Book in the Works: "Mother Goose Refigured"

Consider this an official 'heads-up" from us, for your fairy tale studies and folklore libraries:

Coming in November from Wayne State University Press is a fascinating new book on a topic that has had quite a bit of attention in the past coupe of years. It's titled Mother Goose Refigured, written by Christine A. Jones, and, unlike most people's impressions that Mother Goose is a nursery rhyme figure only, the character and archetype often made appearances alongside fairy tales as well, especially in the French fairy tale salon era, of which Charles Perrault was a member. His collection of fairy tales was actually titled Stories or Tales from Times Past; or, Tales of Mother Goose (1697). This book looks at the translations and adaptations of this volume and how that affected the tales themselves.

About the author, who is no newbie to critical writing on fairy tales (we still have our eye on Feathers, Paws, Fins and Claws: Fairy Tale Beasts!):

Christine A. Jones is a specialist of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France at the University of Utah with interests in the luxury trades and the fairy tale. She has authored Shapely Bodies: The Image of Porcelain in Eighteenth-Century France as well as numerous articles on trade history. With folklore scholar Jennifer Schacker, she has coedited Marvelous Transformations: An Anthology of Fairy Tales and Contemporary Critical Perspectives and Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy Tale Beasts, illustrated by Lina Kusaite (Wayne State University Press, 2015).

And we must mention: we adore the cover with Red in the wolf-en forest!

Here's the write-up. Included are two images from the book:

Charles Perrault published Histoires ou Contes du temps passé ("Stories or Tales of the Past") in France in 1697 during what scholars call the first "vogue" of tales produced by learned French writers. The genre that we now know so well was new and an uncommon kind of literature in the epic world of Louis XIV’s court. This inaugural collection of French fairy tales features characters like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Puss in Boots that over the course of the eighteenth century became icons of social history in France and abroad. Translating the original Histoires ou Contes means grappling not only with the strangeness of seventeenth-century French but also with the ubiquity and familiarity of plots and heroines in their famous English personae. 

From its very first translation in 1729, Histoires ou Contes has depended heavily on its English translations for the genesis of character names and enduring recognition. This dependability makes new, innovative translation challenging. For example, can Perrault’s invented name "Cendrillon" be retranslated into anything other than "Cinderella"? And what would happen to our understanding of the tale if it were? Is it possible to sidestep the Anglophone tradition and view the seventeenth-century French anew? Why not leave Cinderella alone, as she is deeply ingrained in cultural lore and beloved the way she is? Such questions inspired the translations of these tales in Mother Goose Refigured, which aim to generate new critical interest in heroines and heroes that seem frozen in time. The book offers introductory essays on the history of interpretation and translation, before retranslating each of the Histoires ou Contes with the aim to prove that if Perrault’s is a classical frame of reference, these tales nonetheless exhibit strikingly modern strategies. 

Designed for scholars, their classrooms, and other adult readers of fairy tales, Mother Goose Refigured promises to inspire new academic interpretations of the Mother Goose tales, particularly among readers who do not have access to the original French and have relied for their critical inquiries on traditional renderings of the tales.

"Perraultimatum" (Happily Upon a Time #1): Review by Samantha Kyle

Artwork created for cover by Manuel Morgado (English cover with text avail to view smaller below)

" The Perraultimatum" (Happily Upon a Time #1) by Filipe Faria

Review by Samantha Kyle

Editor's Note: This novel was originally written and published in Portugal (by Editorial Presença), and is the author's first foray into translating his work and publishing for English readers. 

Jacket description: 

The stories are known by all: Glass slippers, poisoned apples, charming princes and bad wolves; and all know that, in the end, those who deserved it lived happily ever after... 

But then why haven’t they? How could everything have gone so terribly, horribly wrong? And why does everyone act as if nothing were the matter? Those are the questions that torment Ash, one of the few aware that something dire is afoot, and the only one willing to go in search of answers. Answers he shall find in the cryptic verses of the Perraultimatum, which will send him on a quest in search of the happy endings that never came to pass, hoping against hope that not all is lost to gloom and despair. 

Accompanied by four others who share his fate, if not his faith — the unpredictable Hood, the enigmatic Apprentice, the tormented Vasilisa and the dangerous Donkey-Suckle — Ash embarks on an unforgettable adventure in this first book of the fairy-tale dystopia "Happily Upon a Time".

