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Creating Stories, Creating Community 

Deborah Gutierrez

Academic Setting

This unit will be used at Whittier Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It will be designed for full day kindergarten students. On average the students are five to six years of age and class size will be approximately twenty students.

            Whittier’s population is approximately 52% Hispanic, 21% Anglo, 13% Native American, 10% African American, and 1% other, and less than 1% Asian. Whittier has approximately an 85% mobility rate as well as a free and reduced lunch program. Due to location and low socio-economic status, we face many challenges at our school given the families’ living situation of our students. One of our main goals is to build community. While many of our children have moved several times in their short lives, some are living with relatives or friends, and others in temporary housing such as hotels or shelters. Not surprisingly, many struggle with a sense of belonging. (Our diverse population and many different ideas and beliefs that create our school may well be considered our greatest asset.) Our students bring many different ideas as well as experiences to our community. Many have a strong “street sense,” or an understanding of how basic survival works. From an early age my students realize the dangers of the street and what lies outside their home. Their homes aren’t bordered with colorful flowers and growing trees but rather cold cement and trash strewn about the neighborhoods. You don’t walk down the street and smile at your neighbor but rather pass quickly, trying not to make eye contact. My students also realize that many times danger lies within their home, amongst their own family or network. Shelter and safety are not the only issues; physical health is also a problem. Many of these students are malnourished and experience hunger on a daily basis. Some students do not always have running water and sanitation becomes an even larger problem. Physical and psychological conditions like these have undoubtedly a huge affect on their mental health as well. The obstacles for these students are abundant and the strikes against them only increase as they get older. Hardly surprising is the fact, given those backgrounds, that our students come to school academically behind other students their age or grade level. Many of them have had no to little exposure to academic learning outside of the classroom. Again, basic survival is often the most important task and primary concern for our population.  

In light of these socio-economic conditions, a main goal in my classroom is to convey that students, teachers, and parents are all members of a learning community whose responsibility it is to care and support each other in the learning process. I strive to teach our students how to be caring and responsible members of a productive community. 

Context and Background

The following curriculum unit plan takes a specific New Mexico Content and Performance Standard into consideration and attempts to interweave the study of fairy tales into Whittier Kindergarten studies, specifically the study of different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. The content standard reads as follows: the student responds to, examines, and critiques historically and culturally significant issues and events portrayed in literature that both illustrate and affect people, society, and individuals. More specifically we will focus on comparing different versions of the same story, identifying characters, setting, and important events, illustrate the characters and setting through dramatic play and different forms of art, and study the roles of both the author and illustrator, as well as explore similarities or parallels with the characters’ lives and our own lives. There are many similarities between the “dark forest” in “Little Red Riding Hood” and the dangers involved, and the “dark streets” that my students experience everyday. Some students may have encountered “wolves” before or may see the “wolf” as drugs or violence that many have been exposed to. This cautionary tale will provide many avenues for exploration. 

Aside from following the Albuquerque Public Schools Language Arts Content and Performance Standards, I will also use the Kindergarten Developmental Progress Report to provide focus for my lesson plans. Areas such as practicing working with fine and large motor skills, working towards demonstrating creativity, and working cooperatively, will be focused upon.           

The Albuquerque Public Schools has created a guide for teachers to direct teaching and learning, Content and Performance Standards. A team has developed a Language Arts section that addresses what is to be learned in grades K-8. I will use the different strands to help create a diverse yet specific curriculum to fit my students’ needs.  

            As a teacher, it is my job to make learning fun, safe, and as enjoyable and memorable as possible. I seek to provide rich experiences and opportunities for students to be able to make connections for themselves. It is especially important to cover the kindergarten curriculum. Many kindergartners are still struggling with basic psychological, social, and academic skills. This age group is still very developmental, yet even the most intense exposure to new material will not change the fact that children learn at their own pace. Additionally the population that I work with is socially and psychologically fragile and many of their “family units” are not in any sense of the word, traditional. This requires that the teacher needs to be extra sensitive to their individual needs, backgrounds, and ideas. The books and illustrations I choose need to appeal to my students’ senses and also illustrate differences in people and ideas. Showing similarities and likenesses will indeed assist in building community and commonality in our classroom environment. Students will be given the opportunity to create in their own way. In their book Stories, Songs, and Poetry to Teach Reading and Writing Robert and Marlene McCracken agree that “performing arts as music and dance, theater, and film can be thought of as language forms. Each represents meanings with the intent to preserve and/or transmit ideas. Each form has structural elements that must be understood if effective communication is to take place” (McCracken  4). Kinders are natural performers and again learn best when their bodies and minds are actively engaged. Many of my students are not writing until mid year and it is crucial that they have many outlets for expression. By working together on acting out “Little Red Riding Hood,” students will begin to feel a bond and connection with their peers.

