Troubling news reaches me from my colleagues in the cinema industry– the latest Disney film `Tangled` is to be their last ever fairy tale…
“Whatever next!” I spluttered to my barber"Is this political correctness gone mad?...Rapunzel with a hair net?”…
“No, no, sir” he assured me, (he’s a very cultured coiffeur as you’d expect) “I believe it is because the producers no longer believe that boys want to watch fairy tales or princesses any more…”
Well,... that’s dealt me a heavy blow, I can assure you; am I to be deprived of Jack and his beanstalk?
A ban on Puss in Boots?
A ration on Rumpelstilstkin?
A prohibition on the princess and the pea?
I like a fairy tale as much as the next chap.
What do you think, dear readers?
Weren’t you weaned on wonderful words?
Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop, Charles Perrault, The Brothers Grimm, …Where are you now?
YOUR READERS NEED YOU!
So, dear blogfollowers…What’s your favourite fairytale?
Tell us using the magic comments box below…(Let your hair down...it’ll be our secret, just between you, me, and the library elves…)
TTFN
38 comments:
Favourite fairytales, where to begin?! I think you can't beat the Three Little Pigs for entertainment value, a bit of huffing and puffing is always welcome! And there's some great modern versions like 'The Three Little wolves and the Big Bad Pig'
Sue, you're so right! I`m a great admirer of those three little pigs too...One of my favourite first books, I`ve not thought about them for many a year...I must revisit the book.
Goodness me - how can fairy tales go out of fashion? I remember all the ones on your list and even more when I look at your fairy tale link to the catalogue - but does anyone else remember Mother Hollie?
I think Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant must be my favourite. Lovely , memorable and very poignant. And the Gingerbread Man "Run run as fast as you can " has been told by this former children's Librarian to class visits too numerous to count! ( I have even made my own Gingerbread Man from felt - sad but true!) And the Emperor's New Clothes so often rings true ! And finally Roald Dahl's retelling of Little Red Riding Hood when she pulls a pistol from her knickers and shoots the Wolf dead has got to be a classic moment to remember!
It has to be Beauty and the Beast - it's such a great story and the Disney version has the most fantastic song in 'Be our guest'.
Thanks Val ~
Good choices - very impressed that you've made your own felt gingerbread man...Well done!
(But are we allowed to use the word "knickers" on this blog?...Not sure...
TTFN
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We dare 't go a-hunting
For fear of little men.
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!
Goodness! Thank you all for these, with one wsish of my magic wand we've conjured up all sorts of treasures...
No, I`ve not heard of 'Mother Hollie`...Has anyone else?
And Maralyn, I loved this verse...(I seem to remember my grandma saying this, and she wasn't usually a grandma much given to light verse...) Super!
TTFN
I remember acting out "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" in class at Primary School, so that obviously made a big impression on me - we used a table for the bridge and clomped over with enthusiasm!
I loved fairy tales as a child.
Rumpelstiltskin was one of my favourites (have I spelt that right?) Something about the mischief in it was very appealing.
For anyone who likes adult versions of fairy tales, I'd recommend Angela Carter. Be warned, though - her tales can be very dark.
Ah, Terri!
I am now wallowing in nostalgia ~ I really LOVE the Three Billy Goats Gruff, and that horrible troll under the rickety rackety bridge…Me and my brother used to sing this…”On a bluff, there lived Three Billy Goats Gruff etc”…in fact, very occasionally, we still do…
Splendid!
I confess I’ve never fully got to grips with Rumpelstitskin…
Nor Angela Carter, although I know they’re very popular…(Aren’t they XXX rated now?)
Re “Up the airy mountain” etc…
I’ve been asked if there’s any more lines to this verse…Yes, there’s loads!
It’s by one William Allingham, an Irish poet and folklorist…
If you type http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/poetry/TheFairies.html into a search engine you can find out lots more…
Have fun!
TTFN
Funny this comes up now, as yesterday, whilst trawling through the dingy depths of my loft, I came across my old fairy tale books. One of my favourite stories as a child was the Squirrel Wife, not sure if it's particularly well known, but was very inspiring to my seven-year-old mind.
Thanks, Jenny ~ splendid stuff!
I’d never heard of `the Squirrel Wife` before (and I can’t see it in our catalogue), so have done a quick bit of research…It’s a fairly recent tale by Phillipa Pearce, and involves a wicked elder brother, little green forest people, squirrels and lots of trees…
Glad to hear that the loft clearance is going well, do tell us if you find any more secret stories up there!
Have you ever heard two gentlemen Librarians reciting `The Owl and the Pussycat` together at 8.30 in the morning?…
Well, it happened today at the Central Library, involving the Blogbrarian and a colleague (let’s call him “David” to preserve his dignity)…I can honestly say it was a moment never to be forgotten, it brought tears to my eyes.
“The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat”…
For any readers new to this work, I would urge them to seek it out forthwith.
Toodlepip.
I'm glad somebody's mentioned Oscar Wilde - but it's not just "The Selfish Giant", his other fairy tales are lovely too, much (and wrongly) overlooked.
I really don't know which one would be my favourite fairytale. Three Billy Goats Gruff (or, in the Norwegian original, De tre bukkene Bruse) would be one favourite, and we used to do that acting in Primary School in Norway as well!
Other nice Norwegian ones are Soria Moria Castle and, a bit similar, East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
My favourite H.C. Andersen fairytale is The Ugly Duckling, while The Nightingale is a beautiful one, too (both with a small touch of the melancholy).
Ah, there's too many to choose from ...
Thanks for these latest ideas ~
Yes, a couple of other people have mentioned Oscar Wilde’s stories too – well worth looking out for.