The Perraultimatum takes classic fairy tale characters, has them ask big questions about how and why they got there, then shoves them head-first into challenging adventures in their search for answers. The journey starts out following individual characters—both the famous, like LRRH and Cinderella, as well as the lesser known, like the intriguing Donkey-Suckle—but then, in unpredictable ways, their paths coalesce in the woods. Before long, they are thrown together for an epic quest to rid the world of evils.

The book has a classic fairy tale setting where people get around on foot or horseback in a land full of cottages, kings, and castles. It becomes an interesting mash-up of tales, tropes, and premises. The object of the title itself, The Perraultimatum, is the source of cryptic clues for characters to decipher on their hazardous and intertwining journeys. Myth and magic play a prominent role as well, with magic keys, talking animals, mischievous spirits, and the classic fairy tale villain—the Evil Queen, not to mention a bonus bloodthirsty troll...

Speaking of bloodthirsty – there's quite a bit of gore staining these pages! The first chapter features a man getting his throat ripped out and it only gets more intense from there. A detailed  torture scene, bloody battles, troll rampages, disembowelments and dismemberments are just a sampling of what you’ll find. Walt Disney himself would have a hard time making a family friendly film from this story, so sensitive types may want to pass on this one. However, if violence in fairy tales is something you're okay with reading, you're in for quite a fun ride.

For me, the most interesting part of the book was seeing all the different fairy tale characters meshed together. Although this seems to be a common trope in retellings these days, with varying degrees of success, it works well here. My particular favorite character combination was Ash and Hood. Ash is quiet and contemplative while Hood is bold and unpredictable, mostly due to the fact that she can transform into a wolf. There are hints of romance between the two of them and, in this case, opposites attract. Ash is sometimes intimidated by Hood, not knowing what she’ll do next, which only adds to the romantic tension.

While I did enjoy The Perraultimatum overall, I felt the book’s pacing to be a bit uneven. There were great action packed moments that had me riveted to every word, but there were also some transitional scenes that I felt the urge to skim in order to return to the pulse-pounding action.

I would recommend this book to readers who have read and loved the traditional fairy tales of Perrault, Andersen, the Grimm brothers, and like their fairy tales dark and violent (but still with a traditional style). Since it is labeled as Book 1, we can presume this is only the beginning a much longer search and quest for that elusive - and ultimate - Happily Ever After.
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Disclosure: A complimentary e-copy of was given to the reviewer in exchange for an honest review.

Samantha Kyle  is a passionate reader/book blogger whose favorite fairytale of all time is Beauty and the Beast, but she'll basically read anything that is put in front of her. She has a blog called Suicide by Books where she posts reviews, essays, and reading wishlists: http://suicidebybooks.blogspot.ca/

Sleeping Beauty as 'Sloth' & Cinderella as 'Jealousy' in the Windows of Paris

It's not the first time fairy tale characters have been used to portray the seven deadly sins but it is somewhat unique.

Paris currently has a window dressing competition among the shopkeepers, in which every window has to portray one of the Seven Deadly Sins. (I dearly wish I had images to share but I can't find any relevant ones sorry!) With the floor completely open for interpretation, it is interesting that two fairy tales in particular are featured (and making the most impact). I wonder if it's partly to do with French heritage of fairy tales in popular culture?

From The Guardian:

The most crowded street in Paris this week has been the Faubourg St Honoré, whose shopkeepers are holding a competition in window-dressing of which the theme must be one or more of the Seven Deadly Sins. ...The biggest success is a Sleeping Beauty (accompanied by sleeping king, queen, courtiers, scullions and guards), exemplifying Sloth, that occupies the whole shop-window of a dealer in curios. ... The best window of all is perhaps that of a shoe shop showing Cinderella’s abandoned shoe on the royal staircase, and the long rows of busts that flanked the august descent, pale, as Perrault declared them to be, with Jealousy of the beauty they had just seen pass them.

Note: for a great read about Perrault and Cinderella's slipper check out Tales of Faerie's recent fascinating post HERE, on The Significance of Shoes in Perrault's Time.

The main drawing of an art nouveau Sleeping Beauty as Sloth seen above, is part of a beautiful-looking series by illustrator Chris Hill. (I love his art nouveau character posters!) I've included the rest below for your convenience, and find it interesting that Cinderella is included in his series under the label of 'lust' (which, can be related to jealousy).