            My students are wonderful in many ways. As with most 5 and 6 year olds, learning through experiencing comes natural. It will be important to keep the students actively involved in their creating, re-dramatization, acting, interpreting, molding, reproducing, and playing with the characters and stories we read.  

           In her book Drawing With Children, Mona Brookes emphasizes the importance and speaks of the necessity of making the learning environment as safe and non-threatening as possible. Since many of my students come from abusive and violent or volatile homes, they need to feel safe to create and express themselves. They need to learn how to be safe at school and become “risk takers.” They need to be taught that it is ok to express feelings, emotions, and thoughts and that what they have to say is important. Many of my children have had very little or no exposure to books. They need to experience the pleasures of literature and how books can entertain, comfort, and stimulate them. Stories can also help a child understand newly felt emotions. My students also need opportunities to feel success and by providing different ways of interpreting literature such as through art, students will gain a sense of worth and a boost in self-esteem. When a person feels good about their accomplishments, their pride and knowledge can be filtered towards other subject areas. As Cornett has noted in The Arts as Meaning Makers,  “exploration of art materials has the potential to alter brain chemistry, creating a feeling of optimism and well-being because play taps into brain chemicals involved in pleasure…” (Cornett 12). Art and play are a way of life. Through art and play, we live and learn. 

            My curriculum unit is a basic starting point for the exploration of fairy tales. Depending on the student population and when fairy tales are introduced into the classroom, this study can be integrated and continued throughout the school year. It can be thought of as a possible starting point and/or a springboard for further literature studies.    

Most likely I will start this curriculum plan mid-year when my students have had time to develop their ability to process different material and make comparisons. They need time to develop their fine motor skills to feel better equipped to handle the art projects. 

Myths and legends  

Early oral folk tales were created to explain natural occurrences, the change in seasons or weather, to celebrate rites of harvesting, hunting, marriage or conquest. With the intent of bringing people together, storytellers told the tales face to face and the content changed as the needs of the people changed. In his book Creative Storytelling, Jack Zipes speaks of storytelling as a way to create and strengthen community. He notes that, “stories are meant to incite, not to destroy, to provoke thought and curiosity; to point a way toward creating a network within a community that brings people together…” (Zipes 6). In many ways, stories can be thought of as the strongest thread between the members of a community to come together, to unite with a common cause.   

With the invention of the printing press, oral storytelling underwent an immense revolution. The oral tale was now gradually adapted by a particular social class, first the aristocracy and then the middle-class, and the “form, themes, production, and reception of the tales were transformed” (Tartar 334). The literary fairy tale became a vehicle, a means by which to display proper social behavior and demeanor in all types of situations. As the literary tales rose, oral traditions did not cease but rather continued to feed the writers material for the literary fairy tales. Unlike the oral tales, literary fairy tales were very exclusionary. Since not many common folk could actually read, only the wealthy and educated read fairy tales. And it was “groups of writers, particularly aristocratic women, who gathered in salons during the seventeenth century and created the conditions for the rise of the fairy tale” (Zipes, “Origins” 18).  These women were set on creating a code of civilite, primarily for educated adult audiences and later on for children. Zipes goes on to say that “literary fairy tales are socially symbolical acts and narrative strategies formed to take part in civilized discourses about morality and behavior in particular societies and cultures. They are constantly rearranged and transformed to suit changes in tastes and values” (Zipes, “Origins” 18). It is important to state again that, as the social needs were changing accordingly the tales were changing.  

