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The Ant and the Grasshopper

Source Aesop's Fable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/AntGra.shtml

Audience Told this at family storytime, kids ranging from 2-10.

Adaptation Notes I added two rhymes to make the story more palatable for toddlers: "When winter comes there will be no food and no heat, and I don't want to have a hungry tummy or chilly feet!"

"You better get ready; please do as you're told, Or don't come to me when the weather gets cold!" I had the ant bring back a sunflower seed and a ball of cotton, and then when winter came, the grasshopper didn't die, but was just cold and hungry all winter.

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Books set in Minnesota

More Minnesota. Never enough.

Made this site for my Youth Lit class -- holler if you have suggestions for more content!

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My entry into this year's Edible Book Festival! Not a prize winner, but definitely fun to make and see what other people came up with. Check out the stiff competition here! 

Illustration from Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Chocolate cookie recipe from Martha Stewart

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Need to get my hands on the MN version... 

Maine Map Book

Coptic Stitch bound

© Rachel Dolor 2013

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Neat! 

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A modern version of these gruesome but wonderful stories about idiots, maybe: once upon a time there was a beautiful girl who was walking down the street when she saw a sign that said "unlimited free drinks, forever." Because she had an unaddressed drinking problem, she went in and sat down at the bar, and a woman who hated her because they'd once dated the same guy was bartending and had put the sign out when she saw the beautiful girl coming. She gave her a tall glass of poison instead of booze, and the beautiful girl drank it and died. She fell backward off the barstool and broke through the floor, but underneath the floor was a dark and seemingly bottomless hole, because the bar used to be a prison, and someone had once escaped by digging himself out after seeing an influential movie. Her body fell down the hole in the floor for a long time until it hit water and floated into an underwater palace. She didn't know, though, because she was dead. Or was she? A mermaid king caught her, because he was the person who'd escaped from the bar-prison, and he'd found a way to live underwater by cutting himself in half and sewing his upper body to the lower half of a tuna. He put her in an air bubble, because he thought it was interesting to look at, and because it reminded him of when he'd lived on land and had put up taxidermy fish to mark important fishing achievements. And then one day a ship passed too close to them, and its propellers chopped them both to bits.

Edith Zimmerman The Hairpin

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The Beggar King

Sources

Forest, Heather. Wonder Tales from Around the World. Little Rock: August House, 1995. Print.

  Professor Solomon. “King Solomon Becomes a Beggar.” Web. http://www.scribd.com/doc/29316798/King-Solomon-Becomes-a-Beggar

  Schwartz, Howard. Leaves from the Garden of Eden : One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

  Summary

King Solomon offers the demon Ashmodai his freedom if the demon will give him the ability to distinguish illusion from reality. The demon agrees, then throws Solomon out the window, a throw so hard, he ends up hundreds of miles away. He wandered for years, begging for food as he went. He eventually winds up as a cook for a different king, and the king's daughter falls in love with Solomon. They are exiled and become fairly successful farmers and raising a family. Then, one day a wave comes and sweeps Solomon's family and farm away. Solomon is captured by thieves and sold into slavery. He is apprenticed to a blacksmith, a job he excels at. He teaches the son of the blacksmith goldsmithing, and so comes to the attention of the king (a different king), who buys him from the blacksmith. Little by little, the king turns to Solomon for advice. The king's daughter has a dream about a man climbing into a cave and discovering a jewel. Solomon sets out to make the dream come true, searching for the cave for many years.  When at last he finds the cave and the jewel inside, he falls asleep. When he awakens, he finds a wave has come up the mountain and he almost drowns. The wave takes him back to the princess. The king lets him have whatever he wants, and Solomon tells him he wishes to go home. At his goodbye feast, Solomon finds a magic ring in the belly of a fish. When he puts it on, he is transported back home. Ashmodai tells him he has only been gone a short while, and has thus learned the secret of illusion. 

