Folktales, Myths, Fables, and Legends for Children

Folktale: Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm is a narrative tale that can easily be read aloud to children. It is about two siblings whose father is a poor woodcutter who can no longer afford to feed the family. The cruel and selfish mother convinces the woodcutter to abandon the children in the forest, which he sorrowfully does. The children make their way back home the first time because Hansel is clever enough to drop stones as their father takes them into the forest. The stones reflect the moonlight at night, and Hansel and his sister follow them home. The mother is furious, however, and so they do it all over again—but this time Hansel uses breadcrumbs, which the animals of the forest eat. The children are left to wander.

Eventually they arrive at a witch's house. She pretends to be friendly but then locks Hansel in a cage and plans to fatten him up to eat him. Gretel tricks the witch into climbing into the oven to see if the fire is hot enough, whereupon the girl slams the door and the witch burns up. The siblings raid the witch's house and carry gold and jewels with them back home. The mother is dead—or gone, in some versions—and the father is overjoyed to have his children back.

It is a tale that most people are familiar with because it has been translated and adapted so many times all over the world. It is difficult to tell whether the sound or feel of the Grimms' Germany is preserved in the English versions of the tale. The names are certainly German, however. The illustrations match the text and help tell the story for children; the style is contemporary, so that the pictures are large and colorful. There are no rich flourishes in the telling of the tale—no epic similes or rhymes—but there is a stylistic moment when the two children begin eating the witch's candy house and she says, "Neeble neeble like a mouse, who is nibbling at my house?" Children are drawn to the dramatic nature of the tale and to its vivid imagery—such as a witch's house made entirely of candy.

Myth: Odysseus and the Cyclops

In the story by Homer, the myth of Odysseus and the Cyclops begins with Odysseus arriving at the island where the Cyclops lives with his sheep. Odysseus is there with his men, and they hide from the Cyclops in a cave. Since the Cyclops is a man-eater, the men are afraid, but Odysseus blinds the monster by shoving a sharpened stick into his only eye. Odysseus then sneaks his men out of the cave—which the Cyclops is blocking—by tying them to the undersides of the sheep. The Cyclops feels only the tops of the sheep as they pass by, and thus everyone escapes.

As Odysseus is escaping with his men, he taunts the enraged Cyclops. The Cyclops demands to know the name of the man who blinded him, and Odysseus answers, "Nobody!" And so the Cyclops begins to shout for help: "No man has blinded me! No man has blinded me!" Of course, no help comes, because Odysseus has tricked him once more and made the Cyclops sound ridiculous.

The tale has a narrative storytelling style that makes it a compelling read, but because it is a translation from the original ancient Greek, every version is somewhat different and typically includes adaptation—especially when told for children. The images used to illustrate the text depict the Cyclops and the men, but the gore and violence are toned down so the story is not too frightening. There is a rich literary style in the original by Homer, though this too is softened in children's adaptations. The original uses epic similes to describe the monster, and elements of magical realism are used to depict the Cyclops's island. Like all good fiction, the story contains a clear beginning, middle, and end with well-defined plot points.

Fable: Aesop's The Tortoise and the Hare

This fable by Aesop is one of the simplest and most well-known in the world. It contains simple imagery, but the style in which it is told is so straightforward and engaging that the story stays in the mind of everyone who hears it. The reversal at the end is likely what makes it so memorable—that and the fact that the plot centers on a race between a slow turtle and a fast rabbit. Everyone loves an underdog story, and this is one of the original underdog stories.

The story begins with the hare boasting about how fast he is and challenging the slow and steady tortoise to a race. The tortoise accepts the challenge, and off goes the hare as fast as he can, leaving the tortoise in the dust. The tortoise continues to move along at his usual pace. The rabbit, seeing how far ahead he is, decides to pull over and take a nap. He oversleeps, and by the time he wakes up, the tortoise has crossed the finish line—the hare has lost.

The tale reflects a narrative storytelling style and sounds as though it is being told aloud rather than written down. Yet the story is so simple and direct that it does not carry the feel of any particular culture of origin. It feels as though it belongs to every culture; it is that universal. The illustrations naturally match the tone of the text, though in terms of capturing the essence of Aesop's ancient culture they fall short—understandably so, since these tales are very ancient and would not have been written down originally. All such tales were told, not written, thousands of years ago.

The tale does not employ a rich literary style but is rather simple and straightforward. It is not the vocabulary that impresses children so much as the idea of a turtle winning a race against a rabbit. The reversal is what surprises them.