By the 1900’s we see other means of reproduction supersede or displace literary tales. Walt Disney begins to capture an audience with fairy tale films. These animated fairy tale characters dominate the screen and less importance is placed on their voice or words. In one respect Disney has robbed the literary tale of its voice and changed its form and meaning, yet he also has returned the fairy tale to the majority of people. Where the lower class had been excluded before because of their inability to read, now film was open to any and everyone. People were now once again coming together to view fairy tales. But this time more than ever before the intent of the fairy tale was to leave audiences mesmerized, creating escapist fantasy and the chance to be left in awe. As Jack Zipes has argued, this changes the original “subversive” character of the genre: 

Instead of using technology to enhance the communal aspects of narrative and bring about major changes in viewing stories to stir and animate viewers, he (Disney) employed animators and technology to stop thinking about changes, to return to his films, and to long nostalgically for neatly ordered patriarchal realms (Zipes 352). 

Disney fails to use fairy tales as a vehicle to explore the deeper implications of the social order. The story is now secondary to technology, the movies are made to display the latest developments in animation. 

Charles Perrault is the first to put Little Red Riding Hood in writing in 1697. He emphasized the fact that he wrote for children, which was a condition of acceptance in high society. The wolf represents not an animal but all sorts of people whom the innocent girl must be aware of in society. The Brothers Grimm who rewrote “Little Red Riding Hood” a hundred years after Perrault, write of the “educational” perception evolving from the previous “amusement” perception of the child. Their version was intended for middle-class, adults and children alike. The idea that children need to learn moral lessons from every event, experience, or story, guided their editing of folk tales.  

One of the first Little Red Riding Hood stories for this curriculum unit has been adapted by Lynne Suesse and illustrated by Thea Kliros. This version was chosen because of its simplistic form. Little Red, the Wolf, and Grandmother are all one-dimensional characters. The illustrations are simple and sweet. No one character has more emphasis than the other and the focus is on the story line. Since my first goal is to familiarize my students with this very popular tale, this version is very suitable. The initial focus for my students will be to get to know the tale and its characters.  

 Suesses’s version is a gentle tale of Little Red. The protagonist has spent time helping prepare a basket of goodies with her mother to take to her ill grandmother. Soon, she encounters the non-threatening wolf who has just picked a bouquet of flowers and Little Red is encouraged by him to pick flowers for her grandmother. Although she remembers that she was told not to talk to strangers, the wolf seems so nice and friendly that she interacts with him. When Little Red finally makes it to Grandmother’s, she notices that Grandmother does not look so good; in fact, she looks different. After the traditional dialogue, the wolf jumps out of bed and commences to chase Little Red. Yet because the wolf is not used to running around in a nightgown, he falls and trips several times, hence giving Little Red the chance to flee. Fortunately a sweet female neighbor is near by and Little Red runs into her arms and is comforted. When a male neighbor hears that Little Red is worried about her Grandmother still being in the house with the wolf, he wants to intervene, but before he can do so, the wolf runs out of the house and back into the dark woods, never to return. The Grandmother, who had been locked in the closet, is now set free, and Little Red, Grandmother, and the neighbor sit down to enjoy the treats.

In this version, no one gets eaten, no one gets shot, and there is no real violence. This would be a good version to begin with for that very reason. It gives the students a chance to see and understand the characters on a simple level. The illustrations are as soft as the characters. The students will enjoy a much loved and familiar text and are thus gently introduced to its characters, plot, and setting. 

           It will be important to allow students to act out the story. Jean Marzollo writes, “Young children learn best when they can figure out problems first-hand. They suffer educationally when such experiences are taken away…” (Marzollo 4).   Students learn best when they are given the chance to make sense of something and draw connections.  At this developmental stage, it is not enough to talk about and describe the characters in the story; students must also be allowed to act out the characters. As Marzollo has argued, “When children are able to discover answers for themselves, they learn more effectively than when they are told answers by a teacher. The best kindergarten classrooms are managed so that children can direct their own learning as much as possible” (Marzollo 25).  It is important to keep in mind that this age is very developmental and that kids learn at their own pace, and also in different ways.  

Because Little Red is a small child, students will relate to her story. Being told or sent to run an errand may also be an experience my students can easily relate to.  And they certainly know what it means to get side tracked or forget about a request or rule made by an adult.  

We will use the second version of “Little Red Riding Hood,” to explore more possible dangers of “straying from the path” and “talking to strangers.” Students will be thrilled by Trina Schart Hyman’s superb illustrations in her version of the fairy tale. This variant of “Little Red Riding Hood” was selected because it is a classic version with a great deal more detail and a surprise ending. Not only is the text more complex, but the illustrations are strong enough to stand-alone.  

