S/O Fairy tales and fables, do your kids read them.

tigerwife

Thu, Jun 15 2017, 11:22 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

To the bold: Do you mean the bodice rippers?

Greek and Roman mythology are the tops, action, adventure, lust, betrayal, the pantheon has it all.

I'm thinking sleeping beauty being raped in her sleep, Rapunzel's prince, getting his eyes poked out... I'm remembering a German tale about a child whose thumb was cut off because she was a thumb-sucker... not very warm and fuzzy.

I've read the basics of mythology in the Encyclopedia, lol. Then in college, some Sophocles. I've got to say that Rick Riordan's portrayal is much more entertaining.

iluvy

Thu, Jun 15 2017, 11:44 pm

tigerwife wrote:

It's funny because I clearly remember reading these stories as a child and just taking it completely in stride. Nothing disturbed me -- the red-hot dancing shoes, the stepsisters cutting off their toes and heels, boiling the deer queen in her bath, chopping up Osiris... and then of course the things I didn't understand, like Europa et al.

Sometimes I reread something I remember reading as a child and almost get whiplash from how different it seems now.

tigerwife

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 12:38 am

iluvy wrote:

Oh, yes. Have you ever read Roald Dahl's children's books as an adult? I do agree that as a kid most things did go right over my head, but some I thought about too much.

seeker

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 1:05 am

Yes, when you're a kid it just seems silly and funny, but as an adult you can see the darkness.

I'm going to disagree on the Mary Poppins issue here. It's true that the movie does not reflect the book accurately, but that doesn't mean it's not a great movie. I love the movie. It just doesn't match the book, which I like in a different way. The only difficulty here is that because the book *inspired* the movie, they have the same names which makes it annoying to people who have seen both. I do agree that most movie adaptations are just crummy in every way, and the reverse holds true too - if it was a movie FIRST, then you can pretty surely bet the book is awful.

amother

Taupe

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 1:27 am

I read some fairy tales as a kid. I believe we had the original non PC H.C. Anderson book laying around. I don't remember reading mythology.
I remember Hansel and Gretel and how the witch bit their thumbs to see if they were fat enough to eat Rolling Eyes

Gosh, I cant imagine letting my kids read that now.

Then again, I am raising my kids in a different generation than I was raised in. In my day, there was barely any Jewish Literature available. Now there is a plethora of books available that we could only have dreamed of. ( I am especially loving the Jewish Lamplighters series) I so prefer my kids to read stories of kids just like them modeling all the middos we hope our kids will have than reading about wicked and fake cannibal witches who eat little children!

I am not as knowledgeable as you ladies all are with all the fairy tales and reading out there ( I alway thought Mary Poppins to be a lovely nanny! This will not be the first, nor the last time I learn something new on imamother...)

Just my 2 cents!
now carry on!

Iymnok

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 2:40 am

amother wrote:

Ita, there's no comparison.

For my ninth birthday, my mother gave me the set of Mary Poppins books that she had found at a used book store. Pure magic.

This summer, I'm hoping to start reading The Hobbit with my nine year old, and see how far through the LOTR we can get.

No! No! The hobbit goes last! It's a prequel, read the trilogy first, then the Hobbit. (At least that's what I was told.)

amother

Lawngreen

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 3:07 am

I've read the original Beauty and the Beast with them, but seriously, at what age would you be ok with them reading about the stepsisters hacking off parts of their feet or a prince raping an unconscious woman and getting her pregnant with twins? I don't think we're quite ready for that.
Regarding Disney, I think it's obvious that their movies are loosely based on the originals and liberties were taken. I mean look at Frozen, the only thing it has to do with the Snow Queen is a queen with ice powers and servants named Gerda and Kai. That doesn't mean it's not a good film in its own right. I would say the same of all the Disney movies- they're good movies in their own right even of they're not accurate adaptations. Anyway, it's not clear that there's really an "original". Many- such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty- have different versions from different time periods and different cultures. The stereotypically gory stuff is mostly German. The French version of Cinderella does not involve chopping off feet or birds pecking out eyes. That's the other thing with Disney, a lot of the movies mish-mash different elements from different versions of the tale, which is why they aren't an accurate adaptation of any one version.

Ruchel

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 4:34 am

I'm not a liberal, so I don't mind politically incorrect. BUT I won't read or let them read when it's s-xual or too dark. I give lite versions, or cleaner ones like those from the Comtesse de Ségur. My mom was one to skip details and change endings, too.

amother

Magenta

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 4:55 am

Yes, but mostly in illustrated kids editions eg ladybird, not the original translations. They also read lots of magical and fantasy books including those rick riordan ones. Rolling Eyes

(they look horrible to me and I am definitely uncomfortable with them being sourced from greek mythology) I don't mind at all Harry potter, Dianne Wynne Jones, the Lord of the Rings etc.

water_bear88

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 6:36 am

Iymnok wrote:

No! No! The hobbit goes last! It's a prequel, read the trilogy first, then the Hobbit. (At least that's what I was told.)

