"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.
Illustration by H. J. Ford in Andrew Lang’s Yellow Fairy Book, 1894.
I've invited my good friend and storyteller extraordinaire, Mary Grace Ketner, from San Antonio, TX to be my guest blogger for today's letter. She successfully completed the A-Z Blog Challenge 2014 and did a marvelous job convincing us to find treasures in the 398.2 section of our library (Dewey Decimal for Folktales and Fairytales). This is her "X" is for Xmen Post:
Even teachers are sometimes surprised at how long primary students will sit fully engaged in a good story. One such tale which I love is my 25-minute version of “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship.” Meeting all seven “mutant heroes" and singing “Otchi Tchornya” after each one, then seeing how each uses his special power to achieve the fool’s goal keeps kids sitting on the edge of their seats, singing along and laughing at the strange and wonderful characters. The story has many fringe benefits, too, such as appreciation of differences and the role of kindness and respect in advancing one’s goals. I’m looking forward to getting to tell it at Library Summer Reading Programs for this year’s theme, “Every Hero Has A Story.”
| Louis Armstrong singing and playing "Otchi Tchornya" | |
Before there was Stan Lee, there were X-men, mutant heroes. Storytellers call them “magical friends” for, with their mutant capabilities and unnatural powers, they befriend the hero in his quest. When I tell “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship,” I call the seven heroes Hearsalot, Runsalot, Shootsalot, Eatsalot, and—by the time the last three arrive, kids are joining in: “Drinksalot!” “Strawsalot!” “Sticksalot!”
Without them, the Fool of the World could never have brought back the water of life from the well at the world’s end or foiled the Tsar’s tricks or married the Tsarevna!
Hooray for X-men!
Without them, the Fool of the World could never have brought back the water of life from the well at the world’s end or foiled the Tsar’s tricks or married the Tsarevna!
Hooray for X-men!
Resources
Your quest for mutant heroes ends here: a picture book, a Classic Russian Collection, and a beloved Andrew Lang:
Ransome, Arthur. The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Schulevitz. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968.
Ransome, Arthur. Old Peter’s Russian Tales. Mellon Press, 2008.
Lang, Andrew. The Yellow Fairy Book, illustrated by H. J. Ford. Reprinted by Flying Chipmunk Publishing, 2009.
(Also available for Kindle and on the Gutenberg Project.)
Create your own flying ships
Mary Grace's Story Activities that support the curriculum
Ransome, Arthur. The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Schulevitz. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968.
Ransome, Arthur. Old Peter’s Russian Tales. Mellon Press, 2008.
Lang, Andrew. The Yellow Fairy Book, illustrated by H. J. Ford. Reprinted by Flying Chipmunk Publishing, 2009.
(Also available for Kindle and on the Gutenberg Project.)
Create your own flying ships
Mary Grace's Story Activities that support the curriculum
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