  Cultural Origins

King Solomon is a big deal in Jewish history and folklore. This version of part of his story originated in Babylon in the fifth century, though according to Jewish scriptures, he reigned around 900 BC and has been a major figure ever since. This story has shades of the Odyssey and other tales of travelers trying desperately to get home, as well as ties to other stories in which someone thinks they have been gone a long time, only to find mere minutes have passed. Dorothy is no Solomon, but a person could draw a lot of comparisons between The Wizard of Oz and "The Beggar King."

  Audience

The length and complexity of this story kind of rules it out for the youngest crowd. If it were cut up into little episodes, it might be fine for younger elementary school kids (and I actually think it's too overwhelming for one sitting for most ages & settings). It could be the book-ends of a classroom lecture on Jewish history in middle or high school, perhaps. Frankly, thinking of the group and setting that would really enjoy this is kind of stumping me, but I really like it, so I want to keep my eyes open for opportunities.

  Adaptation Ideas

This story is pretty darn epic, so it might be best broken up into episodes. It's not my inclination to sit during stories, but I might for this one, in part because I don't think it requires many big motions -- most of the ones I'm thinking of can be done with the hands. I don't have the skills for claymation, but I can also envision this having webisodes on youtube, and I know a few libraries have workshops on stop-animation. Look out, Solomon -- another gigantic wave is coming to take you to the next town! 

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Kate Crackernuts

Sources

Carter, Angela (ed.) "Kate Crackernuts." The Old Wives’ Fairy Tale Book. New York : Pantheon Books, 1990. Print.

  Tchana, Katrin. "Kate Crackernuts." The Serpent Slayer : and Other Stories of Strong Women. Boston : Little, Brown and Co., 2000. Print.

  Crawford_Strawn_Kate_Crackernuts.mov. 2010. Film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPuFWNyrNzE

  Summary

Once, there was a princess named Kate Crackernuts, whose mother married a king who also had a daughter, Anne. Kate's mother turned the step-sister's head into the head of a sheep. Kate and Anne fled. They met two princes, one who was very sick. Kate offered to stay up with him and discovered he was slipping off in the night to dance with fairies. The next night, she distracted one of the baby fairies with nuts and steals her wand, which is able to cure Anne. The following night, she steals a bird from the baby in the same way, three bites of which cures the sick prince. The sick prince falls in love with Kate and the healthy prince falls in love with Anne. "And they all lived happy and died happy, and never drank out of a dry cappy."

  Cultural Origins

This is a Scottish tale first published in 1889 by Andrew Lang. The Wikipedia article on "Kate Crackernuts" sheds some interesting light on the whole "dancing to death" motif: apparently it's a sort of stand-in for tuberculosis. Morbid! The head of the sheep reminds me of Bottom's transformation in A Midsummer's Night Dream. Other tales about compulsive dancing are Aarne-Thompson-Uther Type 306.

  Audience

I would like to tell this story to a younger crowd, maybe older preschoolers and younger elementary school kids. I don't have a lot of stories fit for this age group, but with some tweaking, I think it would be a really fun one to do at a library storytime. 

  Adaptation Ideas

In order to make this somewhat complex story palatable for littler folks, I would add in some repetition. Maybe Kate and Anne have a special song they could sing, one that could be really funny when Anne turns into a sheep. And the three times that Kate visits the fairies could have some very repetitive elements as well. I would dial up the physicality, especially showing the prince dancing in his sleep. I think that could be really funny for small kids (and maybe their parents, too).

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The Nixie in the Pond

Sources

Holt, David. "The Nixie of the Pond." More Ready-to-tell Tales from Around the World. Little Rock, Ark. : August House Publishers, 2000. Print.

  Munsch, Robert & Michael Kusugak. A Promise is a Promise. Toronto: Annick Press, 2009.

  Ralston, W. R. S. "The Water Snake." Russian Folk-Tales. London: Smith, Elder, and Company, 1873. Available from http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/water.html#WaterSnake

  Zipes, Jack (translator). "The Nixie in the Pond." The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Toronto : Bantam, 1987. Print.

