Virtual bedtime story

Bedtime Stories | Free 5 Min Bedtime Stories for Kids Online Bedtime Stories

The Classic fairytale of Cinderella: a young girl, mistreated by her step-mother and step-sisters, who finds out that dreams really can come true.

The Classic Fairytale Story of Snow White with a Modern Twist: Who is the “fair”est of them all? Snow White of course!

A Bedtime Story of Honesty, Courage and Truth. If Pinocchio is to become a Real boy he needs to learn how to be honest, brave and true.

A Grimm’s Brother Tale: A miller tells a tale that his daughter can turn straw into gold. A strange little man is willing to help…for a price. Guess his name and he will be gone…but what is his name?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids. Goldilocks finds the three bears cottage in the woods. Should she make herself comfortable?

Hansel and Gretel Bedtime Stories for Kids. When Hansel and Gretel go in search of food, they find a gingerbread house. But who is inside?

A Story of Friendship, Love and Courage. Rapunzel’s Story ~ A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale. An evil witch has trapped Rapunzel in a tower. Can her long hair or love save her?

A Story of Courage, Justice and Self-Awareness. Merlin the Magician places a magic sword in a stone…whomever can pull it out is the rightful king.

A Bedtime Story of Acceptance and Self-Awareness. A Mama Duck is proud when her six ducklings hatch from their eggs. But one duckling does not look like the others? Is he truly an Ugly Duckling?

The classic Brother’s Grimm fairytale that sparked the Disney adaptation.

A Story of Courage, Learning and Love. The Classic fairy tale: The Little Mermaid falls in love with a prince on shore and she makes a deal with the Sea Witch to become human. But without her voice, how can the prince fall in love with her?

This Classic Folktale is adapted from the original story of “Aladdin” from The Arabian Nights. Aladdin, the Genie and the Magic Lamp work to impress the princess who wishes to be a commoner.

A Story of Courage, Kindness to Animals and Learning. The Classic Tale of a male deer, Bambi, his mother and his adventures learning in the woods.

A Story of Charity, Compassion and Justice, from England. Robin Hood takes part in an archery contest thrown by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Will he realize its a trap before it is too late? One of the many Tales of Robin Hood.

This is the Legend Tale of Maui the Demi-God from Moana. It is part of our Classic Bedtime Stories for Kids Collection. It has been adapted from the Tales of Maui as well as Disney’s version of Moana.

A Bedtime Story in Simple English for Kids. A toy rabbit learns that through a child’s love it can become real.

The Classic Tale of the Snow Queen: Gerda and Kai struggle to fight the Snow Queen and find the balance between Good and Evil.

The Classic Fairy Tale of Sleeping Beauty. Princess Aurora has been cursed by Maleficent. When she pricks herself on a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday, she is put into a deep sleep for 100 years. Who can save her?

Bedtime Story for Kids: The Gift of the Magi, A Christmas Story. Della and Jim wish to give each other the perfect Christmas present, but how will they come up with the money?

A Bedtime Story of Friendship, Courage and Acceptance. . The story tells of the time Pocahontas saved the life of settler John Smith from her father, Powhatan.

A Cinderella Story ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids

The Classic fairytale of Cinderella: a young girl, mistreated by her step-mother and step-sisters, who finds out that dreams really can come true.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Story ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids

The Classic Fairytale Story of Snow White with a Modern Twist: Who is the “fair”est of them all? Snow White of course!

Pinocchio Story ~ Fairy Tale Bedtime Stories in English for Kids

A Bedtime Story of Honesty, Courage and Truth. If Pinocchio is to become a Real boy he needs to learn how to be honest, brave and true.

Beauty and the Beast Classic Tale ~ Fairy Tale Stories for Kids

The classic fairy tale of a beautiful woman and the monstrous beast.

Rumpelstiltskin ~ A Fairy Tale Bedtime Story for Kids

Goldilocks and the Three Bears ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids

Goldilocks and the Three Bears ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids. Goldilocks finds the three bears cottage in the woods. Should she make herself comfortable?

Hansel and Gretel ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids

Hansel and Gretel Bedtime Stories for Kids. When Hansel and Gretel go in search of food, they find a gingerbread house. But who is inside?

Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm ~ Bedtime Stories

A Story of Friendship, Love and Courage. Rapunzel’s Story ~ A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale. An evil witch has trapped Rapunzel in a tower. Can her long hair or love save her?

The Sword in the Stone: a King Arthur Legend of the Sword Story

A Story of Courage, Justice and Self-Awareness. Merlin the Magician places a magic sword in a stone…whomever can pull it out is the rightful king.

The Ugly Duckling Story ~ Fairy Tale Story for Kids in English

A Bedtime Story of Acceptance and Self-Awareness. A Mama Duck is proud when her six ducklings hatch from their eggs. But one duckling does not look like the others? Is he truly an Ugly Duckling?

The Frog Prince: The Story of the Princess and the Frog ~ Bedtime Stories

The classic Brother’s Grimm fairytale that sparked the Disney adaptation.

The Little Mermaid Story ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids in English

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp from The Arabian Nights ~ Bedtime Stories

This Classic Folktale is adapted from the original story of “Aladdin” from The Arabian Nights. Aladdin, the Genie and the Magic Lamp work to impress the princess who wishes to be a commoner.

Bambi Story: A Life in the Woods ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids in English

A Story of Courage, Kindness to Animals and Learning. The Classic Tale of a male deer, Bambi, his mother and his adventures learning in the woods.

Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow Story ~ Legend Stories for Kids

Maui from Moana: Tales of the Demi-God ~ Legend Stories for Kids

The Velveteen Rabbit Story ~ Bedtime English Story for Kids

A Bedtime Story in Simple English for Kids. A toy rabbit learns that through a child’s love it can become real.

The Snow Queen Fairy Tale Story ~Bedtime Story for Kids

The Classic Tale of the Snow Queen: Gerda and Kai struggle to fight the Snow Queen and find the balance between Good and Evil.

Sleeping Beauty Fairy Tale Story ~ Bedtime Stories for Kids

The Gift of the Magi Story ~ A Holiday Story for Kids

Bedtime Story for Kids: The Gift of the Magi, A Christmas Story. Della and Jim wish to give each other the perfect Christmas present, but how will they come up with the money?

Pocahontas and John Smith Story ~ Folktales Stories for Kids

A Bedtime Story of Friendship, Courage and Acceptance. . The story tells of the time Pocahontas saved the life of settler John Smith from her father, Powhatan.

The Emperor’s New Clothes Story ~ Bedtime Stories

A Bedtime Story in Simple English for Kids. The Emperor is fooled into believing he is wearing magic clothes which can’t be “seen”.

Mulan Story ~ Tale of Hua Mulan Bedtime Stories | English Story for Kids

A Bedtime Story in Simple English for Kids. Based on the “Ballad of Mulan” and Disney’s Mulan, this is a legend tale about a girl who goes in disguise as a boy and joins the army in her brother’s place.

Short Stories for Kids ~ Folk tales, Fairy Tales, Riddles, Legends, Poems

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Teaching Resources from Stories to Grow By

In addition to our bedtime stories, we also offer a multitude teaching resources! This includes over 100 free bedtime stories, fairy tales, folk tales, readers theater play scripts, and performance notes!

You will find the bedtime stories and the materials you need for your classroom with Stories to Grow By.

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Virtual exhibition "Visiting Andersen"

Read Andersen, people!

There are no better fairy tales on earth!

Mikhail Grozovsky

Welcome to the virtual exhibition of the Vstrecha library! We invite you to plunge into the world of amazing fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, who turned 215 last year. The exhibition was prepared as part of the Children's Book Week.

H.K. Andersen is a famous Danish storyteller, whose works are familiar to adults and children around the world, they have been translated into 125 languages.

The writer was born in Denmark on April 2, 1805 in the family of a poor shoemaker and laundress. Father - Andersen Sr. was a great book lover and dreamer. The poor shoemaker passed on his love of reading and desire to learn to his son, revealing to him the wisdom and beauty of books. As a child, his father told little Hans stories from the Thousand and One Nights and loved to sing good songs to his son. Hans Christian learned to read early and, having visited the theater one day, he began to compose plays and poems himself. The artistically gifted boy was called "little William Shakespeare" by many in his hometown.