And it’s always good to have a bit of Norwegian language thrown in…Still in Scandinavia, I have a very, very tenuous connection with Hans Christian Andersen, but it’s rather personal, and I`d rather not broadcast it online…so just ask me in person, if you’d like to know?...
And, it seems that Three Billy Goats Gruff are taking the lead in the race to be nominated `Bexley’s Best Fairytale`…
Keep `em coming,
TTFN
I have to say that I think my favourite fairytale has to be Snow White it has a bit of comedy and a bit of romance as well, perfect. I can never remember all of the dwarves names though.
The Emporers new clothes is aslo a favourite, especially seeing the looks on my boys faces when I first read it to them and they realised the Emporer was completely naked.
Thanks, Helen ~ yes, the Emperor’s New Clothes is a good ‘un!
As for the names of the Seven Dwarves…All part of our research service, here they are: BASHFUL, DOC, DOPEY, GRUMPY, HAPPY, SLEEPY & SNEEZY.
(I like Dopey, obviously, but have a secret admiration for Grumpy, Bashful and Sleepy).
TTFN
Is 3BGG really a fairy tale? I asked some now-ex-colleagues I saw this evening and they said it’s Grimm. Really? It’s not in my copy (which is OUP therefore respectable), and I don’t ever remember coming across it till I started doing Under 5s storytimes!
I love fairy tales in all shapes and forms from the classic Hans Christian Anderson to the very funny and sometimes quite rude Roald Dahl, I've also enjoyed John Connolly's Book of lost things and Susanna Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and thank you to Sharon for her recommendation I will look out for Angela Carter. I think my favourite fairy tale though has to be The three billy goats gruff I love the way they trip, trip, trip over the rickety rackety bridge!
Fantastic!
I`m all in favour of Three Billy Goats Gruff (or 3BGG, as it was rather snappily called above)
ONE QUESTION: Were the goats actually gruff? And why?
TTFN
Hi Lisa - I absolutely loved Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Such a fantastic book. Very creepy in places.
You should try Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber & other stories' - her feminist versions of classic fairy tales.
Also, has anyone seen Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods? He brings together lots of fairy tale characters. I saw it last year in the glorious open air theatre in Regent's Park - and if you haven't been there, you don't know what you're missing!
When I was much younger my parents used to tell my brother and I this rhyme:
"Off to bed", said Sleepyhead
"Tarry a while", said Slow
"Put on the pan", said greedy Nan,
"We'll sup before we go".
I would always put off going to bed for as long as possible and my brother always had to have milk and biscuits first. I'm not sure if this rhyme is from something - anyone know?
As a child I absolutely adored Danny Kaye. His film " Hans Christian Andersen" is pure magic. I would sing along with "Inch worm" , The Ugly Duckling" and my personal favourite the very risque " The Kings New Clothes". Lots of fairytales and all in the same film. H.C.Andersen was a true genius of the genre ( as was Danny Kaye). Is there a biography of his or Danny Kaye's life?
Thanks for these, even if it has meant us doing a little bit of homework…
Yes, Danny Kaye was a hero to a whole generation, I think…But sorry, we’ve no biographies of him here in Bexley. (A couple of books you could try ordering perhaps?; from the 1980s & 90s - `Nobody’s fool-the lives of Danny Kaye` or `The secret lives of Danny Kaye`)
And as for the poem:
COME, let's to bed,
Says Sleepy-head ;
Tarry a while, says Slow :
Put on the pot,
Says Greedy-gut,
Let's sup before we go…
It’s mentioned in Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes of England, anonymous (18th ? …but no more details. So, let’s just enjoy the poem…Anyone else know it?
I still have the Brothers Grimm book that my aunt gave me as a child. The Hans Christian anderson book and Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde that i bought for my children. The story that sticks in my mind is The Princess and the Pea.I always feel like the princess.....
Well, thanks `Anonymous`...
That's interesting - more votes for Oscar Wilde and HC Andersen...
And a deeply psychological insight into the Princess & the pea?...
TTFN
I loved the Buskers of Bremen, Rumplestiltskin, Hansel and Gretel and the Pied Piper of Hamelin when I was a young lad. A big German fairy tale influence on my early development. Still read these stories to Class visits today and they continue to be loved. The favourite for Schools is 'The Elves and the Shoemaker'. Where is this from ?
Thanks, Billy…
Well, I always found the Pied Piper of Hamelin pretty scary when I was young…it may very well have traumatised me!
As for the elves & the shoemaker…I think, like so many other tales, it’s a Brothers Grimm adaptation from a traditional folk story.
Ooh! speaking of scary, there's a new version of 'Red Riding Hood' that is due out on April 15th that's meant to be a horror film! I've seen some stills of the movie online and it looks pretty good to me! I'm quite keen to see it and this is one of my favourite fairy tales (I especially like Roald Dahl's version in 'Revolting rhymes'), here's the very brief synopsis from IMDB.com:
'Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.'
Thanks, Adam of the Heath...
Wow! Great name, sounds like something from Robin Hood...but that's another story.
Not sure about the werewolf connection, I prefer my fairytales to be of the traditional "my! what big teeth you have" variety, but each to his own.
ttfn
Took my grandaughter to see Tangled 3D , with our 3D glasses.
Hana was enthralled and so was I, well known fairytale with a modern day have a go heroine.
My favourite was the horse Maximus, hard on the outside but a heart of gold inside, (a bit like me really !!)
Recommended
Thank you, Pauline ~
Great review, glad that you were enthralled – you’ll have to read the book next, but not with 3D glasses, obviously…
ttfn
Yes - I knew "Off to bed said sleepyhead" and for those who don't know - Mother Hollie also appears in Grimm. Three Billy Goats Gruff is a Norweigan fairy tale.
Thanks, Terri ~ so now we know!
ttfn
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