Myths, Fairy and Folk Tales

I have been thinking most recently of D'Aulaires' Greed Myths. Have you heard of this book? I spent hours as a child reading about the mishaps and adventures of the Greek gods and their heroes they championed. I loved the adventure, the monsters, the mystical power, the idea that there was this council of imperfect gods determining the fates of the characters in the story - sort of like a chess game. Apparently, I wasn't alone. Now there is a bestseller series and a movie coming out today, on what else? - Greek Myths in New York City!


But what are myths other than an oral tradition of stories passed down through generations and eventually recorded? Stories that instruct, entertain, help explain the natural world around us, and venture to explain the spiritual. They are folk tales.


About the same time I was reading Greek myths, I was also pretending to be a princess. Fairy tales are also about magic, monsters and adventure. They are apart of the folk tale tradition, as well. I love folk tales because they do more than instruct. They also reveal the rich culture and history from which they were born. Imagine, before there were so many books, sitting around the fire and listening to how Brer Rabbit outsmarted Fox and Bear. Or even further in the past, understanding your heritage and identity as your father recited lineage and the stories that were part of you. I just want to thank Aesop, the Grimm brothers, and Hans Christian for their part in recording these tales.


Sometimes I hear parent worry about the magic or violence in these stories. They are concerned their children will be harmed when they hear that a witch was fattening Hansel so she could eat him or a wolf was stalking a little girl in the forest and then ate her grandma. I like what C.S.Lewis has to say on the matter.

C.S. Lewis, On Stories and Other Essays

"Those who say that children must not be frightened may mean two things. They may mean (1) that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless, in fact, phobias. His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can't bear to think of. Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil. If they mean the first I
agree with them: but not if they mean the second. The second would indeed be to give
children the false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense. There is something ludicrous in the idea of so education a generation which is born to the Ogpu [State Police in the USSR] and the atomic bomb. Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let hem at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making
their destiny not brighter but darker. Nor do most of us find that violence and blood shed, in a story, produce any haunting dread in the minds of children. As far as that goes, I side impenitently with the human race against the modern reformer. Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles, and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly
killed at the end of the book. Nothing will persuade me that this courses and ordinary child any kind of degree of fear beyond what is wants, and needs to feel. For of course it wants to be a little frightened."

When my girls were small, we loved all the classic fold and fairy tales, Now that my girls are older, we love them eve more! Here are some of our favorites.

• Shelley Duvall's Fairie Tale Theatre - This is a DVD collection of classic fairy tales, made is the late 1980's - mid 1990's. When she produced these, she recruited some of the best talent of the time, including Robin Williams, Pam Dawber(remember her?), Jeff Goldblum, and directors like Tim Burton and Francis Ford Coppola. These are great fun to watch and see who you can recognize.


• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Stupid Tales and Squids Will Be Squids, both by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith --These are really funny picture books. One is a collection of twisted fold tales and the other is a collection of twisted fables.


• Lon Po Po, by Ed Young - A Red Riding Hood story from China


• Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, by John Steptoe - An African Folk Tale similar to Cinderella


• Goldilocks Has Chicken Pox, by Erin Dealey and Hanako Wakiyama - A good picture book with a rhyming story. It's got great rhythm.


• Henny Penny, by Jane Wattenburg - The FUNNIEST version of "The sky is falling". You have go to read this!

What are some of your favorites? Please let me know!