Folklore

Title: 10 Minute Stories: Beauty and The Beast and Other Stories

Author:  Miles Kelly  

Publisher: Miles Kelly Publishing Ltd

Copyright date: 2011

Number of pages: 40

Awards: n/a. I did not find any awards that this book has won.

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tales

Author website: http://www.mileskelly.net/

Brief summary: This ten-minute story selection includes Beauty and the Beast, retold from the original tale by Madame Leprince de Beaumont, Cinderella, retold from the original tale by Charles Perrault, Snow White and Rose Red, retold from the original story by the Brothers Grimm, and The Fish and the Ring by Flora Annie Steel. Each story is beautifully illustrated throughout and is sure to enchant young imaginations.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. The cover of this book is pretty and has comforting and soothing colors.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. The book has a few different stories in it, all of which are being retold from the original to be shorter and easier to understand.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? No. There is an abundance of words on each page, which could make it confusing and hard for an emerging reader to successfully navigate and understand. I think this story would be easier to read aloud in most cases, than to have a young reader read. If the child is a good reader, then they could surely practice reading this book because it would challenge them with longer more complex passages.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? No. This book, in this respect, is very one-dimensional because the characters are all very similar.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? No. In these classical tales, the girl is usually always rescued or saved by the man of the story. The women and men tend to be very stereotypical.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. The discussion question options are seemingly endless for this book.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes. Each story explores, through literary devices, many different situations where the characters must learn life lessons, just like we do every day.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. The stories are very diverse and take the readers to a variety of different “worlds.”

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? No. Though the illustrations are fabulously done, they do not present much variety or diversity in the characters.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? Yes. The illustrations are very charming throughout the book.

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. The illustrations are well done, though not abundant throughout the book. This book is more text heavy than illustration loaded.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? Yes. Though there are not many illustrations in this book, the illustrations nicely relate to and correlate with the text.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. I think this book is designed the way it is because it is intended for a read aloud scenario. If the target reader was a young emerging reader, I would expect more illustrations and less text. The way it is constructed leads me to think it is intended to be read to children, rather than by them, for the most part.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. With exposure, children become more and more familiar with these princess stories and grow to love them, which leads to them being very engaged and motivated during the reading.

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for 3-7+ year old children, 7+ year old readers)
1	highly readable

Classroom application:
Beauty and the Beast is a mystical tale where a young beautiful girl’s honest and enduring love for an unsightly beast ultimately changes not only the beast’s life, but hers. As we read the story, we see the importance of looking beyond what we see. The beast looks intimidating and scary, but once belle takes the time to get to know him, its clear that his rough exterior is just a façade. He is really kind and gentle and just needs someone to give him a chance to show it. True beauty comes from within and one of the most important things in life is to be kind to other and not to be self-centered and conceded. Beyond our class discussion I would have the students create a mirror using pipe cleaners, silver paint, jewels, foam brush, glue, aluminum foil and cardboard cutout mirror. Once the mirror is created, I would have them write on the non-jeweled side what makes them beautiful. The final product is precious and helps develop self-awareness and self-appreciation. I think it would be wonderful if the students shared, with the class, their final product. We are all special and sometimes it’s nice to remind ourselves why.

 

Score: 3/5. I like it. I would love it if it was less text heavy and had more illustrations!

Title: Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale Moderne

Author: Steven Guarnaccia

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers

Copyright date: 1999

Number of pages: 24 pages

Awards: 2000 Bologna Children’s Book Fair’s Best Children’s Book About Art

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Folklore

Author website: n/a. Website is incomplete.

Brief summary: Goldilocks, in this version, disobeys her mother’s instructions and goes through the forest on her way to pick up muffins. She visits the home of the three bears while they are out, and a later confrontation with them really scares her. This version revisits the familiar fairy tale original Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. The cover is catchy with black background underneath bold colors and lettering.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. Children love the original version and are sure to delight in this new edition that has a modern twist.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. The text is easily readable with many high frequency words and phrases for children to be exposed to and further practice.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? No. The characters in this book include a bear family and one little girl, who is assumed to be from European decent.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? No. The bear tend to do things together and never are depicted in any leadership situations. The young human girl is simply adventurous and a leader of her own little world.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. As the children read or listen to this book, they could be involved in thinking about many different questions, such as: Where is Goldilocks going? What are some signs and warnings that she ignored? Why did Goldilocks go upstairs?

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes. From this book, students learn about self-control and the importance of respecting others.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. The story takes place in a variety of settings, including the bears’ modern home, different rooms within their home, and the forest in which they live.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? No. There is only 3 bears and a little human girl, whom appears to be from a European decent of sorts.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? Yes. The illustrations add clarity and do a good job of not distracting the reader from the story.

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. The story does a fine job of balancing illustrations with text. The pages aren’t too busy, which helps to invite the readers to crack open the book.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? Yes. The illustrations are simplistic and add clarification to the text. The illustrations and text complement each other well.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. There is a variety of discussion questions that could stem from a read aloud of this book, including, but not limited to the following: How do you think Goldilocks felt when she woke up in the bed of one of the bears? What do you think Goldilocks told her mother about her adventure in the forest? Do you think Goldilocks thought she was in the bears’ house?

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Intended audience: Young readers 5-7 years old.

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for 5-7 year old readers)
1	highly readable

 

Classroom application:
After we are done reading and discussing the story, as an extension activity, we could discuss what a bear’s home might look like. Each student, or group of students, are instructed to draw a picture of an imagined bear family home. They should consider: Would a bear home be light or dark inside? What kinds of furniture would make bears comfortable? What would a “bear-tub” look like? What would be in a bear family’s refrigerator? Then, an additional activity, time depending, could include using different-sized boxes and art materials to construct their bear family houses. They would design and build the houses according to the bears they chose to live in it. After constructing their house, they would need to give a brief background story of the bears they chose to build a house for, including information regarding how many bears are in the family, their names, where they live, what they look like, and why their house is the way it is. They would, at the conclusion of their construction, introduce their bear family to the class and share with the class the house they built for the bear family they chose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Score: 3/5. This is a fun twist on a classic.