As a child fairy tales, especially the kind that involved a princess and a prince, were my favorites. I could listen all day to stories as long as someone was there to read them. In second grade my favorite teacher, Mrs. Wortley, asked the class if we had ever heard the story of the Three Pigs. We all laughed. Of course by 2nd grade we knew the story — the pigs outsmart that nasty wolf and live happily in their brick house. Mrs. Wortley then asked us if we knew the real story of the 3 pigs? The real story? What was that? She pulled out The True Story of the Three Little Pigs told from the point of view of the wolf, who was simply caught at the wrong place and time when he was sick.
After hearing that delightful tale I was hooked. What other fairy tales had this kind of twist to them? As I grew older I learned the term for changing fairy tale stories was actually called Fractured Fairy Tales. Since then I have been in love with stories, movies, and anything of this nature. The Angelina Jolie movie Maleficent is an example of a fractured fairy tale, and I recently read a young adult version of the Twelve Dancing Princesses one as well. I am always on the lookout for more stories like this to share with my kids. Here are some I have found, most I haven’t had experience reading yet as they are a little older reading for Drake right now (plus he needs to know the original stories first before we fracture them right?) but I cant wait to share them with him when he gets old enough.
EIEIO – How Old MacDonald Got His Farm With a Little Help From a Hen | Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse | The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig | Honestly Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! | Newfangled Fairy Tales | Prince Cinders | Little Red: A Fizzingly Good Yarn
Are you a fan of fractured fairy-tales? Which are your favorites?
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
So fun!
GOLD / grapefruit / 4555 posts
I LOVE fractured fairy tales. I admit to reading young adult fiction even now just because I enjoy the writing style so much more and it’s usually a much faster – and funnier! – read. Some of the fractured fairy tales that I remember liking in high school were:
– The Phoenix Dance by Dia Calhoun
– Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
– Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
– Golden by Cameron Dokey
– Belle by Cameron Dokey
– Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
– Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
– Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley
– The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
These sound so fun! We’ll have to look for them!
guest
Totally bookmarking this post for later reference! How cool!
apricot / 377 posts
Thanks for this — I’ve never heard of these, but I’m all over it now. I’m going to look for them at the Library and at the bookstore.
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
this is really cool! Saving for later
clementine / 994 posts
I love common stories told from an alternate perspective! I had no idea they were called Fractured Fairytales. You might enjoy reading Wicked (or seeing the musical – one of my faves!) and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. I believe they’re for young adults, so much too long for little ones to sit through. I’m excited to check out the ones you recommend!
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
This is an awesome post, thank you! I grew up with the traditional fairy tales, and have always loved new spins and takes on them, so I’m totally bookmarking this for my own future reading and Baby C’s.
guest
I love this stuff. When I was in 7th grade I learned that the traditional fairy tales I grew up with weren’t even the real ones: The originals were really, really dark (Hans Christian Anderson and Grimm even tamed some of them down, and those versions are pretty scary! Like, little mermaid was given the option to kill her prince – who fell in love with someone else- and turn back into a mermaid, but instead she commits suicide. Or cinderella, where the step-sisters have parts of their feet cut off to fit the glass slipper, and then cinderella eventually disfigures her sisters and kills her step-mother). It’s crazy how they evolved from something super scary/dark to something so…disney/kid ok. I’ve spent a ton of time since I was a kid tracking down the original stories and trying to find the steps of evolution. It’s wild. I still love my disney versions, though.