MarytaleArticles
Pages that are not stories: where these tales come from and who wrote them down.
Not stories, but questions about them — where a tale came from, who first wrote it down, and what it looked like before it was tidied up for children.
The original Cinderella: no fairy godmother
There is no fairy godmother in the Brothers Grimm. What helps Cinderella grows on her mother's grave, and the stepsisters cut their own feet.The original Little Red Riding Hood
In the oldest written version there is no huntsman and nobody is saved. The rescue was added later — and the reason it was added is interesting.A Bedtime Routine for Preschoolers That Actually Holds
What the last half hour before sleep is for, why the same order every night beats a longer routine, and where the story goes.What is a fable? Features and examples
A fable is short, has animals behaving like people, and states its lesson out loud. That last part is what separates it from a fairy tale.What is a folk tale?
A folk tale has no author. It was told out loud for generations before anybody wrote it down — which is why the same story exists in twenty versions.Who wrote Cinderella, Snow White and the fairy tales
Who wrote Cinderella? Perrault, and then the Grimms wrote a different one. Grimm collected, Andersen invented, Perrault rewrote for a court.What is a fairy tale? Features and structure
A fairy tale treats magic as ordinary, happens nowhere in particular, and never explains itself. That last part is what separates it from a fable.