Thoughts On Word Trails & No Longer Seeing the Forests for the Trees

I saw a wonderful scene this week. Bear with me as I share it and hopefully I'll explain what I believe it has to do with fairy tales:

The scene was from the show The Americans*. While I'd be hard pressed to relate this show to fairy tales generally, it makes interesting observations about the human condition, love, despair and choices. The following scene is of the main male character, Philip, with his KGB handler, playing scrabble. Philip, at this point in his journey, is questioning the wisdom of orders given to him and his wife, feeling that it is compromising him as a basic human being - as a father and husband:

[Scene: Philip and his Handler playing scrabble.] 

H: Stuck between a geode and a hard place. (shuffles tiles) "Amatory" -(counts points)  24 yes, - 24 -loving , devoted,adoring. 

Philip: Where do you come up with this stuff? 

H: I love words. They leave a trail. For example, amatory is from the Latin word for 'love'. While wedlock - the condition of being married - is Norse, Norwegian: wed, lock. Which means perpetual battle. 

Philip: Your point being? 

H: Love and marriage in many ways are antithetical: one is a bolt of lightning, an epiphany, and the other is planting, tilling, tending. It's hard work. 

Philip: (glares at H) I'm trying to concentrate here. 

H: Oh sorry. 

Philip: (puts down scrabble letters)  

H: (reads) "sphinx" - excellent. 59 - bravo.**

Such a great exchange.

He's right. Words leave a trail.

At Myth & Moor yesterday (Terri Windling's wonderfully mythic and inspirational blog) Terri talked about the sense that our stories are disappearing, like many of the world's forests. She was quoting the book Tales Of Faerie and I have started discussing (From the Forest by Sara Maitland) and began by referencing a passage that caught my attention too - about the frustration parents have with the lack of response when they ask their children what happened in their day, ie. "Nothing." My reaction when reading this was so strong I went and grabbed a pencil, underlined it and bookmarked it to read to my husband later.

It finishes by explaining: "... but the 'nothing' is a cover for "I don't know how to tell a good story about it, how to impose a story shape on the events.' "

by Banksy (one of my favorites!)

Using words to tell stories is hard now. We're not only out of the habit, most people don't grow up with this; it's not as common a developmental skill as it used to be. For many, there just isn't time. At least, not to tell stories in that form. For others the gap between everyday expression and "word "smithing is just overwhelming and intimidating. Since oral stories (and general yarns and tale telling) have fallen out of everyday use, being able to tell tales is no longer a common-man thing to do. Whether or not it is true, to many it feels like telling stories are the territory of "true writers" only, so people just... don't. (Using myself as an example, Myth & Moor is full of beautiful, inspirational and thought provoking writing - I highly recommend it - and the comments on Terri's posts range from articulate to poetic - so much so, I often feel unable to comment, certain that I have nothing to add, even though I've always been made welcome there. And this is from someone who does write every day, adores words and has a rudimentary understanding of Latin and other base languages.) As a result, the people who understand those trails of history and stories within the words seem to be fewer and fewer every day. When it comes to tales, people not only get tongue-tied, the stories they stumbling-ly tell, lack vitality, the tales become muddied and, in some ways, they start to die.

The Grimms were motivated to write down fairy tales because they felt their language and tales were disappearing rapidly in the cultural clime. And they were right. Their work in stopping this from happening altogether is often underestimated but we owe them much.

Today we have the same sense, that stories and tales are disappearing, along with our language. Forget correct grammar, people don't even use full sentences anymore. (See? Just like that.) We resort to catch phrases, memes and emojis to communicate and express sentiments. We summarize in infographics. It's alarming in many ways but the lack of words doesn't mean language and stories are disappearing. It means they're changing shape.

In an age of the internet, in which we need to navigate the constant press of information overload, we've turned the bulk of the words off altogether and begun processing everything the fastest way possible - visually. And it works. After all, visuals are processed 60 000 times faster in the brain than text. We now live in a visual culture and there's no escaping it.

What tends to happen as a result though, is that WE DO LOSE STORIES through the gaps. And tales, and those word shapes with their trails. So what do we do?

"Knock Knock" by Hilary Leung

This is something I've been looking at seriously for a good couple of years now - the impact of visual communication and visual consumerism on storytelling. In many ways, this new form of language has opened up new forms of stories to people who weren't interested in telling tales before (for whatever reason). People who always responded with "Nothing" now fill their Tumblr accounts and Pinterest boards with fan-made images and quotes, blending ideas and sentiments, suggesting avenues of thought and inspiring conversation.

by Raquel Aparicio

"The hyper-visualisation age is now upon us, where any visual media object can act as a portal to other media." (source)

A truly interesting thing (and hidden treasure) is this: the best forms of these new "stories" (however fractured and incomplete they are) lead to words. And more words. The image shorthand is being used like a filtering system in an age of information overload. And the best, most useful "filter caught" images, usually use words too.

