Favorite Fairy Tales

[Shisho]

I've been doing a lot of reading up on fairy tales lately, and just this morning I read an article talking about how Shrek is bad for our children because it skews classic fairy tales before kids have a chance to learn them. (I don't entirely agree with this, but that's neither here nor there.) Stardust is also coming out on Friday, and I love the book's fairy tale-like feel. Can't wait to see the movie.

In any case, I'd love to hear about your favorite fairy tales and why you love them, or loved them as a child.

[Aggie]

I've been doing a lot of reading up on fairy tales lately, and just this morning I read an article talking about how Shrek is bad for our children because it skews classic fairy tales before kids have a chance to learn them. (I don't entirely agree with this, but that's neither here nor there.) Stardust is also coming out on Friday, and I love the book's fairy tale-like feel. Can't wait to see the movie.

In any case, I'd love to hear about your favorite fairy tales and why you love them, or loved them as a child.

well i'd hate for those asshats to have to read the actual grim tales...:rolleyes:

anyhoo...i was more of a nursery rhyme reader than a fairy tale reader and then by the time i was 7, i discovered greek mythology...having said that...i really liked watching disney movies...do that was pretty my real exposure to fairy tales...but one day i was watching tv and i think i was in 9th grade when this happened, anyway, i was watching tv and i happened to catch a non disney animated movie that was faithful to hans christian andersen's original "little mermaid"...i remember watching it and being totally mesmerized by the story and then when the end came, i bawled like a little kid it moved me so much...and even though the disney version sugar coats the story, it's still my favorite disney movie...actually, it's my all time favorite movie...but yeah, "the little mermaid" is my favorite fairy tale.

[Monkey Boy]

I always liked Puss in Boots. Tricking the Ogre into turning into a mouse so he could eat him. I just love that trixy little bastard. Plus the name isn't half bad.

On another note I can't wait to see Stardust as well.

[Shisho]

well i'd hate for those asshats to have to read the actual grim tales...

anyhoo...i was more of a nursery rhyme reader than a fairy tale reader and then by the time i was 7, i discovered greek mythology...having said that...i really liked watching disney movies...do that was pretty my real exposure to fairy tales...but one day i was watching tv and i think i was in 9th grade when this happened, anyway, i was watching tv and i happened to catch a non disney animated movie that was faithful to hans christian andersen's original "little mermaid"...i remember watching it and being totally mesmerized by the story and then when the end came, i bawled like a little kid it moved me so much...and even though the disney version sugar coats the story, it's still my favorite disney movie...actually, it's my all time favorite movie...but yeah, "the little mermaid" is my favorite fairy tale.

I love the movie, but yeah. The original is way sad. :(

My favorite fairy tale is probably the one about the six (sometimes twelve, depending on the version) brothers who are turned into swans (ducks, ravens, whatever), and the sister has to rescue them by making a special shirt for each of them out of starwort (sometimes thistledown, depending on the version). She has to remain silent for 7 years, neither laughing or speaking while she sews the shirts.

There is definately a theme in fairy tales of the heroines needing to keep their big mouths shut. :rolleyes:


I always liked Puss in Boots. Tricking the Ogre into turning into a mouse so he could eat him. I just love that trixy little bastard. Plus the name isn't half bad.

On another note I can't wait to see Stardust as well.

I think I could hang with that cat. He sounds like he knows how to party. :D

[heystacy]

I like Sleeping Beauty, but there are several versions of this story.

[TCJohnson]

well i'd hate for those asshats to have to read the actual grim tales...:rolleyes:

anyhoo...i was more of a nursery rhyme reader than a fairy tale reader and then by the time i was 7, i discovered greek mythology....

My grandmother never liked Fairy Tales as much, so she used to read me Greek Mythology when I was 4 and 5. When I was 6, 7 and 8, my mom used to read me The Lord of the Rings before bed.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Jack & The Beanstalk, probably; especially the Disney version (before all the evil) with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in the lead roles.

