L. Leslie Brooke illustration, “Inside A Brick House”
Simplia was nestled in the wingback chair playing Words with Friends in her stripey pajamas, her feet in their fuzzy bunny slippers propped up on the ottoman. Sagacia sat at the hearth in her nightie, watching the coals die away. Neither was quite ready to trek upstairs to bed, nor was Murzik, who purred contentedly on the Chesterfield.
Sagacia wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed, and one of the whispering coals flickered brightly. She reached for the poker to push it to the side, and as she did, an open sheet of lined notebook paper drifted out of the chimney and floated gently above the ashes and coals. Simplia completed her word and glanced toward the paper just as it rode a warm puff of air and settled onto the hearthstone.
Sagacia picked it up and admired the perfectly executed cursive. Then she read aloud:
Hi, Vasalisa! I hope you’re feeling especially wise today. Are you smarter than a second grader? (Just kidding!)
I am a second grade teacher, and listening to folk tales and fairy tales is a requirement of our state standards for second grade. We always read and discuss several in class, including characters, setting, problem, solution and other elements of these two genres, and we also compare and contrast the tales with each other.
As a closing activity, the librarian here and at two nearby schools came up with this “Fairy Tale Bowl” idea. The students will read anywhere from 10 – 15 fairy tales and folk tales at school or on their own. On Bowl Day (kind of like Super Bowl, right?–not!), all second graders may come to school dressed as a character in one of the tales. Four students will represent each class and participate in the bowl (We have a Quizco buzzer system, which the kids love!) There are four rounds of regular questions and two lightning rounds (one word or short answers.) The team that collects the most points will win a trophy for their class and cute little medals for themselves. All the kids who participate receive ribbons and certificates.
So, you can see we need lots of questions abut fairy tales! Someone suggested I ask you. Can you help? Also, maybe you have some favorite fairy tales you’d like to suggest for second graders (7-8-years old). Thanks!
–Teaching in Texas
“Whew!” said Simplia. “She sounds sane enough.”
“And real, too,” said Sagacia. “Sometimes I wonder if Vasilisa’s questioners aren’t just made up characters themselves, but this one sounds like a real person facing a real challenge in which knowing lots of stories can help! We need to ask our magical friends!”
“Yes, lets!” said Simplia, pushing herself out of her chair. “First thing in the morning.”
Fairy Tale Lobby 
The Grimm collection will be the most familiar source. There are over two hundred tales to choose from right there. I like telling “The Flounder and the Fisherman,” “The Goose Girl,” “Three Gnomes in the Forest,” “White Snake,” and “The Three Spinning Fairies.”
I am guessing questions would fall along the lines of “name the character who… ,” “What magic device did… such and such a character… use… ,” “name the story in which… .” But the questions could be more general. “What number appears most often in fairy tale titles?” “What is the term for when a bunch of stories are similar?” “What were the Grimm brothers’ first names?”
Coming up with questions sounds like a lot of work, but could be fun.
Charles K.
Dear reader,
This question is based on real circumstances in a school district here in San Antonio. I thought it would be fun for us to make up questions and share fairy tales we think are suitable for my second-grade teacher friend to use.
Younger children can certainly appreciate many folktales, but it seems to me that fairy tales, with magical things happening, don’t really do well with children much younger than this unless, perhaps, they’re accompanied by some Disney dazzlement. Not with large groups of kids, at least. And, though I’m the one who chose the illustration to represent this question (mainly because the pig was sitting by the fireplace, like Simplia and Sagacia were), I’m not really sure “The Three Little Pigs” even meets the qualifications to be a Fairy Tale. Does it?
What are the fairy tales you tell to your very youngest listeners? For me it would be “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship,” which I tell often in second, third, or fourth grade groups, and “The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle,” which I tell occasionally to second and third graders.