Why read fairy tales from different countries to your child?

Opening the world through a fairy tale

Very often, parents concentrate on domestic fairy tales — author’s and folk. Of course, it is important to know the fabulous tradition of your country — but it is no less important to introduce the child to foreign works. The famous phrase of A.P. Chekhov — “how many languages ​​you know, so many times you are a person” — is fully applicable to the knowledge of fairy tales from different countries.

Reading foreign fairy tales to a child gives several advantages at once:

1. Expanding horizons. A fairy tale can give knowledge no worse than an encyclopedia — reading, for example, Kipling, a child learns many new amazing facts about the jungle, and the stories of Liliana Moore about animals that inhabit the American continent.

2. The ability to navigate in world literature. Through fairy tales from different countries, the child gets acquainted with the names of famous classics, some of which were written not only for children, learns how the style and rhythm of narration differ in different literary traditions.

3. The first knowledge of world history. Very often fairy tales reflect certain historical moments, details of life of different times. Of course, a fairy tale will not replace a history textbook — but when a child begins to study the 19th century or the colonial era at school, it will be easier for him to understand what is at stake.

4. Respect for the traditions of different nations. Each fairy tale reflects the cultural characteristics and national character of entire peoples — even if the stories are created by the authors. After all, writers have always taken ideas and motives for their fairy tales from folklore and folk art.

All the best under one cover

It is convenient when all important foreign fairy tales are gathered under one cover. More recently, such a book was published by the editors of the «Baby» publishing house AST — this is «Tales from around the world. Drawings by V. Suteev. The large colorful edition includes the stories of famous popular authors.

The child will get acquainted with the Baby Elephant from the jungle by R. Kipling, read the African Tales of Uncle Remus by J. Harris, meet the brave Little Raccoon by the American writer L. Muur, the Goat-bookkeeper by the Norwegian writer A. Preuss and many other heroes from different countries.

And all these stories are united by the drawings of the famous artist, the founder of Soviet animation, Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR Vladimir Grigorievich Suteev. It was he who created the well-known fairy tales “Who said meow?”, “Under the mushroom”, “Rooster and paints” and others. But in this book, readers have a unique chance to see illustrations that have never been published before—or have been published for a very long time.

Bright, cheerful, truly fabulous pictures of Suteev emphasize the character of the characters in each story and take the child to magical worlds created in different parts of our planet.

Read Fairy Tales from Around the World with your toddler and learn new things together — there are never too many good fairy tales!