Perseverance and hard work helped Andersen to graduate from high school and enter the university. All this time he wrote comedies, tragedies, poems and novels, believing in his own strength. He dreamed of becoming famous. He rewrote the plots of stories that his mother had once told him. But the path to glory is not easy. The novice writer was haunted by misunderstanding and ridicule of others. And only by the age of 30, after “Tales for Children” was published, Andersen realized what his real vocation was - to be a storyteller. Despite the fact that, in addition to fairy tales, he wrote poetry and prose, it was fairy tales that brought him fame.

A few decades later, after the release of the first works of the famous prose writer, his fairy tales began to be read to children and passed on from generation to generation. People began to understand that behind a beautiful plot and description of the characters, there is much more - meaning and morality.

In total, Hans Christian Andersen wrote more than 170 fairy tales in his lifetime. Thanks to them, he became the most famous storyteller in the world.

H. K. Andersen made a huge contribution to literature. He was an innovator in the genre of fairy tales. Before him, no one wrote fairy tales about inanimate objects, making them the main characters.

In 1956, the Andersen Prize was founded by the International Council for Books for Children and Youth (IBBY). It is awarded biennially in April to the best children's book author and best illustrator.

Every year since 1967, April 2, Andersen's birthday, has been celebrated as International Children's Book Day.

The Gold Medal named after H.K. Andersen. It is awarded to writers whose works for children are recognized as the best.

The tale "The Ugly Duckling" can be considered autobiographical, because H.K. Andersen was born into a poor family and knew a lot of grief before becoming famous.

“No one knows as many fairy tales,” wrote Andersen, “as Ole Lukoye knows them.” Literally, the translation of this name from Danish into Russian means "close your eyes."

Andersen considered the Little Mermaid the most touching heroine of his fairy tales.

H. K. Andersen liked to repeat: "The most wonderful of fairy tales is life."

Read the fairy tales of H. K. Andersen!

Books of fairy tales by H. K. Andersen are in the fund of the library "Meeting". Recommendations for choosing the books of the great storyteller in the Virtual Exhibition are based on the LitRes library. You can come to our library, we will help you register. And you will have the opportunity to read books in LitRes, through the library, for free.

Link to the virtual exhibition.

Sources:

Compositions
Essays, biographies and summaries
Childhood with a book

Virtual excursion to the exhibition "Tales of the peoples of the world". Tales of the peoples of Eurasia, North America and South America

Part 1. Tales of the peoples of Eurasia.

Dear guests of the site, we offer you a journey into the world of fairy tales, and the exhibits of the Smolensk State Museum-Reserve will help us in this. The Smolensk Museum-Reserve keeps many beautiful, historical objects that tell the history of not only our Smolensk region, but also the history of other countries and peoples. Some of these unique exhibits help us recognize the heroes of fairy tales or see those items that are found in fairy tales.

We continue to talk about the tales of the peoples of the world, today we are talking about the tales of some peoples of Eurasia, North America and South America.

Foreign Eurasian countries are located on a gigantic space - from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, from Japan to Turkey, most of humanity lives here, many peoples with a long history and rich culture. Each of them created and preserves his own deeply original art - oral folk art, folklore, including fairy tales. Tales have been told and are told in houses on high stilts in Southeast Asia, in the huts of the Indian poor and under the skies of the Middle East. Listening to fairy tales, both adults and children relax after a noisy day. In Japan they say about a fairy tale: "If you talk during the day, the mice will laugh."

A storyteller, unlike a writer who writes a book and confides his thoughts and feelings to paper or a palm leaf that replaces it, addresses the listener directly. He recites and sings, imitates the roar of mountain streams and the noise of the wind, the cries of animals and birds - tigers and monkeys, ravens and peacocks. The storyteller complements the expressiveness of his speech with a gesture. That is, it is a kind of theater of one actor. After all, folklore is not only a verbal art. In the old days in the countries of the East in noisy bazaars, in city squares, it was common to meet a professional storyteller. He told a fairy tale, sitting on a rug or mat, or even in a special booth. We will discover in fairy tales the originality of the national character, way of life, clothing, and customs of various Asian peoples. They necessarily reflect the world in which the people who created them live. And first of all - the surrounding nature. And yet the main thing in a fairy tale is poetic fiction. Animals in fairy tales speak and understand human speech, they help the positive hero. In addition, the tale also gives a lesson in kindness, honesty, courage, intelligence, and sometimes cunning, without which it can be difficult to get rid of trouble, to achieve the triumph of justice. The heroes of the fairy tale live and act in some special, fabulous time. Therefore, in fairy tales there are often such, for example, beginnings: “In the old, ancient times”, “It was a long time ago”, which take us to a fairy-tale world, prepare us to listen to a fairy tale.