 Hyman begins by explaining the close bond with Little Red, and her Grandmother. In this version Little Red is called Elisabeth. Grandmother has made Elisabeth a red velvet cloak with a hood, which Elisabeth adores and wears all the time. Many children can relate to a favorite hat, cape, or even blanket that never left their side, since this object often is part of their identify or security. We might explore this “security blanket” issue. Next we learn about what Elisabeth’s mother has planned. She gives very specific reasons why Elisabeth will be going to see Grandmother and how she is to get there. She also explains the importance of manners to Elisabeth. This is another area that could be explored with the students. Soon after Elisabeth had been walking for a while in the woods, she comes across the “sly and hungry old wolf.” The illustrations show the wolf towering over Little Red but he is still not more scary than a big fluffy dog. Not feeling threatened by the wolf or knowing his wickedness, Little Red proceeds to tell the wolf a little too much about where she is going, how to get there, and what her Grandmother’s house looks like. A lesson in talking to strangers can be incorporated at this time. Most students are naturally trusting of others, yet in my school community the opposite is true. Many of these students are taught not to trust anyone and that strangers are always bad. It may be a fine line for my students to understand that yes, strangers can be bad, yet not all people are that way. Different communities will have their own issues about teaching about strangers and the possible dangers involved in talking with people we do not know.  

Next, the wolf is trying to convince Little Red that the forest has much to see and enjoy and that she should perhaps pick some flowers for Grandmother. By straying from the path, Elisabeth gives the wolf the opportunity to run ahead and take care of business. Although the students know what will happen next, prediction can be explained. In this version of the fairy tale, the wolf tricks Grandmother into letting him in and then eats her whole. At this time I will be talking to the students about fact and fiction, fantasy and reality. Since many of my students are delayed with their development a year or so, fantasy and reality still run into each other. In his book In Their Own Way, Doctor Thomas Armstrong writes that “children typically grow in fits and spurts, through periods of stagnation and periods of discovery, times of flare-up and times of quietude” (143). While it is important to expose students to different things, we need to remember that they will grasp on to ideas in their own time and in their own way.  

Meanwhile, Little Red makes it to Grandmother’s with her basket of goodies and a huge and beautiful bouquet of wild flowers. She enters the open door to the house and senses that something is wrong. She proceeds to examine Grandmother and begins to question her big hairy ears, her shiny eyes, her strange looking hands, and her big sharp teeth. This version of “Little Red” emphasizes pronouns and it would be fun to make a class list of other descriptors for the wolf. The illustrations also provide great detail for the story and we will spend much time to study the pictures in depth. In their book Teaching and Learning through Multiple Intelligences, Linda and Bruce Campbell discuss that, ” by supporting written or spoken language with charts, diagrams, or photographs, learning can be facilitated and retention reinforced.” Many students can come to a better understanding of text through illustrations.  

The next part of the tale needs to be carefully framed by the teacher. Again, the wolf eats Little Red and then falls fast asleep. Yet when he begins to snore so loudly that a huntsman (with a large rifle) hears him, the huntsman decides to check in and make sure everything is all right. Upon entering the cottage and seeing the wolf with a nightgown on and his fat stomach “full to bursting” he guesses what has happened and raises his gun to shoot the wolf. He wonders if Grandmother was perhaps swallowed whole and if there was a possible chance she might be saved. He then cuts the wolf’s stomach open and out jump Little Red and Grandmother.  

Many of my students come from violent homes. Many will have their own stories about guns and knives and I need to be prepared to listen and give students a chance to share their own stories. It is always hard to predict what may come up in a discussion but it is a good idea to be prepared for possible personal experiences to surface with students. 

In the end, the huntsman skins the wolf and takes the pelt home to hang on his door. Little Red tells herself that she will always remember to listen to her mother and never wander off the forest path. She will also continue to practice good manners. For some students this message may be difficult to grasp. Five and six year olds are very egocentric; they understand the present but have a hard time understanding consequences. Many kindergarteners struggle with cause and affect. They tend to be impulsive by nature and many have not left the “me” stage. Again talking through the story and acting out the tale may help some students understand that there are always consequences to wrong decisions we make. Making clear what may warrant the students to lose “self-selection” or recess may help to clarify the idea of rules in the classroom and may extend to rules at home or rules when they are away from home.   

