Rumpelstiltskin / Paul O. Zelinsky / Traditional Literature

Rumpelstiltskin

Author/Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky

Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: Caldecott
Grade level: K-3

This story of Rumpelstiltskin is a retold version from the original Brothers Grimm tale. Rumpelstiltskin is an iconic tale of a girl who is forced by a king to turn straw into gold. She trusts a stranger who was a little man to help her and he did just that. He spun all of the straw into gold. This just made the king more greedy so he forced her to spin more. She traded the little man her ring so that he would spin the gold for her. The king saw all the gold the next morning and again asked that she spin even more, so she had to make a promise to the little man that whenever she became queen she would give him her first child. Soon after she was queen and gave birth to a baby. The little man came to get it, but she pleaded that he would not take her child. He agreed that if she could figure out his name after three days, he would not take her child. She tried hard to figure out his name, but could not figure it out. One day she asked her servants to look for the man. He was crying out and he revealed his name. The queen guessed his name correctly and he could not believe it. He flew out of the window on his broom.

The illustrations are also done by the author, so the words and pictures are very well fused together and help to compliment each other. The illustrations are oil paintings over watercolor under paintings. The paintings depict a different time period, which appears to be medieval. This book won a Caldecott Honor Award in 1987, so it is honored for its amazing illustrations.

Rumpelstiltskin's tale is one that a teacher could use during circle time. It is a fun story with engaging illustrations. The story is a great depiction of traditional literature because it is plain to see the story is has been around for a long time. 

The Story of Little Red Riding Hood / Brothers Grimm / Traditional Literature

The Story of Little Red Riding Hood

Author: Jacob  Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm

Illustrator: Christopher H. Bing
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: N/A
Grade level: 2-5

The story of Little Red Riding Hood has many different versions. The version is known as the classic tale of Little Red. Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother is sick, so Red's mother asks her to take some cake and wine to make her grandmother feel better. As soon as Red got into the woods, a wolf approached her and tricked her into telling him where the grandmother lived. He distracted her and sneaked away to the grandmother's house. Once, he got there, he came in and scarfed the grandmother down and dressed up in her clothes. Red came to the house to be eaten up as well as grandmother. Once the wolf was all full, he fell asleep in grandmother's bed and began to snore. A woodsman heard the snore and thought he should check on the grandmother, but found the wolf instead. He knew that the wolf must have eaten the grandmother, so he cut her out and found Little Red as well. Then they put stones inside of his stomach and when he woke up, he fell over and died.

The illustrations show the contrast in light and dark in the story. The images are a huge factor in the telling of this story. Each page is bordered with images of pressed flowers that look like they are protruding from the page. Christopher H. Bing uses water color, pen, and ink to create images that add beautifully to the story. In the parts that would be gory, such as when the wolf attacks, are almost hidden by the use of the red coat, curtains, and flowers that cover the page taking place of blood. 

The age limit for reading this book in a classroom is difficult to say because it is more of the classic tale that was not necessarily made to fit the needs of children. This is a more gory and scary book that is not right for early aged children. I would use this book in my classroom, starting at the earliest, second grade through fifth grade. This is a favorite to many readers and could be a book that sparks a young reader. Teaching traditional tales like this one is important because it gives students insight into different culture and time periods that they do not know about.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears / Robert Southey / Traditional Literature

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Author: Robert Southey

Illustrator: Arthur Rackham
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: N/A
Grade level: PK-1

The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been told and retold for many years. This books tells the older and what is known as the original tale. It is a traditional folktale about a little girl named Goldilocks who finds a cottage in the woods. She decides to go explore inside the cottage, where she finds porridge, chairs, and even a bed that is just her size. She fell fast asleep in that comfy little bed, but was awoken when the three bears came home to find someone had been there uninvited when they were gone. When she woke up with the three bears around her she got out of bed, ran home, and never went back to the three bears home again.

The illustrations of this book are colorful and bright paintings by Arthur Rackham. There is gallery of old time original drawings within the book with is a real treat for not only children, but for adults who have grown up hearing this classic story.

Reading this book to children from preschool to first grade would be great because this is such a well-known story that has been passed on for many years and today's children deserve to hear it as well. Types of stories, such as fairy tales, are children's favorites because they create a world of adventure where anything can happen. This book will appeal to children of this age because it tells a story of Goldilocks who is around their age or a little older and that is what children this age want to read about.

Sleeping Beauty / Michael Teitelbaum / Traditional Literature

Sleeping Beauty

Author: Michael Teitelbaum

Illustrator: Ron Dias
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: N/A
Grade level: K-2

Princess Aurora must stay safe from the evil Maleficent. Everything changes for the princess when she meets and falls in love with Prince Phillip. But evil Maleficent manages to trick Aurora to prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel which causes her to fall fast asleep. Luckily, Prince Phillip comes to awake Aurora from her sleep with true love's kiss. And they live happily ever after.

The illustrations of this book are taken straight from the Disney classic. Children love this movie and they will love this book because it is just a shortened version of the movie. The pictures are bright and beautiful. The pictures contain the use of lighting to detail the image.

