Tales Final

download Tales Final

of 166

Transcript of Tales Final

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    1/166

    1

    Contenido

    Prlogo .......................................................................................................................................... 4

    Descripcin del proyecto............................................................................................................... 6

    El lenguaje de los cuentos: los hermanos Grimm ....................................................................... 13

    Alfonso Coxias, Beatriz: Los sueos pueden hacerse realidad / Dreams can be true ................ 27

    Calvo Martnez, Elena: La bruja blanca / The White Witch ......................................................... 30

    Campos Garca, Mara del Carmen: La nia burbuja / The Bubble Little Girl ............................. 34

    Castillo Caracuel, Sara Mara: La habitacin azul / The Blue Room ............................................ 38

    Corbn Garca, Emma: El enigma de la moneda de oro / The Gold Coins Mystery.................... 42

    Cristbal Borillo, Pablo: Cachorrita y su nuevo amigo / Foxie and her new friend .................... 46

    Cutanda Belenguer, Cristina: Las zapatillas de deporte / The goblins trainers ......................... 50

    De Len Bretons, Borja: Chico travieso / A naughty child .......................................................... 54

    Fernndez Prez, Rosa: Sarah y David / Sarah & David .............................................................. 58

    Gil Fernndez, Manuel: El chico que saba dnde estaba / The Boy who knew ..................... 60

    Gimnez Martnez, Raquel: Brian y las tormentas / Brian and the storms................................. 64

    Gomez Gajate, Paula: Los hermanos traviesos / The Naughty Siblings ...................................... 68

    Gonzlez Bisbal Isabel: Juguetes de pasta / Pastry Toys ............................................................ 70

    Guillem Royo, Ana Mara: El orgen de la msica / The Origins of Music ................................... 74

    Juan Jordn Gema Nadia: Las dos pequeas princesas / The Two Little Princesses ............ 76

    Lasala Daz, Beatriz: Tom y el lobo / Tom and the Wolf.............................................................. 78

    Llinares Serra, Alberto: El cuento del pequeo Jimmy / Little Jimmys Tale .............................. 81

    Lorbek, Tjasa: Dimpy & Dumpy, Dos hormigas fuertes / Dimpy & Dumpy, Two Strong Ants .... 87

    Martnez Barjola, Juan: Petunia, voz de la naturaleza / Petunia, the Voice of Nature ........ 91

    Martinez Clemente, Lourdes: Fetty el joven papel / Fetty, the Young Paper ............................. 95

    Martinez Fernndez, Rubn: El Maravilloso Sueo / The Wonderful Dream ...................... 99

    Mayol Solano, Cristina Carlota: Bruce y el viento / Bruce and the breeze ............................... 103

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    2/166

    2

    Miln Inarejos, Nerea: Trail of Snails / Trail of Snails ................................................................ 107

    Montero Candela, Ana Raquel: Brian y Zarpis / Brian and Graspy ........................................... 109

    Moreno Belln, Paula: La pequea bruja y el nio hada / The Little Witch .......................... 113

    Mulet Pedro, Gema: El escarabajo, la serpiente y la palmera / The Beetle .......................... 117

    Oliver Fresneda, Silvia Cristina: Billy botas grandes / Billy Big Boots........................................ 121

    Page Martinez, Maria: El pequeo duende / The little elf ........................................................ 125

    Prez Jord, Mara Jess: Tom y su amigo, el conejo / Tom and his friend, the rabbit ............ 127

    Peris Carrascosa,Sara: Cambio de papeles / Change of Roles .................................................. 131

    Pitarch, Gloria: The Strawberry Book / El libro de fresa ........................................................... 135

    Pleguezuelos Nieto, Eduardo: Derek y el tiburn / Derek & the shark ..................................... 138

    Primo Pacheco, Joaqun: Sus manos / Her hands ..................................................................... 140

    Quintana Morn, Natalia: Katie / Katie ..................................................................................... 142

    Rabasa Alcaiz, Elena: Go and help Santa / Vamos, ayudemos a Santa ................................... 144

    Rodrigo Gandia, Ana Mara: Marieta y su poderosa voz / Marieta and her powerful voice .... 146

    Sanchis Ferrandiz, Julia: El murcilago miedoso / The Fearful Little Bat .................................. 150

    Serra Dominguez, Juan Jos: Tres amigos en el castillo de Lord Piro / Three friends ........... 154

    Soriano Ruiz, Cristina: El sueo nevado de David / David's Snow Dream................................. 157

    Taboada, Miriam: Mi pesadilla / My Nightmare ....................................................................... 161

    Tarrazona, Mara: Pau sin pilas / Bertie without battery .......................................................... 163

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    3/166

    3

    Para t, Nuria

    y para tu pap ngel Luis

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    4/166

    4

    Prlogo

    Este libro naci como resultado de la unin de varios factores: en primer lugar del uso

    de las nuevas tecnologas de la informacin y la comunicacin (TIC) en el aula utilizando como

    soporte el aula virtual, plataforma virtual de aprendizaje y gestin de la docencia de la

    Universitat de Valncia; en segundo lugar de la aplicacin de las mencionadas TICS a la

    metodologa de trabajo en proyectos (Project work), por la que lo estudiantes aprenden

    mientras llevan a cabo el trabajo y, finalmente, del entusiasmo, motivacin y duro trabajo de

    un grupo de estudiantes de estilstica del ingls, asignatura que se imparte en la Facultad de

    Filologa, Traduccin y Comunicacin de la Universidad de Valencia, Espaa.

    Mi especial agradecimiento a la Dra. Carmen Gregori Signes por estar ah siempre, por

    brindarme su amistad y por entusiasmarme y motivarme para aplicar nuevas tecnologas a la

    docencia universitaria. Tambin un agradecimiento especial para el Dr. Barry Pennock, por

    permitirme formar parte del grupo TIC ([email protected]) que l dirige en el Departament de

    Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya . Dicho grupo, estuvo formado en su primera etapa por el Dr.

    Miguel Fuster, la Dra. Begoa Clavel, la Dra. Gora Zaragoza, la profesora Beatriu Cardona, la

    Dra. Anna Brigido, el profesor Garikoitz Knrr de Santiago, los ya mencionados, Dra. Carmen

    Gregori, Dr. Barry Pennock y yo misma, Mara Alcantud. El primer proyecto en el que se trabaj

    se denomin: Diseo y Creacin de Materiales Multimedia y Profundizacin en la Enseanza

    Semipresencial a travs de la Plataforma Aula Virtual (curso 2007/2008). El segundo

    proyecto cont con la incorporacin de los Drs. Sergio Maruenda, Patricia Bou, Rosana Doln,

    Eusebio Llcer, Jos Santaemilia, Francisca Suau y se denomin: Diseo y Creacin de

    Materiales Multimedia y Profundizacin en la Enseanza Semipresencial a travs de la

    Plataforma Aula virtual e internet. Este grupo ha trabajado durante dos aos dentro del

    programa Projecte TIC de Convergncia Europea i Qualitat de lEnsenyament de la Universitat

    de Valncia

    Tambin gracias a todos los alumnos que se han implicado en este proyecto, sobre

    todo a Manuel Gil, por la maquetacin, a Miriam Taboada y especialmente a su hermano

    Francisco Javier Taboada por el regalo de la portada, a Gema Juan y a Raquel Gimnez por

    buscar presupuestos de editoriales y a Mara del Carmen Campos y a Rosa Fernndez Prez

    por la ilustraciones. Sin todos ellos, los 105 alumnos matriculados en la asignatura, este

    proyecto no habra sido posible.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    5/166

    5

    Prologue

    This book was born as a result of several factors: Firstly, the use of new information and

    communication technologies (TICs) in the classroom, using as a support our Aula Virtual, a

    virtual platform which deals with virtual learning and management of teaching which belongs

    to the University of Valencia. Secondly, the application of the above mentioned TICs to the

    methodology of project work in which students are learning by doing. Finally to the

    enthusiasm, motivation and hard work of a group of students of stylistics of English, a subject

    offered in the faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication at the University of

    Valencia, Spain.

