Reading Notes, More English Fairy Tales

I really enjoyed the first unit of English Fairy Tales I read this week, so for some extra credit I decided to read more of them. I read the story "Tattercoat." This story reminded me of a variation of Cinderella. In this story, a mother died in childbirth. The child was raised by her grandfather who resented her for causing the death of his favorite child. So instead of "Cinderella" being raised by her stepmother, "Tattercoat" was raised by her grandfather. In both stories, the girls end up with the princes. The next story I really liked was "Scrapefoot." This storheiy is a variation on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The only difference between the two is that instead of Goldilocks there is a Fox that sneaks into the bears home, sits in their chairs, sleeps in their beds and drinks their milk.

(Scrapefoot, John D. Batten)

Bibliography: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs Link

Story: The Three Little Pigs

(The First Little Pig, L. Leslie Brooke)

There once lived a momma pig and three little kids
who lived very happily oh yes they did
Until one day when the kids were grown
The momma said you must go and live on your own

The littlest pig built a house out of straw
And one day a wolf knocked with his paw
He said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in"
The pig responded, "Not by the hair of my chiny chin chin"
The wolf answered, "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in"
The wolf blew the house down and then with a jig
Ate the poor, scared littlest pig

The second pig built his house out of wood
The wolf passed by and knew the pig would be good
So he knocked and said "Little pig, little pig, let me come in"
The pig responded,  "Not by the hair of my chiny chin chin"
The wolf answered, "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in"
He took a deep breath, as the little pig fled

(The Third Little Pig, L. Leslie Brooke)

But when the house fell down, the wolf devoured the pig dead

The last little pig had a house made of brick
One day, a wolf knocked on the door with a lick
He said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in"
The pig responded, "Not by the hair on my chiny chin chin"
The wolf answered, "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in"
As hard as he tried, the house would not move
So the wolf thought of a plan no one would disapprove

He climbed to the roof and down the chimney stack
Only to realize he was now under attack
The last little pig had started a fire
And hung a pot of water over it with a wire
In fell the wolf when he climbed down the vent
No longer could the wolf give the pig any torment
The pig now lived in perfect content


Authors Note: The original story of "The Three Little Pigs" has basically the same plot as my story. I just made it into a rhyming poem. In the original story after the wolf threatens to blow down the third little pig's house, he tries to trick the pig by invites him to a turnip farm for dinner. The pig is smarter though and went to the turnip farm before the wolf said he was going to show up. The wolf next invites the pig to an apple farm to trick him out of the house. Again the pig went early and was up in the tree when the wolf showed up. The pig threw an apple far away and when the wolf chased it snuck back to his brick home. Finally the wolf invited the pig to the fair but once again the pig was smarter and went early. When the wolf showed up to the fair, the pig hid in a butter churner and rolled down the hill back home. The wolf then showed up to the pig's house, and snuck onto the roof and down the chimney. The pig had a pot of boiling water in the fire and the wolf fell in, so the pig cooked the wolf, ate him and lived happily ever after.

Bibliography: The Three Little Pigs by Joseph Jacobs link to reading

Reading Notes, English Fairy Tales, Part B

The second part of this collection was full of unfamiliar stories. There was a particular gruesome one called "Mr. Fox" in which a woman named Lady Mary married Mr. Fox. One day she went to her husbands castle and explored. She found a room full of young ladies skeletons, and watched as Mr. Fox cut off the hand of a young lady to get her diamond ring. Lady Mary then confronted her husband, and her brother and friends drew their swords and cut up Mr. Fox. The next story, "Johnny-cake" was a variation of the Gingerbread Man, although I definitely think the Gingerbread Man was cuter. This would be the story I would choose if I were to rewrite one. With this, I would make a sequel. Instead of Johnny-cake being eaten by a fox, I would have him outrun the fox, and write a sequel about his next adventure on the run.

(Johnny-Cake, John D. Batten)

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs link to reading

Reading Notes, English Fairy Tales, Part A

This week is the beginning of the British/Celtic unit! I used the random story picker and it chose English Fairy Tales. The first story I read was "Tom Tit Tot." This story had the exact same plot as Rumplestiltskin by the Grimm Brothers. I also read "The Three Little Pigs." I think that if I were to chose a story from this first part to rewrite,I would choose this one! It was my favorite story to hear as a little kid. As this story is so well known, I think that it would be cool to write it in a rhyming poem!

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs link to reading