Fairy tales are inhabited by mythical creatures - evil and good spirits. They either harm the hero, or, conversely, come to his aid. These fantastic creatures - shaitans, divas and genies among the peoples of the Near and Middle East, yakki among the peoples of South and Southeast Asia, tengu among the Japanese - looked different in the minds of various peoples, and each of them had a unique character. All these creatures invented by man naturally appear in fairy tales, become part of fairy-tale fiction.

And now we are going to the world of Chinese fairy tales. And even there we find familiar stories. We all remember the Russian folk tale "Self-assembled tablecloth", spreading which various dishes appeared on it. But in the Chinese fairy tale "Magic Whip" , such an object was, as you understand from the name, a whip. According to the plot of the tale, a lot of magical things were kept in the cave, and it was guarded by talking animals. But the hero, despite the difficulties and danger, got a magic whip and brought it to his village, waved the whip and said "Eat here" and six tables with different food appeared. But the greedy rich man who went to the animal cave was less fortunate.

According to a fairy tale, the whip was kept in a chest. In front of you is a painted Chinese chest from the 20th century. Perhaps this is the same chest from a fairy tale, maybe a magic whip still lies at the bottom of the chest.

Chinese folk tale "The Magic Whip".

Chest. China, mid-20th century Wood, metal, painting.

Chinese folk tale "Clever Son".

Chinese doll. Russia, 1930s Fabric, braid.

The main idea of the fairy tale "Smart son" not the one who sees the problem is smart, but the one who can solve it. The fairy tale teaches not to look for problems where there are none. It teaches to evaluate a person not by his words, but by his deeds.

Chinese folk tale "Ginseng the Werewolf".

Fan. China, 2008 Rice paper, wood, ink, factory production.

The art of rice paper making originated in China over two millennia ago and was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2009. The creator of rice paper was the master Kung Dan (Western Han Dynasty 25-220 BC), who wanted to make paper capable of preserving the portrait of his teacher Cai Lun for many years. For a long time his efforts did not give results, but one day he noticed the trunk of an old sandalwood tree that had fallen into the river. Water and sun exposed long fibers lying under the bark. The master began to use them in his experiments. And now his efforts were crowned with success: he created paper with new properties. Delicate, but strong, dense, but not rigid, this paper can be stored for a millennium without losing quality or changing texture, while maintaining the brightness and freshness of the ink and colors.

Europeans call this paper rice paper, and in China it is called Xuan, after the area where it originated and is made to this day.

In August, rice with long stems ripens, growing on sandy soil - it is its straw that is needed for paper. The second component is the fibrous part of the sandalwood bark. In high quality paper, its share is about 80%. The bark and straw are soaked, steamed, boiled, and then laid out on the so-called drying yards, but in fact, drying hills, whose area is millions of square meters. For half a year, straw and bark remain under the sun and rain, acquiring a white color. Then the transformation begins: the raw material is crushed, crushed, pressed, cut, crushed again, turned into a paste. They are washed, washed, creating paper pulp. The paper particles are then fished out of the solution using a large bamboo sieve. This operation requires consistency and accuracy of movements, because the sheet must have the same thickness over the entire surface. Then the sheets are removed from the sieve and stacked in piles, squeezed under pressure, then the master separates each sheet with a thimble with a metal plate and smoothes it on a vertical oven for final drying. The sheets are then cut and packaged. In total, the process of creating rice paper includes 108 steps and takes up to two years. The technologies have remained the same as a millennium ago, the secrets of mastery are transmitted orally from the master to the students.

Chinese folk tale "The Power of the Magic Fan".

Fan in a box. China (?), late XIX - present. XX century. Fan: bone (?), ribbon.

China is considered to be the birthplace of the fan. In China, there is a legend that the Great Goddess of the Wind brought the first fan to earth. She traveled a lot around the planet and was filled with sympathy and compassion for the heavy human lot. In order to alleviate her a little, she gave people her magic fan so that any person, in trouble, could create a wind and thereby turn to the Goddess for help.

Sinhalese folk tale (India) "The Elephant Driver".

