ALAN v30n2 - Familiar Fairy Tale Picture Books Transformed into Teen Novels

Once upon a time in faraway places, stories were told around campfires and hearths among family and friends. Eventually these oral stories were written down and some were illustrated. Two of the best-known names in written folk literature are the Frenchman Charles Perrault and the Grimm Brothers of Germany. In 1697 Perrault published a collection entitled Tales of Mother Goose, and from 1812 to 1815 Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of tales they had recorded from many storytellers (Darton 1999). Folk literature from the oral tradition to the printed word encompasses four major types: legends, myths, fables, and fairy tales (Norton 1999). The most popular type of folk literature published today for children is the fairy tale, some­ times referred to as "magic" or "wonder tales" because of the presence of magic in the stories. Fairy godmothers and evil witches abound in fairy tales. Library shelves are full of illustrated versions of fairy tales, and in the last few years, familiar fairy tales have been expanded by skillful authors into novels for teens.