm

May 7, 2010:  The Three Bears by Robert Southey

May 14, 2010:  The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Various

May 21, 2010:  The Philosopher's Stone by Hans Christian Andersen

May 28, 2010:  The Twelve Brothers by The Brothers Grimm

June 4, 2010:  Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola

June 11, 2010:  The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Aesop

June 18, 2010:  A Japanese Tale -- Peach Boy (Momotaro)

June 25, 2010:  A Latin American Tale -- The Mother of the Jungle

July 9, 2010:  An American Tale -- Johnny Appleseed (Rainbow Walker)

July 16, 2010:  An African Tale -- The Lion, the Hare, and the Hyena

July 23, 2010:  An Indian Tale -- The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal

July 30, 2010:  A Korean Tale -- The Story Bag

August 6, 2010:  A Danish Tale -- The Twin Brothers

August 13, 2010:  A Tibetan Tale -- Chunda's Wisdom Quest

August 20, 2010:  A Russian Tale -- The Snow Maiden

August 27, 2010:  My Choice -- The Goose Girl by The Brothers Grimm

September 3, 2010:  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

September 10, 2010:  Fairy Tale Flick -- Alice in Wonderland (2010)

September 17, 2010:  The Three Army Surgeons by The Brothers Grimm

September 24, 2010:  A New, Modern Tale -- The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

October 1, 2010:  The Bremen-Town Musicians by The Brothers Grimm

October 8, 2010:  The Invisible One and The Rough-Faced Girl -- A Native American Tale

October 15, 2010:  The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

October 22, 2010:  The Old Gravestone by Hans Christian Andersen

October 29, 2010:  The Juniper Tree by The Brothers Grimm

November 5, 2010:  Fairy Tale Food & Fun

November 12, 2010:  The Tale of the Three Brothers from The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

November 19, 2010:  The Ear of Corn by The Brothers Grimm

December 3, 2010:  Snow White and Rose Red by The Brothers Grimm

December 10, 2010:  The Snowman by Hans Christian Andersen

December 17, 2010:  The Elves by The Brothers Grimm

December 24, 2010:  The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

December 31, 2010:  Thumbling by The Brothers Grimm

January 7, 2011:  The Ice Maiden by Hans Christian Andersen

January 14, 2011:  My Choice -- Tangled (Disney)


Whew!  What an amazing year!  I discovered that I love the modern version of many tales (i.e., Rapunzel's Revenge and The Goose Girl).  I was shocked at how violent many of the original tales were.  The endings were often not happily ever afters and definitely not appropriate for the younger crowd.  Religious undertones were not uncommon, particularly in Andersen's tales.  And, Grimm's tales were often simply grim!  All in all, it was a great year!

Though I will be saying good-bye to Fairy Tale Fridays, I am not saying good-bye to fairy tales in general.  I have started the Fairy Tale Challenge and hope to explore at least one tale a month, if not more.  I encourage you to join me!  And, if you are interested in continuing with Fairy Tale Fridays, the loyal participant of the meme, Carol's Notebook will be carrying on the tradition.  Feel free to join her and share in the fairy tale love!

Leaving you happily ever after!

What was your favorite tale of the year?  What was your favorite memory?


2 comments:

  1. My favorite was probably the Princess and the Pea or Johnny Appleseed. Several were very different from the version I grew up with - Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood

    Thanks for the mention, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. carolsnotebook . . . I think it was actually really difficult to pick my favorite! I can more easily tell you which ones I didn't like! :) And, you're welcome because you're awesome! :)

    ReplyDelete

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