Figurine-toy "Elephant with driver". India, Khajuraha. Late 18th - early 19th centuries Metal, casting, forging, chasing, engraving.

In the fairy tale "The Elephant Driver" we learn about a poor man who got a job as a driver of the royal elephants. Since then, amazing events begin to happen in his life. We also have our own elephant with a mahout. This is a figurine - a toy of the late 18th early 19thcentury, though small, but very heavy. The elephant is one of the symbols of India, along with the peacock, the monkey and the Bengal tiger. One of the most revered gods in Hinduism - Ganesha - is depicted with the head of an elephant. The skill of mahouts, as the elephant drivers are called in India, since ancient times was transmitted only from father to son, the secrets of mastery were not disclosed to outsiders. When a rich man bought an elephant, he certainly hired a mahout, it is impossible to cope with a giant animal on your own. Each elephant has only one mahout, the other elephant does not obey and does not obey anyone else. Domestication is a very dangerous occupation, it is a delicate process of convergence of the characters of man and animal. Only after three or four years can an elephant be introduced into society without risk to humans. But in the fairy tale, the poor man was not afraid to tame the royal elephants and became an excellent mahout.

Mongolian folk tale "How the lama began to worship shoes."

Llama hat. Mongolia, early 20th century (?). Velvet, silk, silk threads, cord, embroidery, appliqué.

Very often human vices are ridiculed in fairy tales. As in a fairy tale by A.S. Pushkin "About the priest and his worker Balda". Pop in this tale is shown as stupid and greedy. So it is in the Mongolian fairy tale "How the lama began to worship shoes" and the Tibetan fairy tale “About the lama and the carpenter” stupidity, anger and greed are ridiculed. But if in our fairy tale it is a pop, then for these nationalities it is a llama. Translated from Sanskrit, "Lama" means the concept of a mentor who has achieved spiritual perfection, a teacher or guru. "Dalai" in Mongolian and Tibetan means "ocean". "Lama" is a word that carries a large semantic load. There are features of its use depending on the geography of application and individual currents of Buddhism. We illustrated these tales with a lama's Mongolian cap and a Tibetan bell, which the lama has and uses in rituals. In fairy tale “How the lama worshiped the shoes” the lama accepted simple shoes, forgotten by the traveler as a shrine left by the Buddha. He put the shoes in the middle of the temple, in the most honorable place, and the servants of the temple began to worship them. In another tale, "About the Lama and the Carpenter", the lama was punished for his anger and cunning.

Tibetan folk tale "About the lama and the carpenter".

Buddhist bell. Tibet (?), late 20th century Metal, casting.

Turkish folk fairy-tale anecdote about Khoja Nasreddin "You believe the donkey, but you don't believe me. "

Khoja Nasreddin figurine. USSR, 1960-1980s Clay, underglaze painting.

Our exhibition presents the main varieties of folk tales - magical, everyday and about animals. In addition to the main varieties, there is also a fairy tale - an anecdote: “You believe the donkey, but you don’t believe me” and “How the Khoja scared the peasants”. The main character of these anecdotes is Khoja Nasreddin. Our exhibition presents fairy tales of such peoples as: Turks, Azerbaijanis, Tajiks, Uzbeks - all these nationalities have a fairy-tale hero Khoja Nasreddin, whose statuette you see in the photo. In the folklore of many peoples of Asia, the image of a smart, inventive hero attracts. Perhaps the most famous of them is Khoja Nasreddin. He leaves in the "fools" or confounds his enemies - inflated nobles, greedy rich, powerful rulers. The Turks and the peoples of Central Asia have whole cycles of funny stories related to Khoja Nasreddin. He appears in teahouses and bazaars, he is mocking, even caustic, witty. His words and actions not only make others laugh, but also make you think about a lot. The Persian word "Khoja" (Persian - master) exists in almost all Turkic and Arabic languages. The Arabic Muslim personal name Nasreddin (Arabic) translates as "Victory of the Faith". In the Islamic world, in a more general sense, as a respectful title, it can mean: “teacher”, “assistant”, “owner”, “protector”.