[DocAbsurd]

When I was young, I suffered through years and years (and years) of eye exercises to combat a 'lazy eye'. Hell, it was that or surgery and here I am, 35 years later, just starting to need glasses. Something musta worked, right?

Anyway, during my visits, I used to devour whatever selection of reading material was available. One in particular was called 'the Five Chinese Brothers (http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=613467)'. Technically, it's a folktale, but I always regarded it as a fairy tale.

I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 (1969-70) at the time, but even then I could see the Fantastic Four plainly.

It remains my absolute favorite, bar none.

[Jade_GL]

I always liked the story of Jack Frost.

It's a Russian take on the evil stepmother tale. Long story short, the good girl is sent out to die but is instead given beautiful gifts by Jack Frost because she is so kind and wise. When the stepmother sends her stepdaughter out to get riches from Jack Frost, the girl is mean and nasty. Instead or riches she is frozen to death on the spot. Of course, the stepmother finds her and is heartbroken, while the good girl has beautiful things and will be married to a good husband.

It's kind of morbid, but I always liked it. I have a copy of it in a book that I purchased not too long ago a called "Russian Fairy Tales" which was translated by Norbert Guterman. Very interesting stuff if you want to read some different types of fairy tales.

Oh, and I was always a fan of the Grimm's Fairy Tales as well. My brother had an old book of their collected stories and I would always want to read it.

[Erebus]

I liked stories with lots of action, like Jack the Giant Killer, The Snow Queen, the Brave Little Tailor, Sinbad, and various King Arthur stories.

[adam_warlock_2099]

Galdone, Joanna. The Tailypo: A Ghost Story. Illus. Paul Galdone. New York: Clarion, 1977. In this picture book, an old woodsman lives in a one-room house with his three dogs: Uno, Ino, and Cumptico-Calico. After a day of hunting, the old man finds only a small rabbit to feed himself and his three dogs. Still hungry, the old woodsman begins to doze off. Just as he is about to fall asleep, a strange creature creeps through a crack between the logs in the wall. The old man cuts off the creature's long tail, cooks and eats it, and goes to bed with a full stomach. He is awakened several times throughout the night when the strange creature comes looking for its tail. Finally, the furry creature sneaks into the old man's bed, scratching everything up. Nothing remains of the old man's house except the chimney. At night, "when the moon shines and the wind blows, you can hear a voice say: 'Tailypo, tailypo, now I've got my tailypo.'"

[Aggie]

My grandmother never liked Fairy Tales as much, so she used to read me Greek Mythology when I was 4 and 5. When I was 6, 7 and 8, my mom used to read me The Lord of the Rings before bed.

until this very days, those are my favorite stories...it was the impetus that got me interested in greek history and culture..and how cool was your mom...:)



Anyway, during my visits, I used to devour whatever selection of reading material was available. One in particular was called 'the Five Chinese Brothers'. Technically, it's a folktale, but I always regarded it as a fairy tale.


that's another one that brings back memories...i liked those kind of stories too...go figure that i would be a lover of morality tales...:o

[Lester C.]

When I was a kid I wanted to be the wolf that huffed and puffed and blew the house down, but for the life of me I can't remember what that story was from my childhood.

[DocAbsurd]

I've read a few online Polish folktales, but I have yet to secure a bound volume of one. I've had a hankering for years to adapt folktales and fairy tales to a Jay Ward-ish sensibility. I've even got a pair of fairy tale detectives running around somewhere, but since Ffodres (http://www.jasperfforde.com/) did such a magnificent job with his Nursery Crime Division, I'm kinda reluctant to do so.

And speaking of swine, how about Jon Scieszka's (http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~aec8484/biography.html) 'True Story of the Three Little Pigs'? I remember when that first came out and I still have my first edition (bound upside down, just for laughs). The Things know it by heart, and I helped Thing 2 with her recitation last year for her class. She had my very inflection down pat.

[Karl J Barnes]

When I was a kid I wanted to be the wolf that huffed and puffed and blew the house down, but for the life of me I can't remember what that story was from my childhood.

