Podcast Episode

Fairy Tale Retellings

Grades
6 - 12
Podcast Series
Text Messages: Recommendations for Adolescent Readers
See all episodes in this series
Duration
27:25
Music Credit

Music in this podcast is courtesy of Scott Andrew.

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Episode 65 – Fairy Tale Retellings

A growing number of young adult authors are using fairy tales as seeds for their stories. Some of these retellings remain faithful to their original source material, while others present clever adaptations. Still others take the form of mash-ups, or creative combinations of multiple tales. Tune in to hear about an assortment of the newest fairy tale retellings: books that include middle grade humor, satire, coming of age stories, and graphic novels.

After listening to this episode, be sure to print out this list of recommended titles to take to the library or book seller.

Books featured in this episode:

  • Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman (Viking, 2012)
  • Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists edited by Chris Duffy (First Second, 2013)
  • Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge (Candlewick, 2012)
  • Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013)
  • The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy (HarperCollins, 2012)
  • Sweetly by Jackson Pearce (Little, Brown, 2011)
  • Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends, 2012)
  • In a Glass Grimly by Adam Gidwitz (Dutton, 2012)
  • Far Far Away by Tom McNeal (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013)

 

  • Lesson Plans
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  • Student Interactives
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  • Calendar Activities
Grades
6 - 8
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Lesson Plan
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Standard Lesson
Enchanting Readers with Revisionist Fairy Tales
Students examine three examples of revisionist fairy tales in which female characters act in empowered roles rather than behaving helpless and submissive.
Grades
5 - 9
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Lesson Plan
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Standard Lesson
Fairy Tale Autobiographies
Students read and analyze fairy tales from several cultures, identifying common elements. Choosing common situations, students write original fairy tales, using picture books as models and a peer review process.
Grades
6 - 8
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Lesson Plan
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Standard Lesson
Once Upon a Fairy Tale: Teaching Revision as a Concept
Students use fractured fairy tales to practice revision and editing as separate activities when they write their own versions of fairy tales.
Grades
6 - 8
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Lesson Plan
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Standard Lesson
The Big Bad Wolf: Analyzing Point of View in Texts
Was the Big Bad Wolf really all that bad? This lesson encourages students to analyze multiple viewpoints, view texts from different angles, and recognize gaps in narrative.
Grades
9 - 12
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Lesson Plan
Exploring Satire with Shrek
The movie Shrek introduces the satirical techniques of exaggeration, incongruity, reversal, and parody. Students brainstorm fairy tale characteristics, identify satirical techniques, then create their own satirical versions of fairy tales.
Grades
3 - 12
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Student Interactive
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Writing & Publishing Prose
Fractured Fairy Tales

The Fractured Fairy Tale tool encourages students to create their own fractured fairy tales.

Grades
7 - 12
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Calendar Activity
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Author & Text
Hans Christian Andersen was born on this date in 1805.
Students write a brief summary of one of Andersen's stories, and then read the original story and compare the two versions of the tale with the Venn Diagram tool.
Grades
7 - 12
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Calendar Activity
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Author & Text
Jacob Grimm, one of the Brothers Grimm, was born today.
Students compare different versions of the fairy tale Cinderella and then rewrite a lesser-known Grimm story and explain the changes they made.
Grades
4 - 12
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Calendar Activity
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Author & Text
Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was born today.

Students examine the painting that inspired Sondheim's Pulitzer-prize winning musical and then create a story of their own based on image they choose.