Through the next version of Little Red, I will try to convey the idea that although we can never avoid getting into trouble, wit and perseverance can help you to save yourselves. This variant of “Little Red Riding Hood” is a favorite. It is a clever Chinese version titled The Chinese Red Riding Hood  which captured me from the start with its similar yet different plot. Readers do not only enter a different culture but are confronted with a different way of thinking and problem solving. Isabelle C. Chang’s version is a delightful story that teaches wit and teamwork. Here it is the mother who goes off to visit the ill grandmother and the three daughters are left at home. The eldest is cautioned to watch over her sisters until her mother’s return the next day. Little did they know that the wolf was lurking outside and found out that the girls are alone. When the mother leaves the wolf dresses in disguise and pretends to be “Grammie.” After he enters, he immediately blows out the candle so as not to be seen in the light. The dialog between the wolf and the daughters is not the common “oh what big eyes you have Granny” but rather a more natural conversation. When the eldest daughter senses that something is suspicious, she figures out a way to get the others up to get a drink and begins to speak about the wonderful gingko nuts that grow in the tree outside. Soon all three girls are safe up in the tree and help to pull the wolf up by a rope, only to drop him every time. By the third time the wolf gets tired of being dropped and runs away. Through wit and perseverance the three sisters were able to rescue themselves. Students need to see various versions of a story, characters that look different, and different ways to deal with dangers.  

This is a delightful tale in many ways. Not only does it show students another culture, but it also shows that if we can think of different solutions to solve a problem, we can possibly save ourselves. We do not need to wait for someone to save or rescue us; instead, we need to think of how we can help ourselves.  

Implementation 

The Albuquerque Standard for grades K-5 can be accessed through the web site (http://ww2.aps.edu/~apsedumain/CurriculumInstruction/languagearts.htm.) In my lesson plans I have referenced briefly to the to the Benchmarks for brevity. The Kindergarten Developmental Progress Report or KDPR, used to asses students and to guide teachers in their teaching, is unique to kindergarten. I will also use this document to assist in planning of lessons. 

Lesson: Reading of Little Red Riding Hood by Lynne Suesse, by Trina Schart Hyman, and by Isabelle C. Chang.

Main APS Benchmark addressed: The student reads, listens to, and responds to a variety of work from a diverse collection of quality text. 

The following lesson will also be used to help encourage asking and answering questions, using pictures to predict, identifying what authors and illustrators do, and comparing different versions of the same story. The teacher will read Lynne Suesse Hyman’s version first, since this is the simplest version. The goal is to introduce students to the tale and to begin to review characters and their roles. This version may be read two or three times during the first week. The second version to be read will be by Trina Schart Hyman’s. This book has elaborate and detailed illustrations, which allows the reader to discuss the story at a higher or more complex level. The characters and setting are more realistic and we begin to see the “darkness” of the forest and of the wolf. This story may be read two to three times during the second week. Again it will be important to review characters, setting, the role of the author and illustrator, and how this story is different from the first. The third week will be spent reading Isabelle C. Chang’s version. Now the kids can be asked to predict this non-traditional “Little Red Riding Hood.” Assessment will be done orally, checking to see if they understand the role of the author, illustrator, and how the stories are similar and also different.  

Lesson: Predictable Chart with Wolf

Main APS Benchmark addressed:

The student develops proficiency in basic (kindergarten) reading skills and strategies and continues to develop vocabulary and fluency in reading across content areas. 

In this lesson, students begin to learn and practice the “tracking” of words. Language and writing is modeled as children complete a predictable sentence: “The wolf is…” I will explain to the students that there are many different ways to describe the wolf.

With a large sheet of butcher paper hanging from the board, I will start the sentence:

The wolf is hairy. (Ms. Debbie) I then will ask students to volunteer and give another sentence that begins with The wolf is… and have them use a word to describe the wolf. As the teacher writes the sentences, it is important to alternate colors for different sentences and allow a few different sittings to finish the chart with every students’ sentence. When finished, read as a class and have each student touch read their sentence. Every student should think of a different sentence.

This chart can be reviewed and read daily by students. 

Lesson: Dramatization of Little Red Riding Hood

Main APS Benchmark addressed:  The student develops and uses speaking strategies and appropriate speaking conventions to describe, narrate, express, explain, persuade, and analyze for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Students will retell as well as dramatize stories. They will describe beginning, middle, and end of a story. They will recognize similarities and differences with text.

The students will be given the opportunity to role-play and experience acting out the different characters in Little Red Riding Hood.

