This is a modern twist on the classic Cinderella fairy tale. Cinderella, per usual, spends her days cleaning and doing her stepmother's and sisters' hair. She sees the prince in a magazine and dreams coming to save her. When she finds out he's having a ball, she calls up a fairy godmother and makes an appointment. That's when it all starts to go awry. The godmother is not what she expects - and neither are the clothes. Even the ball is disappointing, and the prince - well, let's just say he was more attractive in the magazine. So she makes her own happy ending.
I like the girl-power feel of this one, and the illustrations are bright and funny. I think this would make a good book to read aloud to any little girl, reinforcing that a girl can be whatever she wants to. And that pictures in magazines aren't always realistic.
Thursday's Tales is a weekly event here at Carol's Notebook....
My poor puppy has a nasty hot spot. I'm picking up some prednisone and powder for him this afternoon, so it should be cleared up in a week or so. But that's why I was thinking about dogs today and I knew Aesop has several fables featuring dogs.
A dog had stolen a piece of meat out of a butcher's shop and was crossing a river on his way home, when he saw his own shadow reflected in the stream below. Thinking that it was another dog with another piece of meat, he resolved to make himself master of that also. But in snapping at the supposed treasure, he dropped the bit he was carrying, and so lost all.
It is not wise to be too greedy.
Can't you just see a dog doing that? Not my dog, of course, because he's not a big fan of water and probably wouldn't have been crossing the stream in the first place. Of course, he...
It's been a while since I featured a tale by the Grimms. "The Old Woman in the Woods" may be titled after an old woman, but the heroine is more of the standard Grimm type.
A poor servant girl, who I assume was lovely and humble and kind, was once traveling through a great forest with her master and mistress, when robbers came out of the trees and murdered everyone they found. Everyone died except the girl, who had jumped out of the carriage and hidden herself behind a tree. After the robbers had taken all the valuables and left, she came out of her hiding place and saw the horrible disaster. She began to weep, and said, "What can a poor girl like me do now? I don't know the way out of the woods. No humans live here, so I'll most certainly starve to death."
She walked about looking for a path, but couldn't find one. When evening fell she...
Today, I'm sharing another story from Walter J. Hoffman's book, The Menomini Indians, circa 1888. Historically, the Menomini tribe occupied a territory in upper Michigan and Wisconsin. Today's tale is about the sun and moon.
Once on a time Ke´so, the Sun, and his sister, Tipä´ke‘so, the Moon (“last-night sun”) lived together in a wigwam in the east. The Sun dressed himself to go hunting, took his bow and arrows and left. He was absent such a long time that when his sister came out into the sky to look for her brother she became alarmed. She traveled twenty days looking for the Sun; but finally he returned, bringing with him a bear which he had shot.
The sun’s sister still comes up into the sky and travels for twenty days; then she dies, and for four days nothing is seen of her. At the end of that time, however, she returns to life and travels twenty days more.
Thursday's Tales is a...
Today starts the Sci-Fi Summer Readathon. It's not surprising that there aren't many sci-fi-ish folk tales or fairy tales out there, so instead I found a spacey tale. This story comes from the Walter J. Hoffman's book, The Menomini Indians, circa 1888. I found it at Windows to the Universe.org. The Menomini are a federally recognized nation of Native Americans, with a reservation in Wisconsin. Historically, the tribe occupied a territory in upper Michigan and Wisconsin. Their explanation of the aurora borealis is simple, but I like it.
In the direction of the north wind live the manabai'wok (giants), of whom we have heard our old people tell. The manabai'wok are our friends, but we do not see them anymore. They are great hunters and fishermen, and whenever they are out with their torches to spear fish we know it, because then the sky is bright over the place where they are.
I've never seen the northern lights. I'm told there are times when...
Today I have another story retold by Elphinstone Dayrell in Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, 1910. "The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise" tells why the hippopotamus is always in the water. I found the story at worldoftales.com.
Many years ago the hippopotamus, whose name was Isantim, was one of the biggest kings on the land; he was second only to the elephant. The hippo had seven large fat wives, of whom he was very fond. Now and then he used to give big feasts for everyone, but a curious thing was that, although everyone knew the hippo, no one, except his seven wives, knew his name.
At one of the feasts, just as they were about to sit down, the hippo said, "You have come to feed at my table, but none of you know my name. If you cannot tell my name, you shall all of you go away without your dinner."
As they could not guess his name, they had to...