Sometimes trying to find what you want is like opening a Matroyshka doll - layers within layers within layers... and sometimes it seems more like hunting Koschei's soul which was hidden inside of a needle, inside of an egg, inside of a duck, inside of a hare, inside of an iron chest,buried under an oak tree, on a island, in the middle of the ocean... but ultimately, the words - and the tales - they're in there.

(There are hundreds of articles explaining to business people and marketers just how important the use of images with the right phrase is.) But it can't be just any words. They specifically use 'the right ones', the succinct ones, the ones that, in conjunction with the image, tell a spare story with a lot of resonance; very much like fairy tales always have.

People are drawn to the life in words (and trees), to the history in them but it's hard to know, when there is so much in front of us demanding our attention, what we should pay attention to. (Why should we care about this tree here when there are so many more?) 

Images help filter. Not too surprisingly, when you figure out it's not really 'words' people don't like, it's the tidal wave of text that feels impossible to process, people can start to sort out just what it is they want to pay attention to - and they go word hunting. Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and many other publications still do exceptionally well publishing multiple page essays. Novels are devoured in print and ebook form alike - perhaps more than ever. People want to read. They want words, and stories and forests and tales. They just want to choose their path so they don't feel so lost.

But how do we get people to the start of these paths and tales so they choose to walk them, themselves and, in doing so, keep them alive?

More specifically, what is a writer to do? How do we preserve our beloved fairy tales from becoming distant memories, footnotes in essays or forgotten tales in out of print books? 

The answer is simple. We have to find new ways to tell them. 

That also feels exceptionally difficult to figure out how to do. 

(The reason this post has taken as long to get up as it has is due to my search for appropriate visuals to include - and I'll be the first to admit, this whole post would have been better received had I been able to present it in a much more visual manner. I wish I had the skills to pull together reaction gifs and create "visual poems" to capture the essence of what I'm trying to communicate but I didn't grow up that way and don't have those skills... yet.)

Interestingly, dealing with this exact issue in their own times is, I believe, exactly why the Grimms, Andersen, Perrault and Wilde are still known today. (I have a post on this coming on this shortly - how these fairy tale writers made their tales truly live.)

We know, in principle, that fairy tales are very much a living thing. It's ironic that writing them down to preserve them serves to help them stagnate, almost as if they "solidify" in their written form. Often, it requires these coma-like story forms to get a jolt, usually from another media source, to wake up these 'sleeping beauties' and have people notice and love them again. And perhaps some savvy use of available tools in this "visual era" can help.

I know. It sounds exhausting and I'm right there with you. Can't we just sit in our corners and write our words and have them there ready for when people want them? I wish we could. But if we want to be part of making sure tales stay alive we need to be active as they're being redefined and retold. We need to be part of the 'telling'. The best historians don't just dig into the dusty past and tell us what happened, they explain why things happened the way they did and show us the direct connection to ourselves, how we can learn from history to learn about the world as it is now and to make a better future. Otherwise why bother with history at all?

Eventually, when the noise of the world is sorted and people know what they want to focus on, words become even more precious than before. It's then that they ask for more words, more tales. 

People will continue to come back to words. The trick is to keep the trail visible.

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For those looking to learn more about this 'visual era', here's a short list (really!) to get you started, The ones with the orange stars are super quick, informative skims. The purple stars are recommended reads over the rest if you're short on time:

The Guardian: The New (Visual) Culture: how to produce quality in a world of quantity
*WallBlog: Turning advertising into a service: brands must embrace the hyper-visual landscape
*Social Media Examiner: 4 Businesses Leveraging Storytelling With Images
* Business 2 Community: Why Image Trumps Everything in Today's Visual Age
FastCompany: The Rise of Visual Social Media
Marketing Magazine: Brands Should Take the Visual Web Seriously, says Facebook's EMEA Boss
* Cyber Alert: Visual Storytelling Campaigns That Inspire, Motivate and Generate Action
MindFire Communications: It's A Visual World. Show Your Story
* LinkedIn: Market Researchers: Do you Speak Visual?
* MDG Advertising: It's All About the Images (Infographic)
* Wishpond Advanced Lead Generation Marketing Blog: 10 Reasons Visual Content Will Dominate 2014
SteamFeed: Why Visual Content Will Rule Digital Marketing in 2014
NeonTommy: Visual Poetry Collection 'Kern' Meshes Literature And Art

* It's one of the few shows I think is brilliantly done in every aspect and which I do my best to keep up with, even if I can only see 10 minutes of a show at a time. It's very brutal at times but I love the juxtaposition of a couple working on their relationship and raising an American family against the background of being KGB spies in America.

