This is why I fell in love with the written word and storytelling when I was young. It was because of fantastical and fabulously amazing English teachers like you!
I was very lucky to have two, one at secondary school and one at college. The one at secondary school brought the written word alive for me. I couldn't believe it when other students appeared not to be as engaged as I was; particularly when he would get into character - if the part he was reading required a certain emotion such as sadness with tears, that's what he'd give us. I was captivated.
My college teacher was so imaginative with his assignment setting. I almost exploded with excitement when after reading 'Brighton Rock' over some weeks, the assignment was to write our own final chapter. I lost myself in that one, however to my 17 year old embarrassment and horror at the time, he read my finished chapter out to the class as he was so taken by it!
This was a really interesting read. I picked up Revolting Rhymes the other day for myself as i remembered how thrilled i was by its rhymes (and possibly also the brilliant telling by the teacher i had).. but had never read them as an adult. Now with a 2 year old I was curious when something like that would be apt... Not for a while... Roald Dahl was irreverent in his unforgivably modern and slapstick retelling, so its not quite Brothers Grimm I admit... It has all of the harsh cruelty of life that the originals told and then the perverse darkness of modern life thrown on top. I guffawed at some of the lines that were right on the edge, and these days you'd probably be fired for reading to kids. But its still refreshing to see the stories told hard and true. Picking the right time and ensuring that the child understands the fantasy and asks the right questions afterwards must be key.. I love that my daughter is focussed on books rather than TV and perhaps the fairly tales of old will teach her more than any sanitised cartoon or fetching advertisement.
Great read. Thanks for writing and sharing your insights. !
I love Revolting Rhymes - I like to use it when looking at fairy tales with Year 7 - though there are some very naughty words in there! I've recently moved to his more adult stories as I'm trying a new intervention called Fast Reading - the kids love them too!
I hadn't read fantasy for such a long time - I adored CS Lewis as a child and was pointed towards The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman - a wonderful read!
I was curious from your professional perspective how revolting rhymes would be taken considering how striking it is with some bad words abd also just properly dark themes (like the king "trying out" princesses as potential queens)... My daughter likes to ask for those stories some times and I read them but i kinda try to avoid the dark feeling of those lines somehow... But im conflicted in that I'm not sure if its a good/bad message or just an honest and challenging message... And shes too young to really distinguish that.
Its such an interesting area. But I 100% prefer that challenge than plopping her in front of a tv or youtube and being done with it!
Exactly this! I read them to my children - I changed the lines in Cinderella - I do for my Year 7 class too. I’m not a big curse word user - so this is personal preference… also, playing safe 😂
I tailor reading to the age of the kids, take bits out, add bits in if it needs explanation - I read Snow, Glass, Apples (Gaiman) with year 8 and had to remove an entire section - but it didn’t make a difference. I think it’s important to give perspective on the world, but through a lens they understand - providing learning opportunities whilst still maintaining the wholesomeness of the story - in times where direct references to sex/discrimination/violence etc are present - I ask myself if it is needed to move the story forward, if it is an essential part of the narrative - if it is, then (depending on age), it is kept in or is reworded.
How often it is clear that a great teacher inspires just like your piece on fairytales. I don't know if fairy tales are about killing dragons and now reading those old fairytales, I see them in new light. They colour and shape our perceptions as adults and carefully we should select what we read to children, young and old. I loved this piece and it was not what I expected. It gave me so much more. And a mermaid? I just wrote a poem and a mermaid sneaked in. Maybe because I've been talking about them recently.
Ha! Love this, Pilgrim! They definitely do colour and shape our perceptions! It is nice to review and share with older children as so many of them seemingly missed out! :)
Mermaids are wonderful aren't they! So many angles! :)
This is why I fell in love with the written word and storytelling when I was young. It was because of fantastical and fabulously amazing English teachers like you!
I was very lucky to have two, one at secondary school and one at college. The one at secondary school brought the written word alive for me. I couldn't believe it when other students appeared not to be as engaged as I was; particularly when he would get into character - if the part he was reading required a certain emotion such as sadness with tears, that's what he'd give us. I was captivated.
My college teacher was so imaginative with his assignment setting. I almost exploded with excitement when after reading 'Brighton Rock' over some weeks, the assignment was to write our own final chapter. I lost myself in that one, however to my 17 year old embarrassment and horror at the time, he read my finished chapter out to the class as he was so taken by it!
I love this response, Dom!
The assignment setting is quite intriguing! It has really made me think over this past week! Thanks for the nudge to think a little more x
This was a really interesting read. I picked up Revolting Rhymes the other day for myself as i remembered how thrilled i was by its rhymes (and possibly also the brilliant telling by the teacher i had).. but had never read them as an adult. Now with a 2 year old I was curious when something like that would be apt... Not for a while... Roald Dahl was irreverent in his unforgivably modern and slapstick retelling, so its not quite Brothers Grimm I admit... It has all of the harsh cruelty of life that the originals told and then the perverse darkness of modern life thrown on top. I guffawed at some of the lines that were right on the edge, and these days you'd probably be fired for reading to kids. But its still refreshing to see the stories told hard and true. Picking the right time and ensuring that the child understands the fantasy and asks the right questions afterwards must be key.. I love that my daughter is focussed on books rather than TV and perhaps the fairly tales of old will teach her more than any sanitised cartoon or fetching advertisement.
Great read. Thanks for writing and sharing your insights. !
I love Revolting Rhymes - I like to use it when looking at fairy tales with Year 7 - though there are some very naughty words in there! I've recently moved to his more adult stories as I'm trying a new intervention called Fast Reading - the kids love them too!
I hadn't read fantasy for such a long time - I adored CS Lewis as a child and was pointed towards The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman - a wonderful read!
Thanks for your lovely comment!
I was curious from your professional perspective how revolting rhymes would be taken considering how striking it is with some bad words abd also just properly dark themes (like the king "trying out" princesses as potential queens)... My daughter likes to ask for those stories some times and I read them but i kinda try to avoid the dark feeling of those lines somehow... But im conflicted in that I'm not sure if its a good/bad message or just an honest and challenging message... And shes too young to really distinguish that.
Its such an interesting area. But I 100% prefer that challenge than plopping her in front of a tv or youtube and being done with it!
Exactly this! I read them to my children - I changed the lines in Cinderella - I do for my Year 7 class too. I’m not a big curse word user - so this is personal preference… also, playing safe 😂
I tailor reading to the age of the kids, take bits out, add bits in if it needs explanation - I read Snow, Glass, Apples (Gaiman) with year 8 and had to remove an entire section - but it didn’t make a difference. I think it’s important to give perspective on the world, but through a lens they understand - providing learning opportunities whilst still maintaining the wholesomeness of the story - in times where direct references to sex/discrimination/violence etc are present - I ask myself if it is needed to move the story forward, if it is an essential part of the narrative - if it is, then (depending on age), it is kept in or is reworded.
How often it is clear that a great teacher inspires just like your piece on fairytales. I don't know if fairy tales are about killing dragons and now reading those old fairytales, I see them in new light. They colour and shape our perceptions as adults and carefully we should select what we read to children, young and old. I loved this piece and it was not what I expected. It gave me so much more. And a mermaid? I just wrote a poem and a mermaid sneaked in. Maybe because I've been talking about them recently.
Ha! Love this, Pilgrim! They definitely do colour and shape our perceptions! It is nice to review and share with older children as so many of them seemingly missed out! :)
Mermaids are wonderful aren't they! So many angles! :)
Thanks for your comment - always appreciated x
Thank you Words! Am glad you liked! Mermaids are special.