Reading this book to children from kindergarten to second grade because it's a perfect length to keep their attention. It is a classic tale of true love. It uses classic fairy tale language, such as once upon a time and happily ever after.

Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed / Barbara Park / Novel

Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed



Author: Barbara Park

Illustrator: Denise Brunkus
Genre: Novel
Awards: N/A
Grade level: K-3

Junie B. Jones is a hilarious kindergartner who can make anyone laugh. In this book, she gets told by Paulie Allen Puffer that there really are monsters under her bed. He even proves it by saying that sometimes there is monster drool on Junie's pillows and that cannot be from her because she is not a baby. Junie has to find a way to get rid of the monsters. She tries just about everything, but nothing is working until she finally comes up with a way that will even scare the monsters off. She got her class picture back and it looked so bad that she put it under her bed, and it scared those monsters right away.

The illustrations of this book are in black and white and look like they have been sketched. There are very limited amounts of illustration in this book, which helps the reader transition from picture story books to chapter books and novels.

Reading this book to children from kindergarten to third grade would be great because the younger children would be able to relate because they are Junie B.'s age. The older children would enjoy it just as much because the humor in it is enjoyable for any age. If I were to read this book in my classroom, I would ask the students to their own story of how they would get rid of a monster under their bed.

Silly Tilly / Eileen Spinelli / Modern Fantasy

Silly Tilly


Author: Eileen Spinelli

Illustrator: David Slonim
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: N/A
Grade level: PK-2

Silly Tilly is an extraordinary goose. She does things differently than the other barn animals. The others think she is too silly, so they tell her they have had enough with her silliness. She stops her shenanigans, but then the barnyard animals start becoming bored. They miss the way Silly Tilly made them laugh. They decide to go apologize to Tilly. Then, she is back to her old ways and all the farm is happy in the end!

The illustrations of this book are cartoon style. They images are not realistic as the story is fictional. David Slonim, the illustrator, used acryllic, pencil, and ballpoint pen to create images that add to the comical story of a hilarious goose.

Reading this book to children from preschool until second grade would be a great introduction to rhyming patterns. Students would be able to produce rhyming words after reading even a small portion of this book because of its simple rhyme scheme.

Beauty and the Beast / Teddy Slater / Traditional Literature

Beauty and the Beast / Teddy Slater / Traditional Literature

Beauty and the Beast


Author: Teddy Slater

Illustrator: Ron Dias, Ric Gonzalez
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: N/A
Grade level: PK-2

Beauty and the Beast is a classic tale of a beautiful girl named Beauty who dreams of finding a charming prince. Her dream did not happen the way she thought it would. Instead, she becomes imprisoned by a beast to save her father's life. Although the beast is hideous, his generosity and charm slowly begin to come through. In the end, Beauty falls in love with the beast, which causes him to transform into the handsome prince from her dreams.

The illustrations of this book are in cartoon style. The book captures moments from the Disney movie and prints them across the page. The illustrations are bright and appealing to children. 

Reading this book to children from preschool until second grade would be great because this is such a classic story that every child should read, hear, and watch. This story has an excellent message to not judge someone based on their looks and to love others no matter what they have done in the past.

Pinocchio / Eugene Bradley Coco / Traditional Literature

Pinocchio / Eugene Bradley Coco / Traditional Literature

Pinocchio

Author: Eugene Bradley Coco

Illustrator: Ron Dias
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: N/A
Grade level: PK-2

Pinocchio is a classic tale of a name named Geppetto, a woodcarver, who creates a wooden puppet who comes to life. The puppet, Pinocchio, cannot be a real boy until he proves himself as such. He has a few friends who help him out along the way. He learns to be honest and brave and eventually, with lots of help, he becomes a real boy.

The illustrations of this book are in cartoon style. They are not realistic because the story itself is not realistic. The characters facial features are exaggerated. 

Reading this book to children from preschool until second grade would be a great introduction to traditional literature and fantasy. This story is magical and it allows students imaginations to run wild. It also has a great moral of being honest, which is great for students to learn at an early age.

Wolf! Wolf! / John Rocco / Traditional Literature

Wolf! Wolf!

Author/Illustrator: John Rocco
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: N/A
Grade level: PK-2

This book is the classic fable retold with funny twists. A hungry wolf with nothing to eat hears a young shepherd boy crying "Wolf! Wolf!" This wolf is a little different than that of the traditional tale in that he is a vegetarian. When the young boy begins calling the wolf, he thinks he is inviting him over for some food. The wolf talks the boy into giving him a goat that has been eating from his garden, but in the end he spares the goat. He cannot compare one goat to the many happy meals of vegetables that he will eat in the future.

The story is beautifully illustrated. The pages are each bordered, yet the illustrations are full-page and run over onto the next page where the text is located. This causes the eye to travel onto the texts, which causes the reader to desire to turn the page and continue reading.  The coloring of the illustrations give the story an Asian feel, which is the story's setting. 

This book is a great read for children from preschool age to around second grade. This book can be used to introduce traditional literature, folktales, or fables. This book is fun and interesting because it is being told from the wolf's perspective.