Re: DEFINITION OF FAIRY TALE

[Sryhanen@AOL.COM]

The definiton of fairy tale you gave... "a fanciful tale of legendary deeds
and creatures" is accurate but I explain their classification to children by
talking about how stories like these have been passed from generation to
generation and how the same story line appears in various cultures, (I always
use the many Cinderella stories as an example) therfore it tells us something
about how people lived and thought, ie. their culture.... so they belong in
social science. I must admit it is not an easy concept...even for teachers
when they have asked for an explanation.

Susan Ryhanen
Van Cort Elem
Mohegan Lake, NY