    I would like to give my special acknowledgements to Dr. Carmen Gregori Signes, for

    being always there, for giving me her friendship and for motivating me and making me

    enthusiastic about applying new technologies to teaching. I would also like to show my

    gratitude to Dr. Barry Pennock, for allowing me to become part of the TIC ([email protected])

    group which he heads in the Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya. This group was

    made up by Dr. Miguel Fuster, Dr. Begoa Clavel, Dr. Anna Brigido, Professor Beatriu Cardona,

    Professor Garikoitz Knrr de Santiago the above mentioned Dr. Carmen Gregori, Dr. BarryPennock and me, Professor Mara Alcantud. The first project we carried out was called Diseo

    y Creacin de Materiales Multimedia y Profundizacin en la Enseanza Semipresencial a travs

    de la PlataformaAula Virtual, (2007/2008) and the second one, with the incorporation of Drs.

    Sergio Maruenda, Patricia Bou, Rosana Doln, Eusebio Llcer, Jos Santaemilia, and Francisca

    Suau was called Diseo y Creacin de Materiales Multimedia y Profundizacin en la

    Enseanza Semipresencial a travs de la Plataforma Aula virtual e internet (2008/2009). This

    group has been working for two years within the program Projecte TIC de Convergncia

    Europea i Qualitat de lEnsenyament de la Universitat de Valncia

    Thank you so much to all the students who have been involved in this project,

    especially to Manuel Gil, for editing it, to Miriam Taboada and her brother Francisco Javier

    Taboada for giving us the title page as a present, to Gema Juan and Raquel Gimnez for

    looking for budgets to publish this book and to Mara del Carmen Campos and to Rosa

    Fernndez Prez for their illustrations. Without all of them, the 105 students registered in this

    subject, this project could not have been carried out.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    6/166

    6

    Descripcin del proyecto

    Estilstica del ingls es una asignatura que se puede estudiar dentro de un programa

    especial de innovacin (PIE: Programa de innovacin educativa) que la Universidad de Valencia

    ofrece a sus estudiantes. Este programa consiste en la incorporacin de NTICS (nuevas

    tecnologas de la informacin y la comunicacin) al aula y una mayor participacin por parte

    de nuestros estudiantes, que tienen que poner especial nfasis en trabajar durante ms

    tiempo por s mismos, investigar, trabajar en grupos, etc. Ms concretamente, esta asignatura

    les ofreci la posibilidad adquirir una mayor participacin en la enseanza, como principal

    elemento de un aprendizaje mixto, que incluye: tests on line por medio de nuestra plataformade aprendizaje virtual, (Aula Virtual), portafolios electrnicos elaborados por medio del trabajo

    en proyectos y relatos digitales. Adems de esto, el programa que estilstica del ingls

    desarroll, estaba incluido como parte de las actividades metodolgicas llevadas a cabo por el

    grupo de investigacin TIC, dirigido por Dr. Barry Pennock-Speck y compuesto por miembros

    del departamento de ingls y alemn, grupo al que la profesora Mara Alcantud pertenece y

    que se ha descrito convenientemente en el prlogo de la presente edicin.

    Este libro est enfocado en los resultados obtenidos en uno de los proyectos-

    pertenecientes a su portafolio electrnico- llevado a cabo por este grupo de estudiantes.

    Antes de dar paso a la descripcin del proyecto reflejado en esta edicin, me gustara

    describir la distribucin de asignacin de tareas que en esta asignatura se ha llevado a cabo,

    todas ellas a travs del Aula Virtual (AV). En primer lugar los alumnos han tenido que realizar

    cinco cuestionarios on-line, cargados y editados en el AV, apartado de administracin de

    cuestionarios, y que los alumnos realizaron por medio del apartado de actividades. Las notas

    obtenidas de estos cuestionarios proporcionaban el 40% de la nota final de la asignatura.

    En segundo lugar, se ha trabajado con relatos digitales, que fueron introducidos en el

    aula por medio de un taller instruccional en el que se les ense cmo usar los programas

    necesarios (Photo story 3, Movie maker y otros) para realizar esta tarea, se les ensearon

    muestras y se les dio informacin de pginas web de ayuda. Todos los programas utilizados

    han sido obtenidos gratuitamente, para que cualquier alumno tuviera acceso a ellos. Tanto el

    guin del relato digital, como la storypoard como el propio relato tuvieron que ser subidos al

    AV, al apartado de actividades. La nota obtenida con esta tarea era el 15%.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    7/166

    7

    Finalmente, el portafolio electrnico proporcionaba el 40% de la nota final (el 5%

    restante se obtena por participacin y asistencia). Esta actividad se describir con detalle a

    continuacin.

    Como introduccin, puedo decir que hay una gran variedad de formatos de portafolios

    electrnicos, dentro de la comunidad educativa, pero el nuestro tiene algo diferente. Se ha

    diseado con la forma de una revista electrnica compuesta por ocho proyectos de escritura

    creativa, cada uno de ellos relacionado con un gnero diferente.

    La metodologa ha sido la siguiente: Se estudi la estilstica de cada gnero en clase

    por medio de power points, videos, actividades on-line; diferentes lecturas de diferentes

    autores, sugiriendo lecturas posteriores y realizando actividades relacionadas con el gnero en

    clase. Despus de eso, mis estudiantes tuvieron que realizar sus propios proyectos poniendo

    en prctica las convenciones de los gneros siguiendo las instrucciones que se les haban

    indicado previamente. Este proyecto no solo pretenda que conocieras dichos gneros, sino

    experimentar lo mismo que haban experimentado los autores de los mismos, en otras

    palabras, aprender haciendo. Los ocho proyectos que se les propusieron fueron:

    1. El lenguaje periodstico. Haz la portada de tu revista, inventa un nombre y escribe tu

    primera noticia. Para hacerlo sigue estas instrucciones: Escritura creative con lenguaje

    periodstica: toma una fotografa divertida, poco usual o interesante (tomada por t, no de

    ninguna revista o peridico), despus escribe una historia sobre lo que pas antes, durante

    y despus de que la foto fuera tomada. Las historias tienen que ser originales y nuevas.

    MUY IMPORTANTE: Usa las convenciones dadas en el ejercicio sobre lenguaje periodstico

    hecho en clase.

    2. El lenguaje de las reseas. Tu revista debe tener una seccin de cultura que hable de

    libros. Haz una resea sobre un libro inventado escrito por un autor imaginario y cuyo

    ttulo debe empezar por if Este proyecto debe tener todos los ingredientes vistos en

    clase.

    3. El lenguaje de la publicidad. Una de las secciones de vuestra revista es para publicidad.

    Debes disear algunos anuncios, inventados, por supuesto. En las leyendas de los mismos

    deben apararecer recursos tales como parodies, foregrounding, deviation and parallelism.

