10 mar Storytelling

As far as storytelling for children goes, French author and member of the Académie Française Charles Perrault (1628-1703) is the precursor, the trailblazer, the pioneer. Every child in the world has learned one or two of his incredible fables. He laid the foundation for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales and published in his book Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697. The best known of his tales include Le Petit Chaperon Rouge ( “Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (“Cinderella”), La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty), Le Maître chat ou Le Chat botté (“Puss in Boots”) and Barbe Bleue (“Blue beard”).

In the illustration above, from an edition of 1897, the Beast asks the Beauty to marry him. Will she say: “I do”?