The most complete collection of anecdotes and short stories about Khoja Nasreddin in Russian contains 1238 stories. The literary character of Nasreddin combines the image of a sage and a simpleton at the same time. The main feature of the literary hero Nasreddin is to get out of any situation as a winner with the help of a word. An integral part of the image of Nasreddin was the donkey, which appears in many parables either as the main character or as a companion of the Khoja. Both three hundred years ago and today, jokes about Nasreddin are very popular among children and adults in many Asian countries.

In addition to reading fairy tales - anecdotes about this hero, you can watch Soviet cartoons about Khoja Nasreddin.

Turkish folk fairy-tale anecdote about Khoja Nasreddin "How the Khoja scared the peasants."

Carry bag. East, 19th century Wool threads, weaving.

Azerbaijani folk tale "The Dog of Shekhsevan Haji".

Milk bucket. Azerbaijan, 2nd half of the 19th century Metal, forging, engraving.

“The rich Haji lived in Shahsevan. He had a lot of gold and silver, a lot of rams, sheep, cows, bulls, horses. On the vast Shahsevan meadows, his numerous herds grazed ... ".

The bucket you see in the photo could have been used to milk the domestic animals mentioned in the story.

Independent states of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, located on a vast territory. More than half of the population of Central Asia and Kazakhstan - Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Karakalpaks, Turkmens, Uighurs, Tatars and others belong to the Turkic group of the Altai family of languages. Another significant part of the population speaks Iranian languages - these are, first of all, Tajiks, as well as Balochi, Persians, Kurds.

Central Asia is one of the oldest centers of world civilization: more than five thousand years ago, here, as in the countries of the ancient Eastern civilization of Asia Minor, there was irrigated agriculture, in the middle of the first millennium BC. e. powerful states existed here, where science, art, and literature flourished. Throughout their centuries-old history, the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan have created a rich and original culture, a significant part of which is oral folk poetry - folklore, one of the significant places in which fairy tales occupy.

Tales about animals have much in common with the tales of a number of other peoples (they are similar to anecdotes in brevity of form and expressiveness of dialogues; as a rule, animals and animals are the central characters in them, people appear less often). Fairy tales are distinguished by a number of specific features. First of all, this is due to the centuries-old cultural ties between the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, on the one hand, with each other, and on the other hand, with the mythology and folklore of the Iranians and Arabs. That is why in the fairy tales of the Kazakhs, Tajiks, Turkmens very similar heroes appear, performing similar feats or just similar actions. They widely reflected the life, customs, customs of Uzbeks and Kazakhs, Tajiks and Turkmens and other peoples.

Uzbek folk tale "Courageous friend Gairat".

Pilaf dish. Author UUmarov, Uzbek SSR, Bukhara region, 1967 Clay, watering, painting.

This tale mentions the famous oriental dish - pilaf, which is eaten in Uzbekistan from a special dish - lyagan. Lagan is a large dish, usually shallow with rounded sides for non-liquid food.

Uzbek folk tale "Courageous friend Gairat".

Pilaf bowl. Central Asia, Bukhara, XIX century Metal, forging, engraving.

Pilaf is an oriental dish based on boiled rice. Pilaf is mentioned in the monument of medieval Arabic and Persian literature "A Thousand and One Nights". And also as a remedy, in the writings of the Persian physician Avicenna (980-1037).

Tajik folk tale “Your boiler is dead”.

Kettle. Central Asia (?), XIX c. Copper, forging, semida.

This tale also mentions pilaf: “Afandi asked his neighbor for a cauldron to cook pilaf. Returning the cauldron, he brought a small cauldron to the neighbor and said…”

Part 2. Tales of the peoples of America.

The tales of the peoples of North America and South America keep the wisdom and vitality of the peoples who came to the continent at different times, with the wisdom of those who lived here from time immemorial. The historical meeting of different peoples stretched out in time and was not easy, sometimes painful - and this was also reflected in fairy tales. There are many similarities in how their own culture was born in North and South America, but there are also great differences, and they depend on the peculiarities of the geographical location, on traditions, on the view of the world. Therefore, let's talk separately about the tales of the peoples inhabiting North and South America.

2.1. Tales of the Peoples of North America.

The tales of the peoples of North America arose from many components, but the main ones are still three: these are the tales of the Native Americans (Eskimos and Indians), the tales of the African Americans and the tales of the white settlers. The tales of the North American Eskimos and Indians are the oldest and most original part of the folklore of the continent. According to scientists, the Eskimos and Indians, these are those who are commonly called the indigenous people of America, came to the continent about 20-30 thousand years ago from Asia in small groups and spread throughout the territory. They called themselves "first people", "real people", or even just "people".

