Fractured Fairy Tale

Seriously, Cinderella is so annoying! : The story of Cinderella as told by the wicked stepmother

Written by: Trisha Speed Shaskan

Illustrated by: Gerald Guerlais

Picture Window Books, 2011

24 pages

Fractured Fairy Tale

I picked this fractured fairy tale because I think the stepmother was always the wickedest character in fairy tales. All of the fractured fairy tales fascinate me. I had never heard of this genre before I entered the education program and I think that turn of perspective is genius. This book was recommended to me by a friend in Lit Block. She introduced me to this book and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This book takes the classic Cinderella story and puts a twist on it. Instead of showing the step mother as an evil character, she is shown as a character that is worried about Cindy. Cindy as she goes by in this book is shown as a whimsical character who almost sounds crazy with her storytelling.  The step mother is shown making all both of her daughters clean but they can’t keep up with Cindy’s pace. Does Cindy get the whole house cleaned? Does she continue to tell ludicrous stories? The most important question is does this fractured fairy tale princess still get her prince?

              The illustrations in this picture book are very detailed. The illustrations and text are critical to the story. The use of digital illustrations provide a cartoon like image. The lines the illustrator uses suggest movement throughout the book. The colors used are very dull, not bright or exciting. Even though the colors aren't very bright the pictures still draw your eyes to every detail. These illustrations help the readers visualize and comprehend as they read the story.

              This book is appropriate for four to eight years old. This book is grade level appropriate for 1^st graders. You can use this book for a social studies, arts, and writing activities. Social studies activity could include creating a timeline. You could have strips of events and have the student’s place them on the timeline is their order they go in. In the arts you can have the students create their own castle they would like to live in if they were in a fairy tale. The boys and especially the girls could get into this activity. Writing activities with this book are endless. You can prompt the students with many questions. Prompting the students to write from a different point of view would make a interesting paper to read. The fractured fairy tales show children point of view that is easy for them to understand and catch on to. Everyone has heard the real Cinderella story so they automatically know that something is different. I could not find any awards presented to this book.

               

Traditional Lit

The Mitten

Retold by Jim Aylesworth

Illustrated by: Barbara McClintock

Scholastic Press, 2009

32 pages

Traditional Literature

              I found this book through our textbook. I had forgotten about it from when I was little but as soon as I started reading it all came back to me. Of course the version I had read was by Jan Brett. Even though I’m not that old the fact they are being retold makes me feel a little bit older. That just shows how timeless traditional literature is. In this story Forest animals find a boys lost mitten in the snow. One by one the file their way into the mitten trying to stay warm. The mitten can only be stretched so far though. What might happen to this mitten if there are too many animals?

              The pictures in this book look to me like dark watercolors or oils. The illustrations help your children see what’s going on by looking at the pictures while the adult reads the text. Students remember more when they have visuals. It helps the students remember what happened next if they can picture it in their mind.

              It is appropriate for a younger audience. That being said I think that this book could be used in an older classroom depending on the activity you pair it with. Using this in an early elementary classroom I would make it a reader’s theatre. They could dress up like the animals or use puppets they create themselves. Children would gain so much more knowledge by reading and acting out the story. For a science connection you could talk about the different animals in the story. You could even relate weather and how cold winter is into this as well. Social Studies work you can look at the past versions of this book and show how they have changed over time. This version of The Mitten received a silver Parent's Choice Award.

Poetry

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein

HarperCollinsPublishers, 2004

183 pages

Poetry

        This book of collected poetry was recommended to me as an elementary school student. The teacher I had showed us many of his poetry books and I fell in love. I have since been drawn to these books even as an adult they are quirky and fun to read. My favorite from this book is, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. It is a very detailed poem about nasty silly food being left inside instead of being taken out. It finally begins to be too much but by that time there was just so much. Will Sarah take the garbage out? Read her story on page seventy one of Where the Sidewalk Ends to find out!

         The illustrations in this book are done with pen and ink. Some illustrations are simple and some are more complex. They all tie into and make each poem to where you can visualize it happening. Some of his illustrations are rather odd but they bring out his genius as an artist. There is also a lot of blank space on the pages. He shows you what he wants you to see with no “background noise” along with it.

         This book is appropriate for an older elementary school classroom, third through fifth grade. I feel some of the poems there are some words that are inappropriate for lower grades than third. Using this text in a writing lesson, center work, or small group would be great. I think it would be great to pick out a few poems from this book and let each student pick a title. After they choose tell the students to write a poem from the title they have chosen. After the students finish the poem they will read there poem. After they are done reading they will look at Shel Silverstein’s poem. You could then compare and contrast their poem to Shel Silverstein’s. This book has won ten awards including New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year. It has been in circulation since 1974 and was republished in 2004 for its thirty year anniversary. Follow this link to hear Shel himself read a selection from Where the Sidewalk Ends! http://youtu.be/CNiaYHZme_U