**  I thought the riddle response was a great touch too.

"The Mythology of Grimm" by Nathan Robert Brown

Spotted (and snagged) in Barnes & Noble last week was the relatively new release The Mythology of Grimm. (Actually, for the first time in a VERY long time, the fairy tale and folklore section was both full and had a good selection of newer books I hadn't seen in the wild before.)

The book is not authorized/endorsed by anyone affiliated with the NBC TV series Grimm but is written by someone who has published several works with regard to mythology and pop culture.

The book is much more than a fan discussion of the TV show elements. It begins with a condensed but clear historical overview of popular fairy tales collectors and their work. As you would expect, the Grimm brothers and their work on Household Tales feature prominently, but also Perrault, Joseph Jacobs and the Aarne-Thompson-Uther tale classification system and other well known names (to readers here anyway) are mentioned as well.

It then heads into a discussion of the weaponry used in Grimm, which is what you'd expect from a fan-aimed book but in the show a weapon is usually creature/Wesen-specific and directly related to the mythology surrounding the creature or tale the overall story is drawing from. in this way, it's a good overview of the types of challenges and creatures within the stories.

The rest of the book goes into (essentially) tale types used and retells the Grimm version of the most popular incarnations. For example, Little Red Cap is retold with a brief introduction to the tale's context/history but with commentary and a good sense of humor).

Here are the chapter titles discussing the tales (I'll put an explanation next to the title in brackets, in case you're not familiar with the show and the titles reference isn't obvious):

The Illustrated Grimms Fairy Tales - Pop Up Book
by V L A D I M I R stankovic

• Red Hoodies and Cross-dressing Blutbaden
• Bears, Blondes, and Butchery
• Dancing to the Piper's Tune
• Ultimate Showdown - Blutbaden vs. Bauerschwein (Three Little Pigs)
• Sexy Goats and Eager Beavers (The god Pan and Bluebeard)
• Wild Chicks with Long Hair (Wild children & Rapunzel)
• Giants, Ogres, and Giant Ogres
• Bread Crumbs and People Eaters
• Coins of Blessing, Coins of Curse
• And Now... Dragons! Or Dåmonfeuers (The Four Skillful Brothers)
• Cabbages andCookies, Donkeys and Love Spells (Donkey Cabbages)
• Chicks in Comas
• Weird Little Guys with Funny Names
• Foxy Fuchsbau (The Fox and the Cat)
• Wesen of the NewWorld (multiple legends/folktales/lore)
• Greco-Roman Wesen (Greek myths - Minotaur & The Slave and the Lion & Pompeii

After the retellings, the author discusses how each tale was referenced in the TV show with well considered research details that won't overwhelm a non-academic. I think he's done a good job at drawing people into the tales this way.

But it doesn't stop there. The chapter on Red Hoodies and Cross-Dressing Blutbaden, looks at legends that echo the motifs, violent crimes and mental illnesses that could be seen to be related to the tale and much more. Each chapter discusses real world related scenarios, personalities, legends and more, giving the idea that perhaps these tales aren't quite as fanciful as they first appear.

Each chapter also has "sidebars" (though they're often at the top of bottom of the page) of related trivia (titled Tasty Morsels) and definitions of less-common words (eg "nosegay"), a breakdown of what a German word used in the show means and more (these are titled Grimm Words). I'm a big fan of side bars and these aren't just for show. They definitely are designed to intrigue and keep the reader going back to the text (in other words, they do their job well).

I haven't read much of the book yet but it's only due to time. For me this will be a quick read (if I can get more than ten minutes in a row to concentrate!) and while readers looking for a light read will go more slowly, it should still easily keep their interest throughout. The reviews I've seen are in the very good to excellent range, which is great to see, especially as all the reviews I've read are by people who don't really read fairy tales or even had any idea there was a whole field of fairy tale scholarship.