The Three Little Pigs.

[MsSupaFan]

I always liked reading the story of Cinderella. And I love the Disney, Rogers and Hammersteins (sp?), the "EverAfter" versions. I always loved that dispite the evil stepmother plot Cinderella still gets the man. :)

[Pinball]

Who doesn't know the Three Little Pigs? My favorite version is the Three Little Bops.:cool:

One story i thought was neat was the one with the princess who would just believe anything people told her, so the king offered her hand in marriage to a guy who could say something to her that was so ridiculous, so outlandish, that she refused to believe it.

Maybe it's just the way Classics Illustrated Junior told it. I liked the way they did the King Midas story too.

Oh yeah, and "SLEEPING BEAUTY LAND!":D

[singoalla]

My favourite is one about a coal-man who meets a woodsprite.

Back in the day in sweden coal was made in little "teepees", wood was packed hard and wrapped in bark and cloth, and then slowly burnt until it became coal. Men would be out all day in the woods doing this chore, and usually they were alone, and made very little money.

So this story is about one coal-man, alone in the woods. He'd got a fire going, when out of nowhere a beautiful woman appeared, and hovered around the edge of his clearing. She wore a long dress, and was barefoot. The coaler asked her to come sit down, but when she turns to come sit down, he saw that instead of a regular back, she had a long foxes' tail, dark and bushy. And when she moved, her tail came awfully close to the fire.
"Mind your train, miss," said the coaler, and the woman turned and smiled at him.
Since the woodsprites are very sensitive about their tails (sometimes they have hollowed out backs, like a rotten tree trunk) she was grateful that he was so polite. They sat together, and eventually he fell asleep.
The next morning she was gone, but had left pieces of gold for him.

I like the ones about trolls too, but they're often cruel and kind of.. gory.

[Shisho]

My favourite is one about a coal-man who meets a woodsprite.

Back in the day in sweden coal was made in little "teepees", wood was packed hard and wrapped in bark and cloth, and then slowly burnt until it became coal. Men would be out all day in the woods doing this chore, and usually they were alone, and made very little money.

So this story is about one coal-man, alone in the woods. He'd got a fire going, when out of nowhere a beautiful woman appeared, and hovered around the edge of his clearing. She wore a long dress, and was barefoot. The coaler asked her to come sit down, but when she turns to come sit down, he saw that instead of a regular back, she had a long foxes' tail, dark and bushy. And when she moved, her tail came awfully close to the fire.
"Mind your train, miss," said the coaler, and the woman turned and smiled at him.
Since the woodsprites are very sensitive about their tails (sometimes they have hollowed out backs, like a rotten tree trunk) she was grateful that he was so polite. They sat together, and eventually he fell asleep.
The next morning she was gone, but had left pieces of gold for him.

I like the ones about trolls too, but they're often cruel and kind of.. gory.

That's a cute story. Is there a particular name for woodsprites with tails in Sweden? I wonder if they're related to the Japanese kitsune. I knew about the ones with the hollowed out backs only through Neil Gaiman. Where did you hear/read the story? I'd love to learn about Swedish fairies. :)

[Reverend Smooth]

I like Sleeping Beauty, but there are several versions of this story.Robin McKinley (I think that's the spelling, I have a migraine at the moment so I'm a moron) wrote a good version called 'Beauty'.

[Michael P]

"How The Children Played Butcher With Each Other."

[hellokittykat]

I liked 'Miney and the Effed Up Whores'.

[Shisho]

"How The Children Played Butcher With Each Other."


I liked 'Miney and the Effed Up Whores'.

Strangely, I've heard of the first one. I even read it. The second one, not so much.

The Children of Famine is another one. Good lo', talk about depressing.