  Summary

A poor miller makes a deal with the nixie who lives in his pond -- riches for the thing that was just born in his house. He did not realize that at that moment, his wife was giving birth to their first son. By avoiding the pond, the boy is able to grow up and get married, but one day, he forgets, and the nixie pulls him under the water. The distraught wife walks around the pond until she collapses and dreams about an old woman in a cottage. She wakes and travels to find the woman who sends her back to the pond three times, with three tasks. Each time, her husband rises from the pond and seems to recognize her more. The last time, he jumps out of the pond and they run away. The pond rushes up and follows them, and the old woman turns them into frogs to save them, but they end up separated and do not remember each other. One day, both now shepherds, the man plays a song on his flute and the wife recognizes it. The two are reunited.

  Cultural Origins

The most famous version of this story comes from the Brothers Grimm, but I originally saw an Irish version (Holt). Stories about the dangerous things that live in water abound in many cultures. In particular, the promise to bring children reminds me of the Inuit story Emily told in class (Munsch).

  Audience

I would tell this story to a wide range of ages, but I would have to be careful about the really little ones, who might be afraid of the water anyway. But it has a very classic feeling to it, so I think 2nd to 5th graders would like it the best, with some appeal for older students and parents, as well.

  Adaptation ideas

If I wanted to make this a Minnesotan cautionary tale, I would change the pond to a lake and may turn the setting to a modern-day fisherman & snowmobiler. Snowmobilers breaking through the ice is a pretty big problem, and we usually have a few folks die every winter. If these stories were originally told to warn kids away from the water, this might be a way to update the message.

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St. Ignatius of Loyola

Sources

Dalmases, Cándido de. Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits : His Life and Work. St. Louis : Institute of Jesuit Sources in cooperation with Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Anand, India, 1985. Print.

  Liversidge, Douglas. Ignatius of Loyola; the Soldier-saint. New York: F. Watts, 1970. Print.

  Sklar, Peggy A. St. Ignatius of Loyola : in God’s Service. New York : Paulist Press, 2001. Print.

  Summary

Ignatius was born in Spain, a pretty wealthy, popular guy. He fought in a battle and was badly wounded. While he recuperated, he read about the lives of the saints and decided to follow their example. He ended up giving away his possessions and living as a hermit for a while. Then, he got together some other like-minded guys and started doing missionary work. They ended up founding several schools and starting an order of priests we know today as the Jesuits.  

  Cultural Origins

St. Ignatius was a real man who lived from 1491 to 1556. He was alive during the Spanish Inquisition and managed not to get really mixed up in the more terrible parts of that debacle, despite being an ardent counter-reformationist. He's a big deal to a lot of American Catholics because the Jesuits founded some of our most well known universities (especially during basketball season) and remain a fairly popular order. The Jesuits also have a strong global presence as missionaries. The story of the man behind the order is perhaps not as well known among Catholics who did not learn about him in religious education. 

  Audience

The primary audience for this story is Catholic middle schoolers and high schoolers. I can see telling this as part of a religious ed curriculum, as a special speaker at a Catholic school, or in youth group. It could possibly be extended to non-Catholics, but only carefully, as I'm not trying to get a reputation as a proselytizer. 

  Adaptation Ideas

This is a guy who had a crazy-exciting life, one with some major connections to things teens are going through today. It's essentially the story of how, if you get together with your buddies and really focus on solving a problem you see in your world, you can make it happen. I would focus on the part of the story where Ignatius goes through his conversion from rich, popular guy to poor, popular guy. And then sort of yada yada yada, Georgetown. 

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Brer Wolf Tries to Catch Brer Rabbit

Sources

Harris, Joel Chandler. The Adventures of Brer Rabbit. Chicago : Rand McNally, 1980. Print.

Lester, Julius. The Tales of Uncle Remus : The Adventures of Brer Rabbit. 1st ed. New York : Dial Books, 1987. 29-31. Print.

Zolkover, Adam. "Uncle Remus." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: Volume 3: Q-Z. Ed. Donald Haase. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2007. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web.

