Lexi Mitchell- No One Is Too Old For Fairytales

I think that besides the differing endings of these Little Red Riding Hood fairy tales, the wolf is shown as the antagonist and I think this is because the wolf is a predator in the woods and in this case, he symbolizes a predator towards society. Specifically towards a girl who is walking alone who is shown as being much too trusting of this predator. Another theme that is shown throughout the different versions is that Red Riding Hood is walking through the forest to get to her grandmothers house. Many fairy tales feature the woods or a forest setting in them and that gets me thinking. Is it because it is an unpredictable or eerie place where bad things always happen?

Responsibility is a key theme in both Grimm and Perrault’s version. I started to think about how I could incorporate this fairytale into my classroom and what I would do with it. I think it would be a good idea to read both Little Red Cap and Little Red Riding Hood and use them as mentor texts. I would discuss the common themes and then talk about how the ending of the tales differ and what ending they like better. Another thing to point out to the kids is the play on realism and how specifically unrealistic cutting the belly open and saving the Grandmother and Little Red Cap really is. Then I could encourage the students to use the common themes and make up their own fairytale or even use the main idea of Little Red Riding Hood and come up with an exciting new ending. The students could make a mini play with some other students or work on their own to make their own mini books. 

Back to Cole’s quote, I really do believe that the point of stories is not the resolution because when I tell a story about something that happened in my life, usually the most interesting part is in the middle of the story! It’s more about how you got to that situation instead of what happened after or at the end. Stories are great for children because usually there is a moral or lesson or something they can relate to, which can help them emotionally. They also spark imagination in children and introduce cultural differences in some instances. Stories and fairytales play a key role in many children’s lives and should be used in the classroom as well!