On Wednesday, Jan. 24, The Healdsburg School’s third grade class walked to the Healdsburg Library to drop off their original, fractured fairy tale books.
For the preceding six weeks, the students had been enjoying traditional folktales from different cultures, from fairy tales to Greek myths, and then learned how and why authors later “fractured,” or adapted the stories.
For example, students examined a new Sleeping Beauty version called, “Sleeping Bobby” and a retelling of The Three Little Pigs — “The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.” After studying these literary cover versions, the students changed an element or two of a famous story (e.g. by changing a main character’s gender or age) and then developed their stories further with the changes in mind.
They, along with Healdsburg Youth Librarian Charity Anderson and Healdsburg School teacher Ann Weber, studied why modern authors are adapting these classic stories, from simply hoping to be funny, to wanting to change the way society has traditionally viewed “damsels in distress.” Their handmade books will be available for viewing at the library until Monday, Feb. 5.
— submitted by Ann Weber