So far, I'm impressed with the book (especially since I expected it to be more along the lines of fan writing and not really be "scholar-light") and am really glad to see it sitting with other pop culture studies such as those of Supernatural and True Blood. These shows have all inspired people to study myth, folklore and fairy tale in depth and I couldn't be happier to see that happening.

My one complaint is that the books focuses on the first season of Grimm and the show has referenced many, many lesser known tales since (and some popular ones too, but it's the lesser ones that are fascinating to me). But I wouldn't want it to be any bigger. It's already a little hefty and any larger would be daunting so instead of really complaining I'll just request that a second book is written and released so all the tales and folklore and legends are covered/revealed to the fans (and spawns more folklorists!).

Note: For easy reference two glossaries are included at the end: "Wesenology" and Grimm Terminology.

Here's the blurb:

NBC’s hit television series Grimm pits modern detective Nick Burkhardt of the Portland Police against a cast of terrifying villains—lifted directly from the pages of classic fairytales. In the world of the show, the classic stories are actually a document of real events, and Nick himself is descended from a long line of guardians, or Grimms, charged with defending humanity from the mythological creatures of the world. From The Big Bad Wolf to Sleeping Beauty, The Mythology of Grimm explores the history and folkloric traditions that come into play during Nick’s incredible battles and investigations—tapping into elements of mythology that have captured our imaginations for centuries.

William Butler Yeats, Briar Rose & Maleficent

From the new official Tumblr page, this is just fascinating. An extract from Yeat's famous "The Stolen Child" poem is posted, along with the above gentle gif. Here's the poem, under the heading "Magical World":

Magical World - Briar Rose

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

with a faery, hand in hand,

for the world’s more full of

weeping than you can understand.

~William Butler Yeats

Now, I will never quite read that poem the same way again...

There's a lot to explore in the new Tumblr already, including things like this:

Magical World - Earth Tones

Heed the wild call of the faerie folk with rustic, animal-inspired accessories.

I'm really enjoying the layering of these reveals, showing the thought process behind the movie and behind the final impressions they wish you to have. It would appear the movie has more substance to it than first appears. *cheers*

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

Have you noticed who the writing credits for Maleficent are being credited to? Both The Grimm Brothers and Perrault are credited, along with a few others... It's pretty interesting.
Here:

If you go to the Maleficent IMDB page, you can click on each of the writers credited for more detail.

Firebone Theater's "Long Long Ago In A Land of Giants, Jewels & Jolly Fools" (Not Your Usual Holiday Tales)

First of all, isn't the poster stunning?! Though I don't see any sign of LRRH being included in the presented tales - unless we're following her through a Manhattan version of the woods from tale to tale - it still does a perfect job of showing fairy tales in a modern context. Bravo to whomever created the concept and shot it!

Second: the title - just wonderful, and perfect for fairy tales without the usual "once upon a time " or "enchanting 'something'"... It sets the feel of storytelling beautifully and it makes me want to sit down by a fireside and listen to the rest.

Third, do I detect a mini-revival of interest in lesser known tales? Firebone Theater is presenting musical adaptations of three lesser known fairy tales from three well-known fairy tale writers: Wilde, Grimm and Perrault (OK, technically that's four, but you get the idea).

Here are some excerpts from the press release. I put the main information in bold so you can read it among the credits and alum information, which essentially tells you this production has some serious talent behind it:

Firebone Theatre presents three new plays drawn from the forgotten fairy tales by Oscar Wilde, The Grimm Brothers, and Charles Perrault. This event promises music, laughter, and homespun goodies including milk, cookies, wine, and beer. 

Long, Long Ago features a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant by Chris Cragin-Day (The Public EWG Alumna, O'Neill Theater Center Alumna) and Michael Castillejos directed by Jaki Bradley (What Every Girl Should Know--FringeNYC Time Out New York Critic's Pick, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, SDC Fellow); an adaptation of Charles Perrault's The Fairies by Pia Wilson (LMCC's Workspace program, The Public EWG Alumna) directed by Jor Dana Williams (THE PARTICULARS by Matthew MacKenzie FringeNYC 2012), and an adaptation of The Grimm Brothers' Hans Dumm by Christin Siems (Morbin Poetry- Incubator Arts Project NYC) directed by Amelia Peterson (Incubator Arts Project, Kennedy Center Page to Stage).

