Classic Fairy Tales, audio

Book by Original Script

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A full cast performs the eight fairy tales presented here: "The Three Little Pigs," "Tom Thumb," "Goldilocks," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "Hansel and Gretel," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Jack and the Beanstalk," and "Rumpelstiltskin." The retellings of these stories primarily adhere to the traditional tellings, with the violent endings in a couple of the stories being softened. For instance, in "The Three Little Pigs," each pig escapes to his sibling's home; the brick-house pig meets the wolf in the apple orchard and at the fair. But at the end, the wolf escapes becoming stew in the boiling pot and leaves the area for good. In "Hansel and Gretel," both trips into the forest are included. During the first trip, Hansel scatters white pebbles, and during the second, bread crumbs. In this story, however, the witch does succumb to a fiery end in her own oven. In "Little Red Riding Hood," both Granny and Red are agile enough to avoid being wolf prey by escaping into a cupboard, and the woodcutter later rescues them. The voice actors are good and classical background music sets the mood for each of the stories. This is an acceptable introduction to some very well known stories for young children.
Beverly Bixler, San Antonio Public Library, TX
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