  Summary Walking down the road, Brer Fox runs into his cousin, Brer Wolf. The two get to scheming about how to eat Brer Rabbit. Brer Wolf hatches a plan, and goes over to Brer Rabbit's house and knocks on his door. He tells the rabbit that Brer Fox has died and that he should go pay his respects. So Brer Rabbit heads over and sees Brer Fox laid out, looking dead. The wily hare says that all the dead folks he's ever seen have shaken their legs and said "Wahoo!" Brer Fox, obviously not dead, does this, and Brer Rabbit high-tails it out the door.

Cultural Origins Brer Rabbit is a trickster figure originating in the American South. The stories have connections to African and Native American folklore. Many stories were collected by Joel Chandler Harris and published in the 1880s as part of the stories told by "Uncle Remus." These collections were very popular, though not without controversy, as the Uncle Remus character would think back fondly about his days as a slave. Furthermore, the dialect that Harris captured may have been accurate at the time of his transcriptions, but by today's standards, it sounds pretty racist. Nevertheless, the stories themselves are for the most part delightful and with care, I would really like to share this one.

Audience I really like this story for very little kids, because it is so short and silly. The kids would have to have some idea of what it means to be dead, but I think even preschoolers would understand that Fox shouldn't be shouting "Wahoo!" if he's playing dead. As part of a curriculum about African American literature for older children, I think this could still be a really fun story to share and then some more of the context could be included.

Adaptation

For a younger audience, I would just tell this as a straight folktale, short and sweet, playing up the silliness of the animals. For little ones, they probably don't need all the background about why these tales are fraught with cultural baggage. I might consider using puppets. For older kids, they really should know more about the origins, so I would need to develop an introduction that was appropriate for the occasion. In any case, I will not be attempting any of the eye dialect of Harris' original transcription.

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The Three Counsels

Sources

Dobie, J. Frank. "The Three Counsels." Puro Mexicano. Facsim. ed. Dallas : Southern Methodist University Press, 1969. Print.

  "Los Tres Consejos." http://www.leonismoargentino.com.ar/RefTresConsejos.htm

  Otto Knoop, "Die drei Sprüche," Ostmärkische Sagen, Märchen und Erzählungen (Lissa: Oskar Eulitz' Verlag, 1909), no. 72, pp. 147-149. Available from http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0150.html

  Summary

A boy runs away from home. He has three bad habits: he can't stick to a task, he is nosy, and he has a bad temper. On the road, he encounters an old man who gives him three pieces of advice: stick to the main road, mind your own business, and keep your temper. Further along the road, a man on a horse tells the boy there is a shortcut up ahead. The boy fully intends to take the little trail, but, being unable to stick to a task, keeps to  the main road. A little further on, a man invites him to dinner, where he serves a human head. The boy asks no questions, remembering the old man's advice. Because of this, the serial killer lets the boy go, giving him lots of money and horses. Upon leaving, he is held up by a bandit. He almost loses his temper, but remembers the advice of the old man. He politely declines to be held up, and the bandit is amused and lets him go. The boy makes it to town and opens a store, becoming in time even richer. He marries a girl who likewise sticks to the main road, does not ask questions about that which does not pertain to her, and always keeps her temper.

  Cultural Origins

This version of the story is from an anthology of Mexican stories, though I also found a very similar version in Spanish on an Argentinian website, though that page didn't have any sort of source note.The motif of encountering three pieces of advice is Aarne-Thompson type 150, with examples from Poland, the Gesta Romanorum and Jewish folklore.

  Audience

The three pieces of advice are pertinent for all ages, and I think it would be possible to really play up the creepiness of the cannibal dinner host and the scariness of the the bandit to hold the attention of older elementary schoolers on up to adults. It would also be possible to play with the age of the main character, making him older or younger so that the audience can better identify with him.

  Adaptation Ideas

I really liked the way "The Barking Mouse" interwove English and Spanish. While I don't have a version of this story where that has been done for me, I have an English and Spanish version, so I'd like to create my own version that mimics the style of doing a blend of the two languages, not fully translating either side, but hopefully conveying the full meaning.

