Once Upon a Fairy Tale

We are all familiar with fairy tales and the use of enchantment in literature. Often these tales help children work through some of their more challenging issues. For these young children struggling through family related situations, reading fairy tales or having fairy tales read to them, provides a venue through which they will be able to deal with or help to manage their current feelings. By reading fairy tales, it is implied, through the use of fairy tale "patterning", that in the long run, good triumphs over evil. To determine if a story is a fairy tale, there are a number of characteristics specific to these stories of enchantment. This article reviews some of the components.

Whether we are solving a mathematics problem, making a quilt, reading a book, or walking to the store, we are following a pattern. It is exactly the same thing when writing a fairy tale story. These tales of enchantment exhibit a number of characteristics, the most recognizable being, "Once upon a time...and ...lived happily ever after". The introduction is usually followed by, "long, long ago..." and invariably the setting for the story is, "...in a far away land".

Including the words "...far away land" allows for the child to use his/her imagination and in doing so stimulates the intellect and provides for a more active role in the story. At the same time, the child/student can integrate real life experiences with the story so that the fairy tale becomes more relevant. This integration helps to faciliate the child's working through current struggles. Although we, as parents and educators, may not "see" this directly, children have a strength and a knowing that carries them through the difficult times.

All fairy tales have a good versus evil conflict. This is usually represented by the colors black and white. The evil in fairy tales such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and "Cinderella" are represented by a wicked witch, while the evil in "Snow-White and Rose-Red" is represented by a dwarf. The white, or good, in fairy tales is usually represented by a character that focuses on helping others and does good deeds. And as we are so familiar with in these tales of enchantment, the good always triumphs over evil.

One of the most characteristic features of fairy tales is that, "things come in threes". Either in the form of the title: Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Three Little Pigs; or within the tale itself, where there are a series of three events, three challenges, or three crises that must be overcome by the main character in order to complete the story. The three events within the story may not be as obvious to the casual reader, but upon further examination, it is possible to identify these three major challenges and how the main character overcomes them.

Another characteristic of fairy tales is the use of royalty. Although not consistent across all fairy tales, it has been included here as a feature.

Armed with the above list of fairy tale characteristics, try applying them to the next story book you read or Disney movie that you watch and count how many of these fairy tale characteristics you recognize. Observe your child's/student's reaction to the fairy tale stories that they read or the DVD that they watch. Talk with your child about the fairy tale stories that they are experiencing.

Perhaps the only question remaining is: "Of the movies that we watch, how many are really fairy tales in disguise?!"