Classic Tales, Respun
By Lisa Von Drasek

Why retell tales? According to the New York City Board of Education, kindergarten language arts competencies expect that by the end of that school year, kindergarten children should be able to get meaning from books and show they understand, specifically by retelling a story in their own words.

Story strategies
You can start by retelling fairytales, folktales and fables to your students to model the skill. Students can reread stories that have been read to them and discuss the text.

Small groups can retell and act out stories as a way to plan for writing – students will write about events in the order in which they happened. Guide the class in creating charts and diagrams about characters and events in stories. Retell familiar tales with different settings or endings. Look at Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Pigs by A. Wolf (Dutton, 1995, ISBN: 0-140-5406-3) for the point of view, along with The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell (Rising Moon, 2003, ISBN: 0-873-58542-9, Spanish edition available from Northland, 1996, ISBN: 0-873-58661-1) to see what happens when the story of the three pigs is re-set in the Southwestern United States.

The Three Bears enjoy a good read in their chairs in Paul Galdone's retelling, found in Nursery Classics: A Galdone Treasury.

Back to the classics
Before kids can appreciate the many modern retellings, it may help to start with the classic versions of Western European tales like those retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone. A new compilation of those old tales is Nursery Classics: A Galdone Treasury (Clarion, 2001, ISBN: 0-618-13046-2), which includes "The Three Little Pigs," "The Three Bears," "The Little Red Hen" and "Cat Goes Fiddle-i-fee."

Take a look at a new series of easy-to-read retellings from Picture Window Books, titled "Read-it! Readers: Fairy Tales." The 12 titles include Three Little Pigs, retold by Maggie Moore (2003, ISBN: 1-404-80071-9) and The Three Billy Goats Gruff retold by Barrie Wade (2003, 1-404-80070-0). This year Picture Window Books will release "Read-it! Readers: Retellings of Aesop's Fables," including The Ant and the Grasshopper (ISBN: 1-404-80217-7) and The Tortoise and the Hare (ISBN: 1-404-80215-0), both retold by Mark White.

An exquisitely illustrated retelling of Aesop's Fables comes from Jerry Pinkney (SeaStar, 2000, ISBN: 1-587-17000-0). The book contains 61 fables such as "The Lion and the Mouse," "The Tortoise and the Hare" and less well-known tales.

World-wide folktales
There are many tales from around the world. Ready-To-Tell Tales: Sure-Fire Stories from America's Favorite Storytellers edited by David Holt and Bill Mooney (August House, 1994, ISBN: 0-874-83381-7) features 38 contributors telling tales from Africa, India, Egypt, Japan, Mexico and Thailand as well as African-American, Cajun, Appalachian, Jewish and Native American oral traditions.

Looking at this year's bounty of tales, one stands above the rest: Tanuki's Gift: A Japanese Tale retold by Tim Myers (Cavendish, 2003, ISBN: 0-761-45101-3). A Buddhist priest meets Tanuki, a small raccoon-dog, and learns the true meaning of friendship in this spectacularly illustrated adaptation.

Napoli's mastery
Novel-length retellings of traditional tales are good for reading response groups or as class novels. Donna Jo Napoli is a master of this genre.

My introduction to Napoli's work was The Magic Circle (Puffin, 1995, ISBN: 0-140-37439-6), a horrific variation on "Hansel and Gretel." Zel (Puffin, 1998, ISBN: 0-141-30116-3) retells "Rapunzel" from several characters' point of view in a 16th century Swiss setting. Spinners (Puffin, 2001, ISBN: 0-141-31110-X) is based on "Rumpelstiltskin" and Crazy Jack (Laurel Leaf, 2001, ISBN: 0-440-22788-7) is a variation on "Jack and the Beanstalk." Her latest, Breath (Atheneum, 2003, ISBN: 0-689-86174-5), tells of a young boy suffering from a mysterious lung disease. You'll find the story similar to "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."

Middle-school reads
Two new fantasies that our sixth and seventh graders are evaluating for their Mock Newbery Awards are East by Edith Pattou (Harcourt, 2003, ISBN: 0-152-04563-5) and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, 2003, ISBN: 1-582-34843-X). East is based on the Norwegian story "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," with touches of "Beauty and the Beast," in which a girl sacrifices herself to an enchanted polar bear to save her family.

The Goose Girl is a retelling of the Grimm Brothers' story of the same title. This is a mystery of hidden identity and survival. I'm sure your avid readers will devour these tales of adventure, magic and romance.

Lisa Von Drasek is Children's Librarian at the School for Children, Bank Street College of Education, in New York, NY.

January, 2004, Vol.34, No.4