Fairy tales and nursery rhymes several centuries old were a staple of a child’s introduction to story-telling in the United States when I was a kid. The rhymes were recited in playgrounds, at bed-time, in the first years of school. The stories of giants and elves and trolls were written down in famed collections of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and Mother Goose, among others. They were also retold in simplified forms for the youngest listeners – sometimes in thin hard cover publications like The Golden Books. Mostly descended from the European tradition, the stories and rhymes had kings and princesses and knights, and tales of elves that repaired your shoes in the night. There was the kid who climbed a beanstalk into the territory of one very ferocious giant who complained ‘Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman! Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll eat him with a loaf of bread!’
Everyone knew Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Princess and the Pea, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Puss ‘n Boots, King Midas, Sleeping Beauty, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They could sing or shout Mary Had a Little Lamb, Pease Porridge Hot, Old King Cole, A-Tisket, A-Tasket, and Pop Goes the Weasel.
Many of the stories traditionally began with the phrase ‘Once upon a time…’ and ended with ‘And they lived happily ever after.’ (Except for the stories where they did not live happily ever after! Some tales were plum scary.)
Kids tended to embrace these books when they showed up on their birthdays because of the amazing illustrations. Many were printed from paintings lush with color and intricate detail. You looked at the pictures first, then picked out the words to find out more about these amazing scenes. A wolf dressed like Grandma! Two kids stuffing a witch into an oven! The beautiful swan that was once an ugly duckling! A little mouse pulling a thorn from a lion’s paw.
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