    4. Shakespeare y los sonetos. Escribe un soneto. Elige un tema de tu inters y haz una lista

    de palabras e ideas (en ingls, por supuesto), que tengan relacin con dicho tema Despus,

    usa el diccionario para encontrar nuevas palabras y sinnimos. Usa algunas figuras

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    8/166

    8

    literarias: Aliteracin, hiprbole, metfora, Oximoron, personificacin, smil y otras.

    Tambin podeis usar preguntas retricas.

    5. Cmo escribir un dilogo. Emma de Jane Austen. Your magazine should have an opinion

    section: think of a question to ask people in the street about any topic. Write theresponses of (some) different people. Use characterization through dialogue to build up

    your interviewed characters.

    6. Creating atmosphere like Edgar Allan Poe: You should use the five senses to create

    atmosphere like Poe used to do. You do not have to write a story, but the previous-to-

    action atmosphere. Metaphors and similes following Charles Dickens technique should be

    used.

    7. The language of tales. The brothers Grimm. A tale in two minutes. Write a story aimed at

    children, following the genre conventions. It should take just one page.

    8. Film review. Lexical repetition in Jean Rhys wide Sargasso Sea. Use lexical repetition for

    this section. Try to prove with your essay that you have watched the film (details,

    expressions from the film, etc). Highlight the words used for lexical repetition.

    La mecnica de todos y cada uno de los proyectos fue la siguiente:

    1. Los alumnos realizaban sus proyectos en un documento de Word o Power Point.

    2. Lo suben al aula virtual, apartado de actividades (que previamente haba sido

    configurado con ocho apartados, llamados Project 1, Project 2 y as sucesivamente)

    3. El segundo proyecto lo realizan en el mismo documento en el que ya haban realizadoel primero, a continuacin, y lo vuelven a subir a actividades AV, al apartado Project 2.

    4. Todos los proyectos se realizan de la misma manera, elaborndose as una revista,pgina por pgina.

    5. El ltimo proyecto contiene la revista completa y es la que ser calificada, puesto quese les permite ir mejorando, corrigiendo y modificando los proyectos anteriores,

    conforme van realizando entregas

    Este libro muestra los cuentos finales que pertenecen al proyecto nmero 7: a tale in

    two minutes. Mis estudiantes escribieron el cuento en ingls, como toda la revista,

    pero despus escribieron la versin en castellano, por decisin de ellos, para que

    pudieran ser publicados en ambos idiomas. He incluido en estas pginas tambin la

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    9/166

    9

    revisin de literatura para nios, de los hermanos Grimm y la estructura de los cuento

    segn Nodelman (2003), ya que ste fue el paso previo a llevar a cabo los proyectos.

    Mara Alcantud Daz

    Universitat de Valncia

    [email protected]

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    10/166

    10

    Description of the project

    Stylistics of English is a subject which is being studied within a special innovation

    program (PIE: Educational Innovation Program) which this University provides to its students.

    This program consists of the incorporation of NTICS to the classroom and a higher participation

    on behalf of our students, who have to put special emphasis on working longer on their own,

    researching, working in groups and so on. More concretely, this subject offered them the

    possibility of participating as a main element of a blended learning framework which includes:

    on line tests through our virtual learning platform (Aula Virtual), electronic portfolios

    elaborated by means of project work and digital storytelling. In addition to this, the syllabus

    which stylistics of English developed was included as part of the methodological activities

    carried out by a TIC group directed by Dr. Barry Pennock-Speck and composed by members of

    the English and German studies department among which Professor Mara Alcantud, is

    included.

    This book focuses on the results achieved in one of the projects belonging to their

    electronic portfolio- carried out by this group of students.

    Before introducing the description of the project which has been showed in this

    edition, I would like to describe the distribution of the tasks which has been carried out in this

    subject, all of them through Aula Virtual (AV).

    Firstly, my students had to make five tests on line, uploaded and edited in the AV

    administration of tests- and which students had to carry out through the activities section. The

    marks achieved were the 40% of the subject.

    Secondly, we have been working with digital storytelling, which were introduced in the

    class by means of a workshop provided for that aim. In that workshop students were taught

    the software needed for the task (Photo story 3, movie maker and some others). Besides, they

    were shown some digital storytelling samples and they were given information about some

    web pages which could help them.

    The script, as well as the storyboard and the digital story had to be uploaded to AV, to

    the activities section. The marks achieved were the 15% of the final one.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    11/166

    11

    Finally, the electronic portfolio provided 40% of the final mark (the 5% remaining was

    obtained with attendance and participation to the class). This activity will be described in

    detail next.

    As an introductory topic, I can say that there is a wide range of electronic portfolios

    within the educational community, but ours have something different. They have been shaped

    as electronic magazines composed by eight projects on creative writing, each one of them

    related to a different genre. The methodology was as follows: the stylistics of each genre was

    revised in class by using power points, activities on line; different readings on different

    authors; suggesting further readings and doing some related activities in the classroom. After

    that, my students had to carry out their own project putting into practice the genres

    conventions following the instructions given. This was not just about studying the genres, but

    to experience the same as being one of the authors of those genres, in other words, learning

    by doing.

    The eight projects proposed were:

    1.- The language of newspaper reporting. Make your magazine front page, invent a

    name and write your first piece of news. To do so follow these instructions: Creative writing

    with newspaper reporting: take an interesting, funny or unusual photo (taken by yourself, not

    from any magazine or newspaper...) then write a story about what happened before, during

    and after the photo was taken. Stories have to be original and new. VERY IMPORTANT: Use

    the prompts given in the exercise about newspaper reporting done in class.

    2.- The language of blurbs. Your magazine should have a culture section talking about

    books. Make a blurb on an invented book by an invented author and whose title should start:

    If . It should have all the ingredients seen today in class

    3.- The language of advertising. One of the sections in your magazine is for advertising.

    You should make some advertisements (invented, of course). Parodies, foregrounding,

    deviation and parallelism have to be included in your advertisement slogans.

    4.- Shakespeare and sonnets. Write a sonnet. Choose a topic of your interest and make

    a list of words or ideas (in English, of course) which have something to do with that topic.

    Then, use the dictionary to find new words and synonyms. Use some literary figures:

    Alliteration, Hyperbole, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Personification, SimileRhetoric questions can

    be used too.

    5.- How to write a dialogue. Emma, by Jane Austen. Your magazine should have an

    opinion section: think of a question to ask people in the street about any topic. Write the

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    12/166

    12

    responses of different people. Use characterization through dialogue to build up your

    interviewed characters.

    6.- Creating atmosphere like Edgar Allan Poe: You should use the five senses to create

    atmosphere like Poe used to do. You do not have to write a story, but the previous-to-action

    atmosphere. Metaphors and similes following Charles Dickens technique should be used.

    7.- The language of tales. The brothers Grimm. A tale in two minutes. Write a story

    aimed at children, following the genre conventions. It should take just one page.

    8.- Film review. Lexical repetition in Jean Rhys wide Sargasso Sea. Use lexical

    repetition for this section. Try to prove with your essay that you have watched the film

    (details, expressions from the film, etc). Highlight the words used for lexical repetition.

    The working of each and every one of these projects is described as follows:

    1. Students had to write their projects in a Word or Power Point file.

    2. They uploaded it to AV, to the activity section (which had been previously shaped witheight sections, named Project 1, Project 2 and so on).

    3. The second Project had to be written in the same file as the previous one, in anotherpage and then they uploaded it again to the AV, but this time to Project 2.

    4.

    All the projects were carried out in the same way, so as to make a digital magazine,page after page.