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The Bremen Town Musicians

Sources

Zipes, Jack (translator). “The Bremen Town Musicians.” The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Toronto : Bantam, 1987. Print.

  The Muppet Musicians of Bremen. 1972. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nguB6wLxicU

  Many other versions available here: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/brementown/other.html

  Summary

A donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster are all being cast out of their homes because they are too old. They team up to become musicians and head to Bremen. On their way, they come upon four thieves in a cottage. Hoping for a meal, they sing. Terrified by the racket, the thieves flee. Later that night, one of the thieves returns. He sees the eyes of the cat and thinks it is the fire, so he tries to light his candle. The cat scratches him, the dog bites him, the donkey kicks him, and the rooster crows. The man returns to his cohorts telling of the terrible witch who attacked him. The animals pass the rest of their days in the cottage.

  Cultural Origins

This is another tale from the Brothers Grimm. I remember loving the Muppets version when I was little. The theme of animals joining together to overcome obstacles is Aarne-Thompson type 130, with examples from England, the US, Switzerland, and South Africa, among others.

  Audience

If I adapt this story as I say below, I think it would be really good for a family storytime. The adults would like the Minnesota twist and get some of those jokes, and the kids would like the story of the dopey animals tricking the dopier thieves.

  Adaptation ideas My version of this story is a Northern Woods adaptation. Maybe the Brainerd Town Musicians. The robbers might be Sven and Ole. The animals aspire to be a polka band. I'm sure I can work a hotdish joke in there somewhere.

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Keeping the Shirt-Tail In

Sources

Boatright, Mody Coggin. "Keeping the Shirt-Tail In." The Best of Texas Folk and Folklore: 1916-1954. Denton, Texas. UNT Digital Library. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38307/.

Dobie, J. Frank. “Keeping the Shirt-Tail In.” Puro Mexicano. Dallas : Southern Methodist University Press, 1969. Print.

Fernandes, Ana Raquel. "Thief, Thieves." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: Volume 3: Q-Z. Ed. Donald Haase. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2007. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 28 Mar 2012.

Summary

Two liars meet on the road and, impressed with each other's skills of deception, decide to team up. One, being more cautious than the second, says he will tug on the other's shirt-tail if the lie seems too big. In the next town, the second liar says his town has rattlesnakes a mile long. The first tugs on his shirt-tail, and so he revises the lie: half a mile long. This repeats until the villagers lose patience and run the pair out of town. The second liar makes the first promise to back him up on whatever he says -- to lie boldly. At the next town, the second liar says he has seen a calf with seven heads. When the townspeople ask the first liar if this is true, he says he doesn't know, but in that same town, he saw a shirt drying on the line that had seven neck holes. Thus the two liars convinced the town and were treated to dinner. They continued on, always keeping their shirt-tails in.

Cultural Origins

As best as I can tell, this story comes from Mexico, collected by Riley Aiken. I haven't been able to find other versions of this story, though folktales with tricksters, thieves and liars as anti-heroes abound in most cultures. These two liars remind me a lot of the Duke and the Dauphin, the con men in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.

Audience

Middle school and high school students will like this story best, I think. The sardonic morality of it is probably too tricky for a younger child to appreciate. But for a middle school kid to hear that the trick to a convincing lie is to "go big or go home?" I think they'd find that entertaining.

Adaptation

One way to vary this story would be to tell it with two people. Another way would be to really deeply imagine the two liars, who aren't given much description in the versions I found, and work on distinguishing their differences in height, tone, etc. I would probably play this story for as many laughs as possible, but I can see making a more serious adaptation, too.

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My Best Worst Travel Story

Source Personal story from 2006.

