Amreena Khan: Children’s Guide

I believe we all have grown up with fairytales and remember their morals throughout our lives. Growing up I have had moments in my life where I had to make decisions which were complicated and somewhere in my thought laid morals of right and wrong doings which would take me into conclusion. These fairytales certainly teach us and help us, I encourage them because they help create imagination in children and most are designed with morals.

In the Austria/Italy version of Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Hat) they have taken things with darker content as regard to the way the writer has used body parts such as the grandma’s intestines for little red riding hood to open the door, her teeth to eat as rice, jaws as meat and blood as wine. I feel this version gives the reader a more frightening and cautious awareness that things can get really serious to where she is eaten up. In the other version “The Story of Grandmother” she gets saved by the wolf by realizing something isn’t right. In “Little Red Cap” her grandmother helps her. These many version of Little red riding hood are presented in various ways which suggest that there can be different consequences to a situation.

This fairytale teaches children many things such as to be careful when walking alone, to be alert to the persons behavior next to you, don’t talk/listen to strangers, follow your parent’s instructions.  Fairytales not only teach children lessons but also stimulate imagination and creativity. Therefore, I believe this trend should always continue.