Learning | Use Your Imagination

Do you like to color? I don't find time to color very often these days, but I like it. I remember how excited I was to get a pack of crayons with 64 colors when I was small. It had colors like "Sky Blue" and "Burnt Sienna!" So much better than my little 8-pack.

I have to share a story my sister-in-law told me a long time ago. Her son (let's call him Larry, instead of his real name) was in kindergarten, along with his twin sister (we don't really need to use a name, but if I had to make one up, I think I would like to call her Esmeralda.) The kindergarten teacher called my sister-in-law to tell her she wanted to talk to her about Larry.  She was really worried about him. My sister-in-law-- (Wow. I'm getting tired of typing that phrase over and over. Let's make up a name for her, too. Let's call her "Claire.") Claire asked why she was worried.  

The teacher showed her examples of Larry's art work. They were all done using only the black crayon. All the other children, including Esmeralda, were using other colors. The teacher thought Larry needed a psychiatric evaluation; she implied that Larry must be very disturbed. Claire did not agree.

Later, when Larry and Claire were at home, Claire said,"Hey, Larry! I see you like to color with the black crayon." Larry grinned and said,"YEAH! See how it slides across the paper faster than the other crayons?" Well, needless to say, Larry was not a troubled child. He has grown up to be a fine young man, and his creativity shows in his cooking. I wonder if he still likes the black crayon best.

Books On Film | Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood is a French fairytale first published in Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals by Charles Perrault in 1697. It was intended to be a cautionary tale which emphasized the danger in children trusting strangers. In Perrault's version, the book ends with the little girl and her grandmother being eaten by the wolf. 

A later version of the tale published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm introduces a huntsman who saves the little girl and her grandmother from the wolf. This is probably the most well known version of the story. There are many other versions of the story however, including international ones like Lon Po Po (a Chinese Little Red Riding Hood story).

There have also been many stage, television, and film versions of the tale. The latest of which included Red Riding Hood (2011), set in medieval Europe and geared toward the Twlight-loving crowd. Little Red Riding Hood, her grandmother, and many other fairytale characters are featured in the Stephen Sondheim's musical Into The Woods and in ABC's television show Once Upon A Time.   

In Into The Woods all of the characters live in the same kingdom and follow their respective stories, until the kingdom is "invaded" by the wife of the giant who Jack, from Jack and The Beanstalk, kills. In Once Upon A Time all the fairytale characters live in a little town in the Northeast US after being put under a spell by The Evil Queen. Once Upon A Time takes a lot of liberties with the stories, as part of the mystery is figuring out which towns person is which fairytale character!

 

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