    5. The last Project had the whole magazine which will be the one to be marked, as theyare allowed to improve, correct and modify all projects but the last one.

    This book shows the final tales concerning project number seven: a tale in two

    minutes. My students wrote the tale in English and then they decided to write a version in

    Spanish in order to be published. I have included in these pages the revision on literature for

    children, the brothers Grimm and the layout of a tale according Nodelman (2003) as it was theprevious stage to carry out their projects.

    Mara Alcantud Daz

    Universitat de Valncia

    [email protected]

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    13/166

    13

    El lenguaje de los cuentos: los hermanos Grimm

    Mara Alcantud Daz

    Universitat de Valncia

    El objetivo principal de este captulo es introducir el concepto de la literatura dirigida a

    los nios, una breve resea de su historia y de algunos de sus representantes ms populares,

    los hermanos Grimm. Las convenciones necesarias para realizar el proyecto relacionado con

    este gnero, segn Nodelman (2003), se resumen al final del presente captulo, a fin de

    proporcionar a mis alumnos una gua rpida para llevar a cabo su proyecto: A tale in twominutes.

    1. Primeros libros dirigidos a los nios

    Apenas hay alguna referencia a los libros dirigidos a los nios antes de 1740 y la razn

    es muy simple: antes del siglo XVIII, los nios eran vistos como adultos en miniatura, no se les

    trataba como los nios son tratados hoy en da. En este sentido, hay algunos hechos referentes

    a la condicin de los nios en ese momento que podran parecer anecdticos para nosotros,

    debido a la forma en que los nios son tratados hoy en da. Por ejemplo, los nios no usaban

    ropa diseada especialmente para ellos, sino una versin en miniatura de la ropa de los

    adultos. Adems, no haba literatura destinada a ellos, o leyes especiales para ellos referidas a

    la escolarizacin o los delitos cometidos por o contra los nios. Su muerte, en la mayora de los

    casos, no tena el tratamiento que tiene hoy en da, porque incluso sus tumbas no eran

    marcadas (vase Postman, 1999). Adems, es sabido que en la Europa medieval, tan pronto

    como el nio no tena que vivir con la permanente atencin de sus madres, comenzaba a

    pertenecer a la sociedad adulta. Los nios no necesitan una literatura especial, ya que no

    tenan necesidades especiales porque tenan el mismo status que los adultos (Nodelman

    2003:82).

    Segn Kinnell (1996: 141), hay slo unos pocos ejemplos aislados de libros destinados

    a los nios publicados en el siglo XVI y, como en los siglos XVII y principios del XVIII, no haba

    diferencias entre las edades apropiadas de los lectores de la literatura popular en esos aos.

    Los libros ledos en esa poca eran una especie de libros religiosos, escolares, y libros de

    cortesa, adems de canciones infantiles, que ms tarde se coinvertiran en la base de la

    literatura infantil. Tenemos que tener en cuenta que, en ese momento, slo alrededor del 30

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    14/166

    14

    por ciento de los hombres y, por supuesto, menos mujeres, podan leer con fluidez, porque los

    nios eran retirados de la escuela tan pronto como podan trabajar y ganar algo de dinero para

    sus familias. Este hecho estaba directamente relacionado con el desarrollo de la literatura

    dirigida a los nios ya que estaba vinculada a factores sociales, educativos y econmicos (Ray,

    1996: 654). Algunos ejemplos de los libros impresos en el siglo XVII eran, de acuerdo con Ray

    (1996: 655): Sensualium Orbis, impreso por primera vez en latn y alemn. El autor, John Amos

    Comenius, naci en Bohemia y es el padre reconocido de los libros de imgenes para nios y

    cuentos de hadas escrito por el francs Charles Perrault y publicado en Pars en 1697.

    Los libros que podran considerarse como los primeros reconocidos como literatura

    infantil, de acuerdo con Nodelman (2003:83) fueron publicados en Inglaterra por John

    Newbery en 1740 y tenan ttulos tales como Little pretty pocket book, dedicados a la

    instruccin y Amusement of little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly y algunos otros.

    2. Cuando el siglo XVIII lleg

    El aumento de la poblacin de los nios proporcionalmente trajo un aumento en el

    inters comercial en la publicacin de libros para ellos. De esta forma, los libros destinados a

    los nios se convirtieron en "ms orientados a los nios en el tono, el lenguaje y la materia"

    (Kinnel, 1996: 145). No se trataba slo de que estaban aumentando las oportunidades de

    educacin y de que los avances tecnolgicos hacan que los libros estuvieran disponibles a

    precios razonables, debido al abaratamiento de papel y del proceso de impresin, sino de que

    la infancia, una invencin de esa poca, se convirti en un fenmeno mercantil cuya

    paternidad, adems de la contribucin de Rousseau y Locke, podra atribuirse a la clase media,

    un grupo de personas cuyo "xito y el prestigio no dependa de los antecedentes familiares o la

    pureza espiritual, sino en la capacidad de hacer dinero" (Nodelman 2003:84). Al mismo

    tiempo, durante este siglo, hubo un movimiento general en toda Europa en favor de la

    educacin universal que, junto con una clase media emergente "contribuy a crear un pblicolector con un mercado viable para los libros para nios" (Ray, 1996: 655 ). La conjuncin de

    todos estos hechos, sembr la semilla de un nuevo tipo de literatura, la literatura dirigida a los

    nios, cuya base fue la tradicin oral y los cuentos de hadas.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    15/166

    15

    3. La tradicin oral y cuentos de hadas

    Propp (1977:18) sostiene que una clasificacin justa de los cuentos, como punto de

    partida, podra ser: cuentos de hadas, cuentos populares y cuentos de animales. Me gustara

    centrarme en los cuentos populares, ya que el presente proyecto estar relacionado con los

    cuentos de los hermanos Grimm, una coleccin que, al menos en sus primeras etapas, naci

    como un proyecto filolgico cuyo objetivo principal era recoger cuentos de tradicin oral

    alemana a fin de mantener la pureza de las voces alemanas. Por ese motivo, me gustara

    presentar a la tradicin oral con una cita de Civallero (2007) que explica de un modo muy

    descriptivo las bases de la tradicin oral:

    El padre le cuenta a su hija sus aventuras de juventud, historias mnimas que no

    aparecen escritas en ningn sitio pero que sern parte de la historia personal de la

    muchacha. La abuela le confa a su nieto la receta exacta de ese postre que sus

    antepasados inmigrantes haban trado de allende los mares, y que a l tanto le

    gusta. El anciano sentado en el parque cuenta -a quin quiera escucharlo- su propia

    versin de la historia revolucionaria en la que particip de joven, una historia que

    los textos oficiales narran de acuerdo a su conveniencia, no siempre apegada a la

    realidad de los hechos. El curandero le transmite a su aprendiz la combinacin

    exacta de corteza y hojas medicinales necesarias para elaborar un remedio, una

    frmula transmitida a travs de las generaciones y que no est anotada en ninguna

    parte. Son diminutos fragmentos de una tradicin que se (re)produce a lo largo y

    ancho de todo el mundo, entre campesinos indgenas y entre docentes

    universitarios, entre amas de casa y dirigentes polticos: la tradicin oral, la

    transmisin de saberes a travs de la palabra hablada, la primera -y a veces la nica-

    forma que tenemos para manejar nuestro idioma y para poder expresar y recibir,

    por ende, ideas y conocimiento..

