KET KIDS Practice Pages: Storytelling: Fables and Fairy Tales

Fables (favole) are short stories about animals that teach a moral (lesson).

The Tortoise and the Hare

an Aesop Fable

One day a hare was bragging about how fast he could run. He bragged and bragged and laughed at the tortoise, who was so slow.
   The tortoise stretched out his long neck and challenged the hare to a race, which, of course, made the hare laugh.
   "My, my, what a joke!" thought the hare. He replied, "Oh, what fun! A race, of course, Mr. Tortoise, we shall race!"
   The forest animals mapped out the course. The race began, and the hare, being such a fast runner, soon left the tortoise far behind.
   About halfway through the course, the hare realized that he had plenty of time to beat the slow tortoise. "Oh, my!" he thought, "I have plenty of time to play in the meadow." And so he did.
   After the hare finished playing, he decided that he had time to take a nap.  "I have plenty of time to beat that tortoise," he thought. And he cuddled up against a tree and fell asleep.
   The tortoise, in the meantime, continued ever so slowly. He never stopped, but took one good step after another.
   The hare finally woke up from his nap. "Time to get going," he thought, and off he went faster than ever. He dashed as quickly as he could up to the finish line, where he met the tortoise, who was patiently awaiting his arrival.

The moral of the story: Slow and steady wins the race.

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Fairy tales (fiabe) are magical stories about good versus evil. They usually begin with "Once upon a time..." and end with "And they all lived happily ever after."

Typical GOOD characters: Typical BAD/EVIL characters:

Princess a wicked witch / wizard

Prince Charming an evil Queen

a Knight in Shining Armor stepmother / stepsisters

Fairies / elves / dwarves a fire-breathing dragon

Animals of the forest the big, bad wolf
monsters / ogres / trolls / goblins

Fairy Tale

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood lived in the woods with her mother. One day Little Red Riding Hood went to visit her grandmother. She had a nice cake in her basket.

On her way, Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf.

“Hello!” said the wolf. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to see my grandmother. She lives in a house behind those trees.”

The wolf ran to Granny’s house and ate Granny up. He got into Granny’s bed.

When Little Red Riding Hood reached the house, she looked at the wolf and said, “Granny, what big eyes you have!”

“All the better to see you with!” said the wolf.

“Granny, what big ears you have!”

“All the better to hear you with!” said the wolf.

“Granny, what a big nose you have!”

“All the better to smell you with!” said the wolf.

“Granny, what big teeth you have!”

“All the better to eat you with!” shouted the wolf.

A woodcutter who was in the woods, heard a loud scream and ran to the house. He hit the wolf over the head. The wolf opened his mouth wide and Granny jumped out.

The wolf ran away and Little Red Riding Hood never saw the wolf again.

Telling a story.

Where does it take place?

a small country village
a deep, dark forest
an icy cold cave
a lonely farmhouse
a cottage by the sea / lake / river
big, old castle / tower

When?

at dawn / sunrise / twilight or dusk (crepuscolo) / sunset (tramonto)
midnight / at night
one hundred years ago
spring/summer/autumn/winter
there was a full moon

What is the weather like?

stormy / windy / foggy / raining
the sun was shining / the stars were shining
It was a cold, stormy winter evening.

Who are your characters?

What do they look like?
(check above and describing people)

What are your characters like and how do they feel?

scared - afraid - frightened / worried / angry/ confused /surprised / nervous / shocked /bored / excited / cheerful / joyful / relaxed / loved / safe /comfortable

What can your characters see, hear, smell?