About Long, Long Ago  

This short musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant... tells the story of three children who sneak into the Giant's garden every day after school while the mysterious Giant is away. When the Giant returns to find the children playing in his garden, he explodes in anger and chases them out. He then builds a wall around his castle so that no children will ever get in again. Winter punishes him for his selfishness, refusing to relent even when the rest of the village blooms into spring. Then one day, a special child melts the giant's heart and the garden together, changing both he and the village children forever. 

Hans Dumm... is one of the first collected Grimm Brothers fairy tales. A haughty princess, a rancorous king, and a village idiot tell the story of a good wish gone wrong, when a sudden and unexpected pregnancy turns the kingdom upside down. Sentenced without a trial, the princess and her dimwitted companion travel a long, difficult road of seemingly irreconcilable differences to finally live happily ever after…that is, until her father, the king, accidentally barges in on their wedded bliss. In this adaptation of the tale, Hans Dumm isn’t the only fool and each character must be humbled before they can give and accept forgiveness. 

The Fairies... tells the story of a beautiful, gentle young woman named Izzy. She is practically a servant in her own home. Her mother and sister make her do all the chores around the house and fetch water from a nearby stream. When Izzy makes a trip to the stream, she encounters what she thinks is an old woman. In reality, the old woman is a fairy who bestows a gift of jewels onto Izzy for her kindness. When Izzy's mother learns of the Fairy's gift to Izzy, she instructs her other daughter, Grumpina to go to the stream and treat the old woman kindly to receive the same gift as her sister. Grumpina unhappily goes to the stream where she meets the fairy in disguise. This encounter doesn't go as well for Grumpina as it does for Izzy. The girls' mother blames Izzy for Grumpina's misfortune. Izzy runs away into a nearby forrest. It is there she meets her true love – a prince who can see her worth at first sight, and they lived happily ever after.

I'm really intrigued by The Fairies in particular. More popular variants include Diamonds & Toads and are one of my favorites in retellings these days. Perhaps because I'm always thinking about all those reptiles and how weird it would be for them to suddenly be exiting someone's mouth, over tongue, between teeth... Or perhaps it's because I have a budding herpetologist in the house who always wants to make sure the reptiles in any story get a happy ending.

Hans Dumm - or Hans Dumb - is a tale I haven't heard for quite a while. I remember hearing variants of this regularly when I was young (perhaps because it shares motifs with the Bible story in which Joseph hides a goblet in his brothers pack n order to detain him), where a King visits his daughter unknowingly and she hides something valuable in his garments or belongings just so she can go through the pretense of accusing him and bringing him back, until a satisfactory answer to her question is given, and her father understands how wrong he was in his assumptions (about her) long ago. It's a tale that only appeared in the first edition of Household Tales, though I have no idea why.

The show is family-friendly musical triptych (of sorts) and though it's unlikely we'll hear what the show is like (unless one of our readers goes along and reports back), I think it's an interesting idea and a curious trio of tales to tell together, especially for the holiday season, though The Selfish Giant (whose garden remains in Winter until the Giant changes his ways) fits nicely. It certainly should make an impression on kids: Exploding flowers! Frog vomit! Princess tricks her Dad!

I kinda want to go see it now. :D

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

Interview with The Selfish Giant script writer Chris Cragin-Day

Excerpt:

Spoiler alert: Wilde makes the children fall in love with the giant and then Wilde kills him. At our first read through, this made some people in the room uncomfortable. “Do we really want children thinking about death at Christmas time?” they gently questioned. Here’s what the fairy tale gets–children know. They know about death, instinctively, by about age three. They want to talk about it frankly. They want to know if they should be afraid. Wilde says they shouldn’t. He sends a boy to welcome the giant into death with wide open arms. And, as in all fairy tales, love conquers death. It doesn’t eliminate death–it is victorious over it. 

The childhood universe is inherently mythological. When I tap into that, I can write for children with as much writer’s integrity as I write for a sophisticated audience as that of The Public. The challenge of writing for children is that you can’t cover up half truths with intellectual banter or pop culture references.  Children’s eyes and ears cut through that much more sharply than our own. Children demand truth and honesty, and if you don’t deliver, they’ll call you on it. Wilde knew that. (Yet another reason to love him.)

You can read the whole of Chris' article on writing the script - and her journey on learning to love writing for children - HERE. (It's lovely - I recommend it.)

Looking For Something?

"She left behind one of her glass slippers, which the Prince took up most carefully"
From "Cinderilla*; or, The Little Glass Slipper"

by Harry Clarke

Due to increasing requests for archived posts on various topics and tales I thought I should add some search options to Once Upon A Blog.

