Our imaginations are running rampant this weekend with Halloween, All Saints, and Dia de los Muertos celebrations.
A recent solo fall hike turned my imagination to fairy tales. The best known fairy tales and folk tales began as stories told hundreds of years ago and retold to each new generation. Many fairy tales, especially the ones from Europe, take place in a forest. Maybe Hansel and Gretel dropped bread crumbs in a place like this:
Will the Billy Goats Gruff's troll give me passage across this bridge?
Does a gingerbread house or big bad wolf lurk around this corner?
Is that La Llorona I hear weeping?
The Wizard of Oz is not a true fairy tale; still these trees remind me of the scene where Dorothy and her friends were attacked by the enchanted apple trees:
(Here's the scene, in case you forgot:)
Fairy tales hold some universal appeal to us as human beings in a world we can't control or fully understand. What is your favorite fairy tale or folk tale?
For more on fairy tales, see SurLaLune, the fairy tale website and my book, Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales in the Library and Language Arts (or see my blog sidebar).
Excellent, Jane. Love those pictures and your commentary.
ReplyDeleteHey MGJ, thanks for your kind comments. What is your favorite fairy tale?
ReplyDeleteHi,Jane. I love the Wizzard of Oz. Many years ago, my class students played this story at the school festival. Of course in Japanese. My favorite fairy tale is "Momotaro", which is a Japanese famous story. Momotaro, a boy born from a peach grew up to be a strong man to get rid of bad demons.
ReplyDeletePS: Thank you for your sweet comment.
Hi, beagleAnnie! Thanks for the comment. I will look for an English version of "Momotaro." It's not a story I know.
ReplyDelete