    Todas las culturas tienen sus propias historias tradicionales. Mitos desarrollados a fin

    de explicar todo tipo de fenmenos naturales. Hroes de Leyenda que crecieron alrededor de

    personajes carismticos. Las fbulas eran una forma de ensear consejos tiles. Los cuentos

    tradicionales y de hadas "proporcionaron satisfaccin psicolgica a travs de su sistema

    simplificado de recompensa y castigo, o una forma de poner de manifiesto las relaciones y los

    temores con seguridad" (Ray, 1996: 654). La popularidad de este tipo de historias los llev aconvertirse en literatura infantil durante el siglo XIX. Este hecho sent las bases para la

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    16/166

    16

    escritura de historias de fantasa modernas (Ray, 1996: 654). Es ms, el contenido de los

    cuentos de hadas que fueron compuestos originalmente por y para adultos a menudo pasaron

    a formar parte de dominio de las lecturas de los nios.

    4. Los hermanos Grimm y su recopilacin

    Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm naci el 4 de enero de 1785, en Hanau, una ciudad comercial

    situada en una de las pequeas partidos que conformaban lo que hoy es Alemania. Era hijo de

    Felipe Guillermo Grimm (un abogado y oficial de la corte) y su esposa Dorothea Grimm. Un ao

    despus, naci su hermano Wilhelm Carl Grimm (24 de febrero de 1786). Tuvieron seis

    hermanos y una hermana: Georg Friedrich Hermann (1783-1784), Carl Friedrich (1787-1852),

    Fernando Felipe (1788-1844), Emil Ludwig (1790), Charlotte (Lotte) Amalie Hassenpflug, (1793

    -- 1833), Friedrich (1791-1792), y (1794-1795 Eduard Georg). El padre de los hermanos Grimm

    muri en 1796, dejando a la familia en dificultades financieras por lo que su madre tuvo que

    trabajar muy duro para pagar la educacin de los nios. Jacob y Wilhelm se trasladaron a

    Kassel en 1798, ciudad natal de su madre. Los nios, de 13 y 14 aos vivan con su ta, que

    pag por ellos para que asistieran a una prestigiosa escuela de Kassel. Jacob comenz sus

    estudios de Derecho en la Universidad de Marburgo en 1802 y tambin lo hizo su hermano, un

    ao ms tarde, en 1803.

    Jacob y Wilhelm, influenciados por la coleccin de poesa de Clemens Brentano y

    Achim von Arnim, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, comenzaron a recopilar cuentos populares

    (Mrchen) en 1806, pero dos aos ms tarde, 27 de mayo de 1808, Dorothea Grimm, su

    madre, muri a la edad de 52, de modo Jacob tuvo que trabajar como bibliotecario en Kassel,

    en el fin de mantener a sus hermanos y hermana menores. Ambos hermanos comenzaron a

    recoger cuentos en su tiempo libre para ayudar a un amigo escritor, que espera publicar una

    coleccin de cuentos tradicionales. Ellos trabajaban como un equipo, Wilhelm, que era el ms

    imaginativo y literario de los dos, seleccionaba y ordenaba los cuentos mientras que Jacob eraresponsable del trabajo de investigacin centrado en los estudios lingsticos.

    La coleccin de los hermanos Grimm "estaba compuesta por ms de doscientos

    cuentos recogidos de amigos, conocidos, informadores, almanaques infantiles y viejos libros"

    (Bottigheimer, 1996: 154). Uno de los ms importantes informadores fue Marie Hassenpflug,

    de 20 aos amiga de su hermana, Charlotte, dque provena de una familia de buena educacin

    y de habla francesa. Las historias de Marie eran una mezcla de tradicin oral y los cuentos de

    Perrault Mother Goose (1697). Las historias incluan magia, comunicacin entre los animales ylos hombres, valores morales, la enseanza delo que socialmente est bien y mal, idioma,

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    17/166

    17

    religin, cuentos sin sentido, cuentos populares, etiologas, parodias y otros. Ambos hermanos

    sostenan que los cuentos deban ser registrados y presentados lo ms parecidos posible a la

    forma original. Esto significaba que en algunas de las historias figuran detalles desagradables.

    La coleccin de cuentos de los hermanos Grimm est entre las primeras las primeras

    de su tipo que naci con fines cientficos (Lang, 1884: 3). La primera intencin de estos dos

    estudiosos, al recoger cuentos populares alemanes, era un proyecto acadmico que

    preservara las tradiciones de cuentos, amenazados por la industrializacin y la urbanizacin,

    con el fin de mantener su propia identidad nacional. "Lo que queran era captar la" pura "voz

    del pueblo alemn y de conservar sus oracular Naturpoesie antes de morir " (Tatar 2004: xxxii).

    Como la figura de los nios se estaba poniendo de relieve como un cliente y lector potencial,

    los escritores romnticos alemanes, incluidos los hermanos Grimm, pensaron que no haba

    necesidad de crear nuevas historias para los nios, porque la verdadera literatura ya estaba en

    el folclore tradicional. As que decidieron dar a esta literatura popular a los nios.

    Despus de este breve paseo por la historia, necesitamos una serie de convenciones

    relacionadas con el gnero definido como cuento, que podra mejorar las habilidades de

    escritura de mis estudiantes, con relacin a su proyecto. Con este fin, (el libro de Nodelman

    the pleasures of childrens literature (2003) me pareci una buena opcin. Por esa razn el

    siguiente paso en esta introduccin ser un resumen de las principales caractersticas descritas

    por este autor de tal manera que mis estudiantes de estilstica del Ingls puedan aplicarlos a

    su proyecto.

    5. Caractersticas del gnero.

    1. Las descripciones que aparece deberan ser mnimas.

    2. La informacin debe ser concreta y no abstracta: debe incluir detalles sobre la forma,

    sonido y color para que los lectores puedan imaginar mundos especficos: por ejemplo,

    "sus codos temblaban y su mandbula estaba tan apretada que los dientes delanteros

    estaban clavndose en el labio inferior.

    3. Los textos para nios deben tener lugar en entornos que los nios suelen ocupar:

    hogares y escuelas, playas, campings... pero tambin en entornos de fantasa

    imaginaria tambin.

    4. Los personajes principales: son la mayora de las veces los nios o criaturas infantiles.

    5. La inexperiencia de la infancia tiende a ser una ignorancia peligrosa en algunos textos yuna inocencia encantadora que en otros: Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh ...

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    18/166

    18

    6. A veces, se centran en los animales y su naturaleza. (por ejemplo los relacionados a la

    alimentacin). como, Little Red Riding Hood.

    7. La reduccin del tamao o dar vida a objetos en miniatura es otra tcnica utilizada por

    los escritores de cuentos.

    8. El impulso principal de los cuentos es siempre didctico.

    9. La repeticin de una tarea ayuda a los estudiantes a aprender. Por esta razn, la

    repeticin es un recurso muy usado en este gnero.

    10. Podemos encontrar lo que se llama historia acumulativa: en la que todos los eventos

    anteriores se repiten despus de la introduccin de cada nuevo evento.

    11. Presencia de variacin: trmino tomado de la msica, donde las piezas se construyen

    con frecuencia como variaciones de los temas recurrentes y donde los compositores

    suelen producir conjuntos de variaciones. Por ejemplo, Anne of Green Gables: novela

    episdica en la que cada captulo cuenta una historia similar.

