Today, I'm sharing a few of my favourite fractured fairy tales for children! To those of you wondering, a fractured fairy tale is a rewritten version of the original tale.
Reading fairy tales to children is crucial. They need to hear fables, fairy tales, legends, myths, poems, and nursery rhymes. All these things have incredible value to a child’s development. If you don’t believe me, google "child development" along with any of the aforementioned story types . You’ll be amazed at the evidence, research, and benefits! But before you do that, here are my top 3 fractured fairy tales that will get kids laughing.
Tip: read the original fairy tales before introducing the fractured ones.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!
As told to Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Lane Smith
I love this story! It’s hilarious, creatively written, and a delight to read out loud! It’s also a MUST in the classroom, grades 2 and up.
The story of the three little pigs is pretty one-sided if you ask me. Enter in: Alexander T. Wolf. This story is his chance to finally tell his side of the story, and it is quite the story!
Using it in the Classroom:
Make text-to-text connections by comparing Mr. Wolf’s story with the 3 pig’s version
Teach about bias in writing
Explain why writers would spin a news story
Explain how writers use exaggeration to make a story sound more interesting
Explain that every story has 2 or more sides
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
By Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith
This one’s a Caldecott Honor book!
“The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” is a collection of ridiculous fractured fairy tales, such as “Little Red Running Shorts” and “Jack’s Bean Problem”. The stories are all hilarious and absolutely preposterous! You could read this book five times and still be surprised by something the next time you pick it up. The illustrations are fantastic, incredibly detailed, and just a delight to look at.
The reading age for this book is 3-7, but I would increase the age of 3 to 5 or 6. I really don’t think a 3 or 4-year-old would get much out of it.
Using it in the Classroom:
Compare the fractured tales with the real fairy tales (text-to-text connections)
Have students write their own fractured fairy tale and give a prize for the most ridiculous one!
Interrupting Chicken
By David Ezra Stein
This book is fantastic! Kids absolutely love it when little Chicken interrupts her papa’s stories, and it provides for a great jumping-off point on why we shouldn’t interrupt others!
While it may not be a traditional fractured fairy tale, due to the fact that Chicken changes the endings to the common fairy tales mentioned in the book, it can be classified as fractured.
In this story, papa is trying to put Chicken to bed by reading her a few favourite fairy tales. However, she keeps interrupting him and ending the stories the way she sees fit. In the end, she tells her own story and it’s papa who goes to bed rather than little Chicken.
The illustrations are adorable and full of farm feels.
Using it in the Classroom:
Teach about interrupting
Have the students finish telling the incomplete fairy tales
There you have it! Those are my three favourite fractured fairy tales for children. Leave a comment below to share your favourites or come say hi over on Instagram. Oh, and if you like this post you will LOVE our book reviews. Teachers, our novel studies will be right up your alley too!
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