Before the arrival of Europeans, the North American continent was inhabited by approximately 3 million people who belonged to two hundred different tribes and language families, which differed greatly in appearance, lifestyle, and cultural traditions. Some tribes were nomads, hunters or fishermen. Others mastered agriculture quite early and lived settled, growing corn, pumpkin and beans. The inhabitants of the harsh north saw the Eskimos in different ways, the inhabitants of the middle belt, lakes and forests - the Iroquois, Cherokee and Navajo, the tribes of the Pacific coast of the Squamish, the Tlingit, etc. Their life was reflected in different ways in fairy tales, and you can more than once be this by reading their stories. Interestingly, the most ancient fairy tales keep the memory of glaciation, the retreat of glaciers, the hunt of primitive man for giant mammoths, and even the Asian ancestors of the Indians. According to the ancient customs of the Eskimos and Indians, it is impossible to tell fairy tales in summer: you have to hunt, grow corn, prepare fish and berries for the future, so that there is enough for a long cold winter. But in winter, when a blizzard rages outside and frost cracks and, therefore, evil spirits sleep, the time comes for fairy tales, dances and songs. Indians and Eskimos knew how and know how to appreciate an entertaining, funny, wise fairy tale. After all, it includes both the general folk memory of the experienced, and the “fabulous” explanation of the phenomena of nature and the surrounding world. The fairy tale teaches goodness and beauty and, finally, simply brings great pleasure to the listener. Such a desired magical power operates in a fairy tale! According to the deep conviction of the listeners, the storyteller's word sometimes has magical power, and therefore he was and is revered by the Eskimos and Indians on a par with sorcerers and shamans. That is why the storyteller certainly needs to give something for a fairy tale. People believed that the word of the storyteller helps to calm the raging waters, overcome the predatory beast, get rid of the disease and the impending disaster. Eskimo and Indian tales are full of miraculous transformations associated with the magical properties of Fire, Water, Wood, Stone. At the same time, fairy tales teach us to treat nature with care, to love it.

Eskimo folk tale "The Deceiver Raven". North America.

Raven souvenir toy. USSR, Smolensk, 1962-1963 Bone, carving.

Pay attention to the Eskimo and Native American tales about "tricks". These masters of unimaginable tricks are somewhat reminiscent of the cunning fox-sister from Russian folk tales. "Cunners" have the appearance of animals, but can also turn into a man. Such is the raven among the Eskimos and Indians of the Pacific coast. The “sly man” acts either as a clever earner, or a rogue, or a simpleton, depending on whether his adventures and tricks go to the benefit or to the detriment of people.

Other fairy tales answer questions: how, why, in what way certain properties, features, differences appeared in animals, birds, fish, insects. These are the so-called etiological tales . They tell why a crocodile has a dent on its nose, why a bear waddles, why salmon enters the waters of squamish (a tribe of Indians), why duck paws are red, etc. Generally speaking, the role of animals in Eskimo and Native American fairy tales is very large. Animals, as a rule, are the elder brothers of man, his mentors and teachers.

Eskimo folk tale "How sisters sought happiness in a foreign land." North America.

Walrus tusk. North, XX c. Bone, carving, engraving.

In this tale “How the sisters were looking for happiness in a foreign land” “… the sisters sailed on an ice floe to the shore and see a pile of walrus tusks. The younger sister says:

- Let's stay here! We'll sell the tusks.

But the older one answers:

“Let’s go further and find out who lives here.”

The sisters ended up in the house of cannibals. Well, how their adventures ended, you will find out by reading the tale itself.

The length of the tusk shown in the photo is 60 cm. Let's reveal the secret of how the drawings on the tusks appear. On the polished surface of the walrus tusk, with the help of a special metal tool - a small knife on a short wooden handle - indentations are made, indicating the silhouette of the future image. This silhouette is rubbed with a black pencil. Then, with a wet cloth, the trace of the pencil is easily removed from the surface of the smooth bone, leaving it only in the recesses. The inside of the drawing is developed with a small chisel with a miniature cut along the edge. It's called a brush. The density of color depends on the frequency of movements of the brush. The recesses made with a brush are rubbed with colored pencils. The brush can produce strokes, zigzags, stripes.