    Adems de la adopcin de las convenciones se mencionadas anteriormente, se les

    sugiri a los alumnos en sus cuentos lo que, despus de investigar sobre el gnero,

    consideraba las principales caractersticas de la literatura dirigida a los nios: los cuentos

    deben ser cortos, positivos y constructivos. Adems de esto, potencialmente deberan invitar a

    desarrollar la imaginacin de los nios por medio de diferentes gneros como la fantasa o laaventura. Por ltimo, deberan usar un tipo de vocabulario que sea fcilmente comprendido y

    utilizado por los nios y no relacionados con la violencia o cualquier otro tema que pueda

    molestar la sensibilidad de los nios

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    19/166

    19

    References

    Baraz, D. (2003). Medieval Cruelty: Changing perceptions, late antiquity to the Early Modern

    Period. Cornwell University.

    Bottigheimer, Ruth B.(1996). Fairy tales and Folk- tales. In Hunt (1996) InternationalCompanion encyclopaedia of Childrens literature. London: Routledge.

    Ewers Hans-Heino.(1996) German childrens literature from the eighteenth to the twentieth

    century. In Hunt (1996) International Companion encyclopaedia of Childrens literature. Pp

    735-743. London: Routledge.

    Grimm, Jacob. & Wilhelm (2009). The complete fairy tales, the Brothers Grimm. Ware,

    Hertfordshire. Wordsworth Editions Limited.

    Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm (translator Margaret Hunt)(1884).Household tales with the authorsnotes, translated by Margaret Hunt. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms.html

    Gianoutsos, Jamie. (2006). Locke and Rousseau: early childhood education. The

    Undergraduate Journal of Baylor University Vol 4 N 1 the Pulse.

    Hunt Peter.(1996). International Companion encyclopaedia of Childrens literature. London.

    Routledge.

    Kinnell, Margaret. (1996) Early texts used by children. In Hunt (1996) International

    Companion encyclopaedia of Childrens literature. Pp 141-151. London: Routledge.

    Lesnik-Oberstein Karin.(1996) Defining childrens literature and childhood In Hunt (1996) pp

    17-31. London: Routledge.

    Medlicott, Mary(1996) Story-telling. In Hunt (1996) International Companion encyclopaedia

    of Childrens literature. Pp 539-545. London: Routledge.

    Nodelman,Perry (2003) The pleasures of childrens literature. Boston: Pearson Education. Inc

    Propp. Vladimir (1977).La morfologa del cuento. Madrid: Editorial Fundamentos.

    Postman, Neil. (1999). Building a bridge to the 18th century: how the past can improve our

    future. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

    Renck Jalongo, Mary. (2002). Editorial: On behalf of children. Early childhood Education

    Journal. Vol 30, N 1, Fall 2002.

    Tatar, Maria.(1987). The hard facts of the Grimms Fairy tales. Princeton: Princeton University

    Press.

    Tatar, Maria (2004). The annotated Brothers Grimm. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

    Tatar, Mara (1992). Off with your heads. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms.htmlhttp://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms.html
  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    20/166

    20

    The language of tales: the brothers Grimm

    Mara Alcantud Daz

    Universitat de Valncia

    The main aim of this chapter is to introduce the concept of literature aimed at

    children, a brief review of its history and of some of its most popular representatives, the

    brothers Grimm. The conventions needed to start writing text related to this genre that of folk

    or fairy tales according to Nodelman (2003) will be summarized at the end of the present

    chapter, in order to provide my students a quick guide to carry out their projects related to the

    present genre.

    1. First books aimed at children

    There is almost no reference to books aimed at children before 1740 and the reason

    for this is very simple: before the XVIII century, children were seen as miniature adults, theywere not treated like children are nowadays. In this sense, there are some facts referring to

    childrens status at that time which could seem to us anecdotic according to the way children

    are treated nowadays. For instance, children did not wear clothes especially designed for

    them, but small versions of adults clothes. Besides, there was no literature aimed at them, or

    special laws for them referring to schooling or crimes committed by or to children. Their death,

    in most cases, has not got the treatment which it has today because even their graves were

    unmarked (cf. Postman, 1999). Besides, it is widely known that in medieval Europe, as soon as

    a child did not have to live with the permanent attention of their mothers, they started to

    belong to the adult society. They did not need special literature because they did not have

    special needs; they reached the same status as adults (Nodelman 2003:82).

    As argued by Kinnell (1996: 141), there are only a few isolated examples of books

    aimed at children published in the XVI century and, like in the XVII and beginning of XVIII

    centuries, there were no differences between the readership ages in popular literature which

    could be read in those years. The books read at that time were some kind of religious, school

    and courtesy books, apart from nursery rhymes, which later became the base for the so called

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    21/166

    21

    literature aimed at children. We have to take into account that, at that time, just around 30

    per cent of men and, of course, fewer women, could read fluently, because children were

    removed from school as soon as they could work and earn some money for their families. This

    fact is directly related to the development of literature aimed at children as it is linked to

    social, educational and economic factors (Ray, 1996: 654). Some examples of books printed in

    the XVII century were, according to Ray (1996: 655): Orbis sensualium, first printed in Latin and

    High German. The author, John Amos Comenius, was born in Bohemia and is the recognized

    father of the childrens picture books and French fairy tales written by Charles Perrault and

    published in Paris in 1697.

    The books which could be considered to be the first recognized as aimed at children,

    according to Nodelman (2003:83) were published in England by John Newbery in 1740 and

    whose names were such as A little pretty pocket book, Intended for the instruction and

    Amusement of little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly and some others.

    2. When the XVIII century arrived...

    The raising in childrens population proportionally brought a raise in the commercial

    interest in publishing books for them. Thus, books aimed at children became more child-

    oriented in the tone, the language and the subject matter (Kinnel, 1996: 145). It was not only

    that educational opportunities were increasing and technological developments made books

    available at reasonable prices due to cheaper paper and printing process, but that childhood,

    an invention of that age, was found to be a mercantile phenomenon whose fatherhood, apart

    from contribution on behalf of Rousseau and Locke, could be attributed to the Middle class, a

    group of people whose success and prestige depends not on family background or spiritual

    purity but on the ability to make money (Nodelman 2003:84).. At the same time, during this

    century, there was a general move all over Europe in favour of universal education together

    with a raising middle class which helped to create a reading public with a viable market for

    childrens books (Ray, 1996: 655). The conjunction of all these facts sowed the seeds for a

    new kind of literature, literature aimed at children, whose basis was probed to be the oral

    tradition and the fairy tales.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    22/166

    22

    3. Oral tradition and fairy tales

    Propp (1977:18) claims that a fair classification of tales, as a starting point, might be:

    fairy tales, folk tales and animal tales. I would like to focus on folk tales, as the present project

    will be related to the brother Grimms tales, a collection which, at least in its first stages, was

    born as a philological project whose main aim was to collect tales from German oral tradition

    in order to keep the purity of German voices. For that reason, I would like to introduce the oral

    tradition with a quote by Civallero (2007) who explains in a very descriptive way the

    foundations of oral tradition.

    El padre le cuenta a su hija sus aventuras de juventud, historias mnimas que no

    aparecen escritas en ningn sitio pero que sern parte de la historia personal de la muchacha.

