Stories for the Season: More To Explore - Story Roundup

This is my last "Stories for the Season" post but it's by no means a complete collection of fairy tales, and stories for fairy tale people that can be enjoyed during this end of year/beginning of a new year holiday time.

Here is an additional short list of stories I ran out of time to profile individually and why they can be included on your Christmas fairy tales list:

The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real
by Margery Williams
It's the classic Christmas toy story

The Wild Hunt
by Jane Yolen
Winter arrives and The Wild Hunt rides (excellent book!)

The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolff
adapted by Francois Coppee
A boy with a good heart unknowingly helps the Christ Child and is rewarded

Miracle of 34th Street
Novella written by Valentine Davies and made into the Oscar winning film from 1947 about a department store Santa insisting he's the real thing.
NOTE: Watch the black and white 1947 version - it's MUCH better than any of the remakes and has a gentle and special touch

Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?
by Jan Brett
A children's version of the Norwegian folktale The Cat on the Dovrefell (see below)

The Snow Princess
by Ruth Sanderson
Based on Tchaikovsky's Russian opera/ballet The Snow Maiden

The Cat on the Dovrefell
by Asbjornsen & Moe
A great white bear (yes, a bear - not a cat, but don't tell the trolls...) helps counteract an annual Christmas invasion by trolls - I love this one!

Why the Sea is Salt
by Asbjornsen & Moe
A poor boy goes begging on Christmas Eve and has a big adventure

Tatterhood
by Asbjornsen & Moe
An invasion by trolls on Christmas Eve sets things in motion

The Christmas Cuckoo
adapted by Frances Browne
Poor brothers become rich due to their good treatment of a cuckoo found on Christmas Day

The Christmas Fairy of Strasburg
A German folktale about the origins of the Christmas tree

The Golden Cobwebs
A folktale about the origins of tinsel/tree trimmings. (It's still good luck to have a spider ornament on your Christmas tree in the Ukraine.)

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
by L. Frank Baum
Mentioned in my post on Jack Frost

The Mail Coach Passengers
by Hans Christian Andersen
A New Years story in which the Twelve Months take a ride
(I couldn't find a correlating image for the story sorry - so you're being reminded of Gennady Spirin's work. :)

Again, there are many more, especially if you look at all the little folktales, but I thought these ones would interest my readers most (that I'm aware of anyway). Of course, if you have others to add please feel free to add a comment.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of posts. If you want to find them all, just click on the 'Xmas tales' tag in the sidebar.

If you're interested in finding more make sure you visit The Fairy Tale Channel HERE - they have an excellent collection of fairy tales and often post appropriate to the seasons throughout the year too (an excellent resource!).

Merry storytelling!
May fairy tales fill and enrich your holidays and the coming year.
:)

Christmas Bell Babies Grow in Australia
(They sing you joy)
by May Gibbs

Individual illustration credits (book covers show illustrators:
1. An engraving of "The Cat on the Dovrefell" from TALES FROM THE NORSE by George W. Dasent
2. Princess of Wands (Tatterhood) from THE FAIRY TALE TAROT by Lisa Hunt
3. The Christmas Cuckoo from GRANNY'S WONDERFUL CHAIR AND THE TALES IT TOLD by Frances Browne with illustrations by Florence White Williams
4. The Christmas Tree Fairy by Cicely Mary Baker
5. A Christmas spider ornament from the Ukraine (photographer unknown)
6. From THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS by Lyman Frank Baum, illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark

Grimmer Tales: A Wicked Collection of Happily Never After Stories

There's a new book out (released December 9, 2009) of fairy tale retellings in which the stories are told in comics with a rather grim version of a funny bone.

The author/illustrator is Erik Bergstrom and the reviews are using phrases like "homicidal whimsy" and "joyfully morbid masterpiece" so this won't be everyone's cup of tea.
From Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing:

The book consists of a series of extremely nasty comic-strips telling the aftermath of the classic folkloric fairy tales. For example, one running gag has Pinnocchio telling polite social lies in panel 1, while panel 2 depicts his sprouted nose gouging out the eye of some innocent (i.e., "Cute baby! -- stab").

These running gags are pretty funny, but the really standout moments are the longer strips, especially the "What a Witch" strip, in which two witches standing over a cauldron extol the virtues of Kiddee Flakes, which are much more convenient for kidnapped-child-fattening than candy-houses. This is good, wicked humor at its finest -- if you loved Fractured Fairy Tales...

The link for more information is HERE.

12 Days: Giant Fairy Tale T-Shirt Roundup

Lots of fairy tale shirts in a variety of contemporary designs from lots of different tales today! I've tried to find a wide range for guys and girls and many different illustration styles. These are the best I've found around the web, though I'm sure there are many more (but this post has already taken days and days!). Please feel free to add any suggestions you have in the comments! The websites where they're available can be reached by clicking on the image or the title below it.

There are lots so let's get right to it:

Sequel of the Piper Fairy Tale

Taming the Wolf

Blue Beard
(I know - he wasn't really a pirate.. or was he?)

Cute Cartoon Bremen Town Musicians

Rapunzel

Red
(While this was in my archives it was also suggested by one of my readers but I can't find the comment to credit her. So sorry!)


Too Patient Rapunzel

Ecko Red Allover Rose
(It's not really a fairy tale tee but it instantly made me think of Sleeping Beauty)

Sinister Dexter (an homage to classic fairy tales)

Once Upon A Time

grimm's garden

Hansel & Gretel's Revenge
(the house is printed on the back of the tee)

Red is dead
(yes, she has a chainsaw
- go see the site if you want a close-up!)

Three Little Pigs: Mechanized Assault

Baba Yaga Shirt

The Dark Side of the Fairy Tale

Red Riding Hood

Owl and Cat Masks

The Princess and the Pea

It's For You

There are a number of sites where you can vote on the t-shirt designs to help get them printed too. Apparently, the popular ones will be put into production as t-shirts for sale to the public, although I'm not completely clear on how best to make this happen. You can always contact the artist/designer directly, if these interest you. I've linked to where you can view and vote.

The Big Bad Wolf Was An Opportunist

Make Like A Tree and Leave

Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Forest Hoodlums (2 designs)

A Stomach for Sauerbraten

The Musicians of Bremen

Cooking With Hansel & Gretel

Dissection of the Wolf

Hansel and Gretel

Poison Apple

And if you're looking for more traditional illustrations of fairy tales for your shirts the first place you should check is SurLaLune's CAFE PRESS STORE and SurLaLune's ZAZZLE STORE. There are some slogan and graphic tees here too. My favorites among this additional category (please note they come in many options of tee/shirt styles) are:

Cinderella Around the World

Il était une fois...
(Once Upon a Time, in French)

You Can't Catch Me!
(I have a toddler you see and this is SO cute and appropriate for him!)

Phew!
I had some more commercial ones to show you but the site wasn't working. Please feel free to share your own suggestions in the comments.

NOTE: As usual, please note I am not affiliated with any of these stores or products. I do not receive any commission from any visit to the site or any purchase. These are just items I thought may interest people as fairy tale themed gifts for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yuletide/Holiday Season. :)

Don't forget the "Pursuit of Happiness" Giveaway!

Entries close THREE DAYS on December 20th, so be sure to email me before then.

(Check out yesterday's prize preview post!)

Details for the giveaway are HERE and the wonderful London Particulars (who are making this giveaway possible through their generosity) can be found HERE.