Fairy Tales are some of the “daintiest bits” in the “cauldron of story” that J.R.R. Tolkien described in his essay, “On Fairy Stories.” They tend to be more digestible in one sitting than many other genres of story, but they are no less meaty. For that reason, children can do all sorts of fun things with them.  

My students like making small twists to the storyline, such as reimagining a character or the setting or changing a key decision or the narrative perspective. Imagine what would happen if Little Red Riding Hood was a princess or the bird in Hansel and Gretel was actually the children’s mother. What if Jack’s beanstalk grew into the earth instead of out of it? What kind of story might unfold if the Miller confessed that he was lying about his daughter being able to spin straw into gold or if the Huntsman had actually tried to kill Snow White instead of taking mercy on her? How different would the story of the three little pigs be from the perspective of the wolf?  

The answer to each of these questions fundamentally alters the premise of each story. Ask a child one of them and presto! He has a brand-new storyline to work with. That’s so much easier (and usually a lot more fun) than coming up with everything from scratch.    

I recommend a child read an early version of any fairy tale he’s interested in, such as one by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, or Oscar Wilde. (Take a look at some of my favorites here.) Then, have him retell the story in its original form out-loud, preferably to an audience, to warm-up his storyteller voice and ensure he has a basic understanding of the storyline. Once he does, the child should start thinking of twists. Finally, he should begin writing when he finds a twist that’s exciting.  

Just as I said in the introduction to this series, rewriting the story in its entirety is not at all necessary either. The rule of thumb I use with my students is one scene in one sitting. At first, many of them race through their scene. Some, intent on their story, fly through scene after scene. Others, jot down a few sentences and call it finis long before the bell rings. No matter the extreme, both scenes end up undeveloped in many ways. The child who goes slowly through his scene, carefully setting the tone, describing the setting, developing the characters’ feelings, thoughts, words, and actions ends up with the most gripping scene, the scene that everybody celebrates when it’s time to share.  

So remember, a child should go slow and have fun with the scene. That will make him all the more likely to pick up the story on another day.  

Image Credit: A Child’s Book of Stories by Penrhyn W. Coussens, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. New York: Duffield and Company, 1911.