    La abuela le confa a su nieto la receta exacta de ese postre que sus antepasados inmigrantes

    haban trado de allende los mares, y que a l tanto le gusta. El anciano sentado en el parque

    cuenta -a quin quiera escucharlo- su propia versin de la historia revolucionaria en la que

    particip de joven, una historia que los textos oficiales narran de acuerdo a su conveniencia,

    no siempre apegada a la realidad de los hechos. El curandero le transmite a su aprendiz la

    combinacin exacta de corteza y hojas medicinales necesarias para elaborar un remedio, una

    frmula transmitida a travs de las generaciones y que no est anotada en ninguna parte. Son

    diminutos fragmentos de una tradicin que se (re)produce a lo largo y ancho de todo el

    mundo, entre campesinos indgenas y entre docentes universitarios, entre amas de casa y

    dirigentes polticos: la tradicin oral, la transmisin de saberes a travs de la palabra hablada,

    la primera -y a veces la nica- forma que tenemos para manejar nuestro idioma y para poder

    expresar y recibir, por ende, ideas y conocimiento. 1

    1 Civallero Eduardo (2007)El relato oral

    My translation: The father tells his daughter the adventures of his youth, minimal stories which appear

    nowhere in written formbut that will be part of the girls personal stories. The grandmother entrusts her

    grandson the exact recipe of that desert that her immigrant ancestors had brought overseas, and that he likes

    so much. The old man sat in the park tells -to whomever would like to listen-his own version of the

    revolutionary story in which he took part when he was young, a story which the official texts relate according

    to convenience, and are not always faithful to reality. The folk healer passes on tohis trainee the right

    combination of the medicinal bark and leaves needed to make a remedy, a formula passed on through

    generations and which is not documented anywhere. They are tiny fragments of a tradition which takes place

    all over the world, among native peasants and university teachers, among house wives and politic leaders:

    Oral tradition, the transmission of knowledge through the spoken word, the firstand sometimes the only-

    way which we have to deal with our language and to be able to express ourselves and get ideas andknowledge.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    23/166

    23

    All cultures have their own traditional stories. Myths developed in order to explain all

    kinds of natural phenomena. Hero legends grew up around charismatic characters. Fables

    were a way of teaching useful advice. Folk and fairy tales provided psychological satisfaction

    through their simplified system of reward and punishment, or as a way of working out

    relationships and fears in safety (Ray, 1996: 654). The popularity of this kind of story led them

    to become childrens literature during the nineteenth century. This fact set the basis for the

    writing of modern fantasy stories (Ray, 1996: 654). What is more, the content of fairy tales

    that were originally composed by and for adults often passed into the domain of childrens

    readings.

    4. The brothers Grimm and their collection

    Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born in January 4, 1785, in Hanau, a market town in one

    of the small polities that made up what is now Germany. He was son of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm

    (a lawyer and court official) and his wife Dorothea Grimm, ne Zimmer. One year later, his

    brother Wilhelm Carl Grimm was born (February 24, 1786). They had six more brothers and

    one sister: Friedrich Hermann Georg (1783-1784), Carl Friedrich (1787-1852), Ferdinand Philipp

    (1788-1844), Ludwig Emil (1790), Charlotte (Lotte) Amalie Hassenpflug, (1793-1833), Friedrich

    (1791-1792), and Georg Eduard (1794-1795). The Grimms father died in 1796, leaving the

    family in financial distress so their mother had to work very hard to pay for the education of

    the children. Jacob and Wilhelm then moved to Kassel in 1798 which was their mother's home

    city. The 13 and 14 year old boys lived with their aunt who paid for them to attend a

    prestigious school in Kassel. Jacob began his study of law at the University of Marburg in 1802

    and so did his brother, one year later, in 1803.

    Jacob and Wilhelm, influenced by the folk poetry collection of Clemens Brentano and

    Achim von Arnim, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, began to collect folktales (Mrchen) in 1806 but

    two years later, May 27 1808, Dorothea Grimm, their mother, died at the age of 52 so Jacob

    took a position as a librarian in Kassel in order to support his younger brothers and sister. Both

    brothers began collecting tales in their free time to help a writer friend, who hoped to publish

    a folklore collection. They worked as a team; Wilhelm, who was the more imaginative and

    literary of the two, selected and arranged the stories while Jacob was responsible for the

    scholarly work concentrating on linguistic studies.

    The Grimms collection was composed by over two hundred tales collected from

    friends, acquaintances, country informants, childrens almanacs and old books (Bottigheimer,1996: 154). One of the most important informants was Marie Hassenpflug, a 20-year-old friend

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    24/166

    24

    of their sister, Charlotte, from a well-bred, French-speaking family. Maries stories blended

    motifs from the oral tradition and Perraults Tales of Mother Goose (1697). The stories

    included magic, communication between animals and men, moral values, teaching of social

    right and wrong, language, religion, nonsense tales, folktales, aetiologies, burlesques and so

    on. Both brothers argued that folktales should be recorded and presented in print as close as

    possible to the original mode. This meant that some of the stories contained unpleasant

    details.

    The brothers Grimms fairy tale collection is among the earliest of its kind which was

    born with scientific purposes (Lang, 1884: 3). These two scholars first intention, when they

    compiled German folktales, was a scholarly project that would preserve storytelling traditions

    threatened by industrialization and urbanization in order to keep their own national identity.

    What they wanted was to capture the pure voice of the German people and to conserve

    their oracular Naturpoesie before it died away (Tatar 2004: xxxii). As the figure of children

    was being highlighted as a potential customer and reader, German Romantic writers, including

    the brothers Grimm, thought that there was no need to create new stories for children,

    because the true literature was already in traditional folklore. Thus they decided to give this

    folk literature to children.

    After this brief walk through the history, what it is needed now is a series of

    conventions related to the genre defined as tale, which could improve my students writing

    skills in reference to their project. For this purpose, Nodelmans (2003) the pleasures of

    childrens literature seemed to me a good choice. For that reason my next step in this

    introduction will be a summary of the main characteristics described by this author in such a

    way that my students of stylistics of English were able to apply them to their tasks.

    5. Characteristics of the genre.

    1. The descriptions presented should be characteristically minimal.

    2. The information given should be concrete rather than abstract: It ought to include

    details about shape, sound, and colour to allow readers to imagine specific worlds: i.e.

    Her elbows were shaking and her jaw was so tight her front teeth were denting her

    lower lip

    3. Texts for children take place in settings that children typically occupy: homes and

    schools, beaches, campgrounds but in imaginary fantasy settings too.

    4. Main characters: are most of the times children or childlike creatures.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    25/166

    25

    5. Childhood inexperience tends to be a dangerous ignorance in some texts and a

    charming innocence in others: Harry Potter, Winnie-the-Pooh

    6. Sometimes, they are focused on animals and their nature. (for example related to

    food). i.e. Little Red Riding Hood.

    7. Reducing the size or bringing miniature objects to life is another technique used by

    tales writers.

    8. The primary impulse of tales is always didactic.

    9. Repeating a task helps students to learn it. For this reason repetition is a very

    extended resource very extended in this genre.

    10. We can find what is called cumulative tale: in which all previous events are repeated

    after the introduction of each new event.

    11. Presence of variation: Term borrowed from music, where pieces are frequently

    constructed as variations of recurring themes and where composers often produce

    sets of variations. i.e. Anne of Green Gables: episodic novel in which each chapter tells

    a similar story.

    Apart from adopting the conventions mentioned above, my students were suggested

    to include in their tales what, after researching on the genre, I considered the main

    characteristics of literature aimed at children: the tales have to be short, positive, and

    constructive. In addition to this, they should potentially invite to develop childrens

    imagination by means of different genres like fantasy or adventure. Finally, they should use a

    kind of vocabulary that is easy to be understood and used by children and not related to

    violence or any other topic which could bother childrens sensibility2.

