Week 11 - Reading Diary : English Fairy Tales.

Tom Tit Tot  - I really enjoyed reading this story. She seems to keep getting herself into sticky situations. At first her mother lies to the king saying she can spin five skeins. But then the king sets a condition on her. When she finally gets the help she needs to Tom Tit Tot. He too has a condition on her. Luckily, her husband told her about his encounter with the little black thing.

The Rose-Tree - This story reminds me of snow white. It has a destiny like plot. The evil stepmother envying the girl for her beauty. I am so glad that, when the girl became a bird she took revenge on the evil step mother.

The Old Woman and Her Pig - I liked the pattern in the story. I think that it was very creative making a link between each thing.  But in the end in order for her to get the favours she requested. She too had to do favors for the cat and the cow. In the end it worked out for her.

Binnorie - I think that the younger sister is crazy. She didn’t need to kill her sister in order to get Sir William. He should have chosen the right sister in the first place. I enjoyed this story though. At least, she was able to tell the story of how her sister killed her, through the harp the man made.

Mouse and Mouser - I like the style in which the story is written. I think it makes it easy to read. And really makes it interesting. It is a quick and easy dialect to follow between the cat and the mouse. It is almost very poetic.  The cat is very cunning, as the mouse comes to tell her a story and then the cat responds. In the end she eats him like she ate his pie.

Cap O' Rushes - This story reminds me of Cinderella. Except Cinderella’s father didn’t banish her. I think that the young master most of had some great sort of love for her. His love for her has him in bed sick for her love. I think Cap O’ Rushes was very clever in slipping the ring he gave her into his gruel. Now, he knows that she is in the same house as him. Then maybe she could be rich and beautiful again. I like how the salt on meat was used to symbolize her love for her father. In the end it was a win-win situation for them all.

The Story of the Three Little Pigs - Growing up, I always enjoyed the story of the three little pigs. The third little pig was by far the most clever, as he was afraid of the wolf. However, he didn’t let his fear get the better of him. So he remained a step ahead of the wolf each time.

The Master and His Pupil - This was an intense story. Had it not been for the master the boy would have drowned, due to the order he had given the dark spirit. Classic example of doing what you are not supposed to do, then having to pay for it. I don’t think the boy meant any harm. It was more due to curiosity.

Henny-Penny- I like the names used for the characters in this book. It really has a childish theme to it. I knew that foxy-woxy would be deceitful to them. As fox’s are in all stories.

Molly Whuppie - Molly Whuppie had a very lucky escape here. Luckily she was the cleverest of the sisters and she managed to escape.

Mr Fox - Could you imagine how scary this was for Lady Mary? Seeing her fiancé dragging women into his castle. What is soon to be their home?  At least her brothers sought revenge for all those ladies Mr Fox had killed. I am glad that she confronted him about what she had seen. Otherwise, that might have been her fate also.

Johnny-Cake- The fox was very clever. In out smarting Johnny- cake. I thought it was quite strange having a cake out run everyone.

Mr Miacca - I thought that this story was quite funny. I am glad that in the end Mr Miacca taught him a lesson.

The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh - Its good that the king found love again. After the loss of his wife. As usual most kids don’t take well with having a step mother. So you can already see that the replacement of her mum is going to be an issue. I knew the step mum would be envious of the princess beauty. I think turning her into a dragon made the story even more interesting.

The Ass, The Table and the Stick - I think that it was so sad that Jack went away for twelve whole months. Worked very hard for the lady. And when he was given his wages to give to his father. It was all stolen from him. As a parent he should have accepted his son no matter what, instead he decided to punish him. At least Jack got a happy ending.

Fairy Ointment - I liked how the ointment let her see the truth about everything. But, I thought that it was rather sad that the old man blinded her after she had helped his baby.

(Tom Tit Tot and the girl)

Link: English Fairy Tales Unit