Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Fairy Tales

            The anthology titled The Fairy Tales is compiled by Jan Pienkowski, translated by David Walser, and written by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault.  The book is geared toward 3rd-4th graders and I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. 
            This book presents Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel told by the Brothers Grimm.  Cinderella written by Charles Perrault is also included.  The stories written by the Brothers Grimm have the same basic story line as the classic fairy tales, but they provide very vivid details that inspire readers to create deep mental images.  The language and rhythm they use is really whimsical and keeps the reader interested in the story.  Cinderella is also a little more vivid than the original version, which provides readers with a great opportunity to imagine the story, even though parts seem so unrealistic. 
            To use this book effectively in the classroom, it can be used with a writing unit on using imagery in words.  Students could be given a text, much like the ones in this book and be asked to draw a picture of what the text describes.  Although the pictures will probably be different, they will likely all pick up on some of the fundamental details or emphasized parts.  Students could then write outside, using very sensory details or somewhere else and share with their classmates to show how they changed images and sights into writing.  Also, the illustrations are all in silhouette, so the reader is really left filling in those details to the images in the story.

Also, here is a link to a lesson plan to incorporate the Brothers Grimm fairy tales into the classroom effectively: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/jacob-grimm-brothers-grimm-20423.html

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