Nope. They did it like that for the movies, from what I understand. (I have not and will not watch The Hobbit- they're not going to ruin one of my childhood favorites.) Per Wikipedia, The Hobbit was published in 1937 and LOTR was written in the decade following.

To answer the OP, I read all of the Andrew Lang books I could get a hold of through our public library. I think I'd heard of them first in Mary Poppins (on which I agree with Seeker- I love some of the songs, but it's so unlike the books I don't see them as the same thing). Read about the first half of the Oz books before they got tedious, both of Carroll's Alice books, Peter Pan, and assorted adapted/translated Aesop, Grimm, and Anderson.

Of all of those, I'd read my kids whatever I can find at the library, but I can't possibly own and store as many of them as I read as a kid. I even had the Dewey call number memorized for the fairy tales- 320-something, I think.

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 7:10 am

amother wrote:

Are you familiar with the Rick Riordan books? He puts a contemporary kid into the world of Greek mythology. I have very mixed feelings about it for teens.

We love the Percy Jackson series! Rick Riordan is a terrific writer, and "young adult" books are often more interesting to me than fiction intended for grownups. I think these books are fine for teens; I'm not sure what the problem would be.

As for the OP, I read and loved both classic and modern fantasy as a child, and later studied the genre in college. Young children in a different culture don't always "get" the moral of the story the way it was intended, and adults cannot always predict what they will find confusing or frightening. I'm all for allowing children access to good literature in a variety of genres, and seeing what appeals most to your child without worrying too much.

cnc

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 7:32 am

tigerwife wrote:

Oh, yes. Have you ever read Roald Dahl's children's books as an adult? I do agree that as a kid most things did go right over my head, but some I thought about too much.

I read them when I was 8-9 years old and found them very disturbing. I never reread them as an adult but I don't encourage my kids to read them.

I watched Mary Poppins when I was that age as well. I always thought that she was "nice". I never read the books. Maybe I should rewatch it to see if I'll have a different perspective now.

amother

Sienna

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:10 am

Iymnok wrote:

No! No! The hobbit goes last! It's a prequel, read the trilogy first, then the Hobbit. (At least that's what I was told.)

It is a prequel; that means first, before the series. I read them all in order, in fifth or sixth grade.

As an aside, those movies actually were done very well imo, unlike the Disney movies.

amother

Sienna

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:11 am

tigerwife wrote:

I just mentioned this to ds 13, and he informed me that this was, apparently, a typical punishment given to people in Tudor England (not sure how he knew that)

amother

Sienna

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:15 am

cm wrote:

I'm a bit uncomfortable with the whole avoda zara aspect of learning Greek mythology. It's not as though, otherwise, I would've signed ds up for a course in it.

I understand that ds knows it's fiction, which is why I did let him read them.

amother

Sienna

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:18 am

cnc wrote:

Roald Dahl's stuff was pretty disturbing. Or maybe it's just that dry British humor....

I once opened a book of short stories for adults that he wrote. There was a story about a wife killing her husband by hitting him in the head with a piece of frozen steak. Then she cooked the steak, called the cops and served them the murder weapon. (Which I guess was intended as dry irony?)

Ruchel

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:26 am

I detest Dahl, not only for his "humour" but for his Jewish issues lol. Be careful some of his "funny" stuff is also absolutely lewd and untznius. As in, I don't want to try to explain the plot. Not sure why it's funny.

amother

Sienna

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:51 am

Ruchel wrote:

Interesting, I wasn't aware of his Jewish issues. I know he fought the Nazis in WWII.

Will look that up

cnc

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 9:02 am

amother wrote:

Interesting, I wasn't aware of his Jewish issues. I know he fought the Nazis in WWII.

Will look that up

Dahl is known as having very anti -Semitic views.

Last edited by cnc on Fri, Jun 16 2017, 9:04 am; edited 1 time in total

water_bear88

Fri, Jun 16 2017, 9:02 am

amother wrote:

I just mentioned this to ds 13, and he informed me that this was, apparently, a typical punishment given to people in Tudor England (not sure how he knew that)

Has he read any of the Horrible Histories books? They delight in going into that kind of gory detail, though they're otherwise appropriate for preteens. (Nothing s-xual, and I don't recall especially bad language in the ones I read- I.e. maybe the d or h words, probably "bloody" in proper context, maybe less proper context as well.) Highly recommended reading for kids with strong stomachs.