Lesson: Venn Diagram with Wolf

Main APS Benchmark addressed:  Student develops proficiency in basic (kinder) reading skills and strategies and continues to develop vocabulary and fluency in reading.

Students will distinguish between letters and words; point out the spaces between words, and points to words using one-to-one correspondence.

Students will be given the opportunity to discuss, compare, and contrast the wolf character in two different “Little Red Riding Hood” stories. Students will be encouraged to challenge their thinking and their ability to find differences as well as similarities between wolves.  

Lesson: Little Red Riding Hood Puppets

Main APS Benchmark addressed: Students will listen to a respond to a variety of work.

The students will retell and dramatize the story through the construction of puppets by using paper bags, glue, scissors, construction paper, yarn, and cloth. Students will be able to identify characters and distinguish between the different wolves from the different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. Assessment will be done by the completion of their puppet.  

Lesson: Class Book- The Big Bad Wolf

Main APS Benchmark addressed: The student develops proficiency in basic reading skills and strategies and continues to develop vocabulary and fluency in reading. Students will also be working on fine motor skills through their illustrations.

The students will be asked to refer back to the class predictable chart on “The Wolf” and recreate their wolf using colored pencils or markers. They will also be asked to write their sentence about the wolf. This book will be bound and added to the class library.  

Lesson: Self-Recording of the Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood

Main APS Benchmark addressed: The student develops and uses speaking strategies. Student develops awareness of speaking and language conventions. They will also share information and ideas using complete coherent sentences. Students will record themselves retelling the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Assessment will take place with the completion and sequencing of the story with the beginning, middle, and end.  

Lesson: Little Red Riding Hood Clay Characters

Main APS Benchmarks addressed: The student listens to and responds to a collection of quality texts. Students will need to review characters and be able to retell the story by using the characters.

Students will be given a ball of Crayola Clay to work with, no bigger than the size of a golf ball. They will be asked to create either Little Red Riding Hood or the big bad wolf. Those children wishing to do both may do so. Crayola Clay is super easy to work with, being both light and pliable. After the characters have a chance to dry over night, students can paint them. The characters will go in their diorama when it is completed. Students should review what Little Red looks like as well as what the wolf looks like.  

Lesson: Diorama of Setting in the Woods

Main APS Benchmarks addressed: The student listens to a variety of work and responds. Student will recreate the setting in the woods. Students will be given a pre-cut diorama and materials such as construction paper, glue, and scissors to create the dark and scary woods. Each student will work alone on their project but encouraged to share their ideas of what a wooded area should look like and how they may go about recreating the woods. Students will be assessed upon completing their project. The size should be suitable to fit their clay characters.

Documentation

Bibliography

Brookes, Mona. Drawing with Children. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996. 

This is a wonderful book that teaches how to enhance visual skills to help raise self-esteem and to better understand other subjects.  

Cornett, Claudia, E. The Arts as Meaning Makers. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1999. 

This is a delightful book to help understand the arts. 

Davis, Robin, W.  Art & Children. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 1996. 

This book gives information about working with children and art. 

Gardner, Howard. How Are Kids Smart. New York: National Professional Research Inc, 1995.

          This is a good resource to use when wanting to study Multiple Intelligences.

Hallett, Martin; Karasek, Barbara. Folk & Fairy Tales.  Toronto, Canada: Broadview Press Ltd,                1998. 

This is a wonderful anthology of children’s tales. It gives a nice variety and the history as well. 

McCracken, Marlene; McCracken, Robert. Stories, Songs, and Poetry to Teach Reading             and Writing. New York: Teachers College Press, 1986. 

This is a book that presents how to integrate stories, songs, and poetry while teaching reading and writing.  

Marzollo, Jean. The New Kindergarten. Cambridge: Harper & Row, 1987. 

This is a book designed to inform about the needs of five and six year olds and what a good kindergarten classroom should look like. 

Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 1999. 

This is another useful anthology of classic fairy tales including theory and a wide variety of interpretations.            

Zipes, Jack. Creative Storytelling. New York: Routledge, 1995. 

A delightful book about how fairy tales can be useful in the classroom. 

Zipes, Jack “The Origins of the Fairy Tales.” Fairy Tales As Myth. Myth as Fairy Tale. Jack              Zipes. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. 1994.          

           This book can assist you in learning about the origin of fairy tales.