In the sidebar you'll find two ways of searching:
1) the 'search this blog' box - enter word or topic you're looking for
2) a (large) list/group of tags I've used to label the posts - tags are 'clickable' and will bring up all posts tagged with that label

The tags cover general topics, tales by title, regular features, artists, writers and other 'fairy tale people' and much more. They're a good way to discover things of interest to you.

For book titles or other specific works I suggest using the 'search' function. :)

I hope you find this useful for finding posts and browsing topics of interest!

And if you're looking for something and still can't find it, please feel free to drop me a mail at fairytalenews AT gmail DOT com and ask. I'm not able to get to my mail every day but I will answer as promptly as possible.

New posts are added daily and the topics and tales are steadily growing. There is much to delve into and discover in the world of fairy tale news!

End piece from "The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault"
Illustrated by Harry Clarke

NOTE: *'Cinderilla' is not a typo! It's how the name is spelled in the book the illustration came from.

If you see the file name of the picture above, you'll see it includes Neilsen's name. Please note this is not accurate. The actual artist is Harry Clarke. The illustration is from "The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault" translated by Robert Samber & J.E. Mansion, with the whole book illustrated by Harry Clarke. Click on the image above to go to the Project Gutenberg page to view the book and see more illustrations.

The Castles That Inspired Perrault's Fairy Tales

I recently came across an ARTICLE that highlighted the "architectural inspirations" for some of Charles Perrault's stories. Apparently there are two castles - that you're still able to see and tour today - that fueled Charles Perrault's inspiration for his versions of two fairy tales: Sleeping Beauty and Puss In Boots.

The Chateau d'Usse is reputedly the castle that inspired "La Belle au Bois Dormant" or "The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods" and even stages scenes throughout the castle from aspects of the story. This castle is also one of the ones that inspired Walt Disney when he was designing the castle for Disneyland.

Here's an excerpt from a glowing review which calls the castle the most beautiful in all of France.:

The most beautiful castle in France is first glimpsed as you approach the Château d'Ussé and an astonishing array of blue-slate roofs, dormer windows, delicate towers, and Gothic turrets greets you against the flank of the Forest of Chinon. Literature describes this château, overlooking the banks of the river Indre, as the original Sleeping Beauty castle; Charles Perrault—author of this beloved 17th-century tale—spent time here as a guest of the Count of Saumur, and legend has it that Ussé inspired him to write the famous story. Though parts of the castle are from the 1400s, most of it was completed two centuries later. By the 17th century, the region was so secure that one fortified wing of the castle was demolished to allow for grand vistas over the valley and the castle gardens, newly designed in the style Le Nôtre had made so fashionable at Versailles. Only Disney could have outdone this white-tufa marvel: the château is a flamboyant mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles—romantic and built for fun, not for fighting. Its history supports this playful image: it endured no bloodbaths—no political conquests or conflicts—while a tablet in the chapel indicates that even the French Revolution passed it by. Inside, a tour leads you through several sumptuous period salons, a 19th-century French fashion exhibit, and the Salle de Roi bedchamber built for a visit by King Louis XV (who never arrived—his loss, as the red-silk, canopied four-poster bed here is the stuff of dreams). At the end of the house tour, you can go up the fun spiral staircases to the chemin de ronde of the lofty towers; there are pleasant views of the Indre River from the battlements, and you can also find rooms filled with waxwork effigies detailing the fable of Sleeping Beauty herself.

You can find the rest of that review HERE and more about the castle in general HERE.

"Le Maistre Chat, ou le Chat Botté" ("The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots") was apparently inspired by the sprawling mansion-like castle estate Chateau d'Oiron and, I must admit, it's the sort of location I usually picture when I hear this story (probably because whichever illustrations I first saw, the artist had done their research!).

This castle/estate, built in the 16th century, now has amazing painted ceilings and numerous rooms dedicated to contemporary art. It seems to be more art museum than historical tourist attraction but still considered stunning on both counts. I couldn't find any pictures that connected it with Puss in Boots but it is well known as the inspiration for the setting of the story.

Here's Puss from Le Monument Ā Charles Perrault in the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France.

I have no trouble imagining an ogre living here, or a Marquis - or a fake Marquis for that matter.

You can read more about Chateau d'Oiron HERE.

Guess that's three more locations (Perrault's monument included) to add to my itinerary when I eventually take that fairy tale dream trip!