The master engraver rarely uses a pencil for preliminary drawings. Familiar scenes from the life of the sea and tundra are immediately applied by experienced craftsmen with a chisel. More complex compositions - plots of folk tales - are preliminarily developed in pencil. The master first arranges the main elements of the composition: he determines the line of the sea, the main color spots (yaranga, animals, boat with hunters). Then he adds additional elements of the landscape, draws people's clothes. An engraved composition is a story conveyed in drawings. Frame by frame, episode by episode, they are placed on the horizontal surface of a walrus tusk.

2 . 2. Tales of the peoples of South America.

And now we will find ourselves in South or as it is also called - Latin America.

Tales from Africans working on plantations are sometimes referred to as "raccoon" folklore. "Raccoons" were called slaves in the South. Rabbit, possum, raccoon, bear and wolf, tortoise and fox constantly surrounded the worker in the forest and in the field. The relationship of the storyteller with them is the closest, as with old acquaintances. This closeness contributed to the development of a peculiar Aesopian language in fairy tales. It was not difficult for southerners to figure out who exactly was meant when describing the competition in dexterity between brother Rabbit and brother Fox - it was, of course, about the worker and the master. And yet, above all, the tales of Brother Rabbit and his friends contain a lesson in morality and kindness.

Creole folk tale "The Fox and the Man". South America.

Fox figurine. Author Sadikov G.B., USSR, Leningrad, 1960s. Porcelain, painting.

Creole - various ethnic (often ethno-racial) communities of mixed origin, formed during the colonial period, mainly in America, Africa and Asia. Readers of many countries know the book of fairy tales about Brother Rabbit (1880) by the writer Joel Chandler Harris (it included, among other things, sayings and other examples of folk wisdom from "Uncle Remus"). Uncle Remus' Tales was published in our country as well.

In the unbearable conditions of slavery, when any manifestation of the cultural traditions of immigrants from Africa was prohibited, fairy tales and songs of slaves served as a means of overcoming the oppression of slave owners. The oral folklore of African Americans has taken an important place in culture, deeply embedded in American literature and music.

Creole folk tale "About the young man who went to heaven". South America.

Lama figurine. Author Ostrovskaya MG, USSR, 1983 Metal, casting, toning.

In South (Latin) America, as in North America, people of all races and many nationalities live. Following immigrants from European countries (Spain and Portugal, England and France, Italy and Holland), immigrants from the countries of Southeast Asia arrived there. Landed on the shores of South America and ships with slaves, forcibly captured in Africa.

In the fabulous folklore of the peoples of Latin America, there are three major components: Indian, Afro-American and Creole.

The tales of African-Americans in South America are related in plot to those of the North American South, only they are more closely intertwined with the Indians. Famous African animals - "cunning" have taken root in Cuba (tortoise), in North America and the Caribbean countries (rabbit), in both Americas (Ananzi spider).

Of course, the tales of the peoples of America are not always familiar to our perception. Sometimes they are distinguished by a very capricious logic, unexpected details that the narrator selects or omits. A fairy tale must be felt, trusted in its power - every nation has its own. We must learn to listen to a fairy tale, to comprehend the wisdom inherent in it. And then it will be revealed what exactly this or that people wanted to tell about themselves, about the world and about ourselves.

We wish you a pleasant reading (please refer to the links in the titles of the fairy tale), thanks to these fairy tales you will learn a lot of interesting and informative things.

Literature

Tales of the peoples of the world. Tales of the peoples of Asia. / Comp. the author will enter.Art. and note. N.I. Nikulina; Il. M. Romadina. - M .: Children's literature, 1988. -718 p. - (Tales of the peoples of the world in ten volumes, vol. 3)
Tales of the peoples of the world. Tales of the peoples of America./Comp. the author will enter.Art. A.V. Vashchenko; Note. A.V. Vashchenko and M.N. Gurvitsa; Il.S. Alimov. - M.: Children's literature, 1992 .- 654 p.- (Tales of the peoples of the world in ten volumes, vol. 5)
Tales of the peoples of the world. Tales of the peoples of Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. / Comp. A.I. Alieva; Il. E.V. Popkova. - M .: Children's literature, 1995.-608s. (Tales of the peoples of the world in ten volumes, vol.
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