[singoalla]

That's a cute story. Is there a particular name for woodsprites with tails in Sweden? I wonder if they're related to the Japanese kitsune. I knew about the ones with the hollowed out backs only through Neil Gaiman. Where did you hear/read the story? I'd love to learn about Swedish fairies. :)


:)

Any woodsprite is called "skogsrå" in swedish (skux raw), but that's the same name for all of them. The only difference is some have a hollowed out back like rotten tree trunk, and some have foxes tails, and they can disguise themselves as phesants (sp?!), y'know, the bird? Usually they trick hunters into the woods and get them lost, and are quite mean :(

I grew up on these stories (swedish), parents read them to me all the time. Gaiman picks a lot from scandinavian things, and does it very well :D ~smooochies for the wonderful author~

[Shisho]

:)

Any woodsprite is called "skogsrå" in swedish (skux raw), but that's the same name for all of them. The only difference is some have a hollowed out back like rotten tree trunk, and some have foxes tails, and they can disguise themselves as phesants (sp?!), y'know, the bird? Usually they trick hunters into the woods and get them lost, and are quite mean :(

I grew up on these stories (swedish), parents read them to me all the time. Gaiman picks a lot from scandinavian things, and does it very well :D ~smooochies for the wonderful author~

He's really great. Have you read "Monarch of the Glen?" That's where I learned about the hollow backed fairies. It also has this whole thing with Beowulf. I think it's awesome that he did the screenplay for the new movie. How awesome will that be?

I'm going to have to read more Scandinavian fairy tales. They sound pretty cool. And yeah, fairies are tricksy lil' devils. Apparently the only ones who think they only do good are us silly Americans. :D

[singoalla]

Strangely, I've heard of the first one. I even read it. The second one, not so much.

The Children of Famine is another one. Good lo', talk about depressing.

See, that's the point though! If they aren't depressing or scary or someone ends up horribly maimed or cooked in a pot, there's no moral to scare the kiddies! :D

:S Just be happy you didn't hear the one where the trolls switch babies and one ends up dead when you were five....

[hellokittykat]

:)

Any woodsprite is called "skogsrå" in swedish (skux raw), but that's the same name for all of them. The only difference is some have a hollowed out back like rotten tree trunk, and some have foxes tails, and they can disguise themselves as phesants (sp?!), y'know, the bird? Usually they trick hunters into the woods and get them lost, and are quite mean :(

I grew up on these stories (swedish), parents read them to me all the time. Gaiman picks a lot from scandinavian things, and does it very well :D ~smooochies for the wonderful author~

I did not know all this! That's really cool! :) I have a friend from Stockholm; I'll have to ask her to elaborate for me.

[Shisho]

See, that's the point though! If they aren't depressing or scary or someone ends up horribly maimed or cooked in a pot, there's no moral to scare the kiddies! :D

:S Just be happy you didn't hear the one where the trolls switch babies and one ends up dead when you were five....

I don't know, the stuff my generation grew up with was still pretty sad. Not bloody, but sad. Puff the Magic Dragon? The Little Prince? Soooo sad. The original Peter Pan. All kind of sad to me.

I agree though. I think kids need to be a little more scared nowadays. My parents scared the crap out of me when I was a kid, but it made me more careful and aware of my surroundings.

[DavidAllred]

I always liked The Five Chinese Brothers... ironic that I ended up loving comics, since the brothers each had an amazing power.

[Pink Bat Max]

The Billy Goats Gruff.

God, I've always loved this story. It's a nice little morality tale on greed and hubris.

[Shisho]

The Billy Goats Gruff.

God, I've always loved this story. It's a nice little morality tale on greed and hubris.

I loved hearing that story read when I was a kid. Storytellers go to town on that one. :)

[David O Burcham]

I like any fairy tale/fable with a fox, whether as protagonist or antagonist. Aesop's The Fox and the Grapes, any of the Reynard tales, and even the Disney animated Robin Hood.

I dig the North American Tall Tales with Brer Rabbit, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyun, Casey Jones, John Henry, Johnny Appleseed and so on and so forth.

My favorite modern fairy tale is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (talking animals, Santa Claus, elves, giant monsters... that's a fairy tale).