Summary

I really, really didn't want to attend the wedding of my lifelong crush the summer after my junior year of college. Because his parents are best friends with mine, I needed a really good excuse to get out of it. I volunteered in Guatemala for a month -- that worked: I would be out of the country while he was watching his bride walk down the aisle. A few days before I was scheduled to come home, my ATM card information was stolen and my bank account emptied. I borrowed some money to pay my rent and get me through the last little expenses. I showed up to the airport with four bucks and change (mostly in coins) -- just enough to get me a Coke and a candy bar, I figured. But no, there was a four dollar baggage tax. Unfortunately, the airport didn't accept coins smaller than quarters, so I was pretty much out of luck until a tiny woman behind me offered to cover me. I gave her every cent I had. I got on the airplane hungry, but knowing that after a short layover in Miami, I'd be a quick few hours back to Minnesota.

As we prepared to land in Florida, we were told we needed to circle the airport. Two hours later, we were cleared to land. George Bush had needed to land in Air Force One, which had pretty much shut things down for a while. Super. I missed my connection, but the airline thankfully gave us hotel and food vouchers for dinner. At the hotel, they needed a credit card number for any incidentals. Ha! I swore on my future children I would not incur any additional expenses if they would just give me a bed.

The only place to use the dinner voucher was at the hotel, and I was ravenous at this point. I cleaned up a little with what I had in my carry-on (of course my checked bag remained at the airport) and went by myself to restaurant full of businessmen and other travelers. Looking at the menu, I realized that there was only one item I could afford with my ten dollar voucher: Beef Carpaccio salad. It was fancy. It was tiny. I didn't even have money to leave a tip. After flipping through the channels (TV! What a luxury!), I fell asleep.

The next day, I managed to board my plane starving, grimy, but at least homeward bound at last. Stepping off the aircraft in Minneapolis, I could have cried with relief. I'm glad I didn't, or it would have been even MORE awkward when I ran into -- who else? -- my crush and his new wife on their way to the Caribbean for their honeymoon. The lesson? Just go to the goddamn wedding.

Cultural origins

Minnesotan! There is a sprinkle of Guatemala in here, too, though no part of this story couldn't have happened somewhere else.

Audience

I always tell this story when I'm trying to trump someone else's "Best Worst Travel Story," and everyone has one of those. It's not something kids would really enjoy, but I think the element of missed love makes it interesting for high-schoolers on up to adults. I'm not really sure of the setting, except that it seems to require a more casual, less formal setting. The only formal venue I can see it working in is an adult storytelling event, like the Moth series or something. I'm not sure it's at that level yet.

Adaptation ideas

I don't have a lot of ideas about how to change this up. I know if I were telling it in front of a younger audience (high school), I would clean up my language a lot. I have a lot of "not sures" about this story, but I'd like to keep thinking about it as one "personal story" to have in my arsenal.

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True and Untrue

Sources

Jones, Gwyn. "True and Untrue." Scandinavian Legends and Folk-tales. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1979. 89-97. Print.

  Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen and Jørgen Moe. Popular Tales from the Norse, translated by George Webbe Dasent. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1859. 1-8. Available from http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0613.html#norway

  Summary

Two brothers, True and Untrue, leave home. Untrue pokes out True's eyes and leaves him for dead. True climbs a tree and overhears some animals talking about ways to improve the kingdom. True uses these secrets to cure his blindness, and he shares the rest of the secrets with the king, growing rich and powerful and eventually marrying the princess. Untrue shows up at court, a beggar, and True is kind to him and tells him about the tree where he heard the secrets. Untrue climbs the tree, but he is still untrue, so he falls out and the animals eat him.

  Cultural Origins

"True and Untrue" comes from Norway, collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in the mid 1800s. Other versions of the story can be found in other countries and cultures, with variations on the theme of two brothers or travelers, one deceiving the other. 

  Audience

This story is a little long and complicated (and the eye-poking is kind of gross), so that might make it more suited to an older audience, but it has a very classic fairy-tale rhythm to it (plus talking animals) that will appeal to a somewhat younger audience. I think with some modifications for a little older or younger audience, it could work for second- through sixth-graders.

  Adaptation Ideas

The most exciting part of this story, to me, are the great characters, including the animals. It think there is a lot of fun to be had in the portrayal of the animals under the tree, just hanging out like buds. I would probably put most energy into making them really pop.