    2 See references in the previous chapter

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    26/166

    26

    Tales in two minutes

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    27/166

    27

    Los sueos pueden hacerse realidad

    Alfonso Coxias, Beatriz

    Era el da antes de Navidad y Sally iba a pasar esa noche con John, su pap, ya que sus

    padres estaban separados. Ella no estaba feliz porque prefera pasar la noche con su madre

    porque su padre siempre estaba ajetreado con el trabajo.

    Los dos empezaron a preparar la cena, pero John no tena ni idea de preparar cenas ya

    que no sola cenar nunca en casa. Al final decidieron ir a un restaurante para cenar

    decentemente en Noche Buena. Una vez terminado de cenar, partieron rumbo a casa para

    acostarse temprano ya que Pap Noel venia esa noche. John le cont a Sally un cuento de

    Navidad antes de dormir para que Sally durmiera a gusto. Durante la noche, Sally se levant

    porque oy un extrao ruido y fue corriendo a la habitacin de su padre para contarle lo que

    haba odo. El ruido vena de fuera de la casa as que salieron fuera y vieron a una persona

    intentando trepar por el tejado porque se haba resbalado y entrar por la chimenea. John grit

    a esa persona y el hombre que haba en el tejado se asust y se cay al suelo. Rpidamente fue

    a ayudar al hombre y cuando lo vio de cerca se dio cuenta de que estaba disfrazado de Pap

    Noel. Sally cogi del bolsillo del disfraz una tarjeta y se la ense a su padre. John ley la

    tarjeta y ah pona que era el verdadero Santa. l no poda creer lo que estaba leyendo y

    cuando se dio cuenta el cuerpo del hombre desapareci dejando slo y nicamente el disfraz.

    John segu pensando que era simplemente un sueo navideo, pero Sally le dijo que ahora

    deban de hacer ellos de Pap Noel y terminar de repartir todos los regalos por el mundo

    porque si no algunos nios se quedaran sin ellos. Finalmente John hizo lo que le dijo su hija y

    empezaron a repartir los regalos por todo el mundo durante toda la noche. Una vez terminada

    la faena, el carro de los renos les llev directamente a casa, al Polo Norte, donde vive el

    verdadero Santa. John estaba anonadado y segua pensando que estaban soando; pero era

    Sally la que le deca que no, que era todo completamente de verdad. Para Sally las cosas

    estaban cambiando mucho respecto a la opinin que tena de pasar el tiempo con su padre y

    empez a querer estar ms tiempo con l. Al da siguiente, Sally volvi con su madre y el novio

    de su madre a casa y, como una nia pequea que era, le cont todo lo sucedido. Su madre

    estaba confundida por lo que Sally le cont sobre aquella noche, ya que pensaba que eran

    cosas estpidas que le haba metido su padre en la cabeza. John tambin lo negaba todoporque segua creyendo que era todo un simple sueo. Pero la cosa iba cambiando porque a

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    28/166

    28

    John le empez a crecer la barba y a crecerle tambin la barriga. Le empezaron a llegar por

    correo o por arte de magia las tareas que Santa Claus deba de hacer durante el ao para

    preparar las cosas antes de la noche en la que viaja durante todo el mundo repartiendo

    regalos. Para que su madre no sospechara y dejara a su hija pasar ms tiempo con su padre,

    decidieron llevarlo todo en secreto para siempre. Y as, Sally le ayud ao tras ao a su padre a

    preparar todo para que todo el mundo fuera feliz3.

    3 Imagen http://www.plusesmas.com/fotos/Papa_Noel_en_chimenea_1_g.gif

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    29/166

    29

    Dreams can be true

    Alfonso Coxias, Beatriz

    It was the day before Christmas and Sally had to spend the night with John, her dad,

    because her parents were divorced. She was not happy about that because her father was

    always busy with his work.

    Both started to prepare dinner but John did not know anything about cooking. So, he

    decided to go off to a restaurant to have dinner with Sally. Then, they went home and John

    tried to read a Christmas story to Sally before falling sleep. During the night Sally woke up

    because she heard a strange noise. Quickly, she went to his dads bedroom and woke him up.

    They went outside and noticed that there was someone on the roof. John scared that person

    and he fell down. When he tried to help this man, he realized that he was a man dressed up as

    Santa. Sally picked a card up from Santas pocket and gave it to her dad. John read the card

    and he found out that that man was the real Santa and he had to be Santa now because Santa

    disappeared and left his costume there. John did not believe what was happening and he

    thought he was dreaming. Sally told him that he had to deliver all the presents around the

    world as Santa. Finally they spent all night delivering the presents to the children. Then, when

    they finished with this task, they went to the North Pole where Santa lived. They thought that

    they were dreaming the whole time, but fortunately for Sally this was completely real. She had

    such a great time with her dad and she decided to spend more time with him. Sally went back

    to her mother and told her everything she and her dad did the night before. Her mum was so

    confused and thought that Sally had a problem because anything that she said could be

    possible. Apart from that, in his house, John realized that he was Santa now because he

    remembered everything that they did the night before and he was getting fatter and fatter.The father and daughter decided to have their own secret forever and Sally spent the following

    year helping John make everything to prepare for the next Christmas.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    30/166

    30

    La bruja blanca

    Calvo Martnez, Elena

    rase una vez tres amigas que se llamaban Esther, Raquel y Daisy. Vivan en un

    pueblecito cerca de las montaas. Esther tena el pelo de color dorado, el de Raquel era como

    el de la cebada mientras que el de Daisy era de color crema.

    Era el da cinco de diciembre, haca fro pero el sol brillaba en el cielo. Ese da, era el

    cumpleaos de Daisy, as que pusieron unas botellas de agua y unos sndwiches en sus

    mochilas y se fueron de excursin.

    Llevaban un rato caminando cuando algo extrao sucedi. El sol desapareci y todo se

    volvi oscuro. De repente, brot un bosque. Qu estaba pasando?

    El bosque era muy denso, las jvenes apenas podan ver nada, pero Daisy encontr

    una pequea cabaa. Estaba empezando a llover as que abrieron la puerta y entraron

    corriendo a la casita. Dentro haba una cama y una mesa. Sobre la mesa se vean una botella

    de leche, frutas y flores recin cogidas. Esther pens que en aquella casa deba vivir alguien,

    pero aunque esperaron mucho rato, nadie apareci. Raquel tena mucha sed y tras echar una

    ojeada por la habitacin encontr un armario grande en una esquina.

    Sobre el armario haba unas bolitas de colores brillantes pero cuando Raquel intent

    alcanzarlas, cayeron y rodando, rodando fueron a parar tras la chimenea. Se acerc a la

    chimenea para conseguir las relucientes bolitas y all, encontr una puerta secreta. Lanz un

    grit y Esther lleg rpidamente para ver qu ocurra. Las jvenes queran saber si haba

    alguien y por eso abrieron la puerta. ! Vaya sorpresa! Detrs de la puerta, encontraron una

    pequea cueva. Dentro de la cueva, una nia, muy, muy pequea dorma. Intentaron

    despertarla pero no pudieron. Acariciaron su carita, estaba un poco fra. Sin embargo, cuando

    se acercaron, vieron que respiraba. ! Estaba viva!

    Queran despertarla pero no saban cmo podran hacerlo. De repente, recordaron la

    historia del anciano mago Zinger. En esta historia, el mago entonaba una cancin muy bella y

    danzaba alrededor de la nia embrujada para despertarla. Esther y Raquel decidieron

    intentarlo y comenzaron a cantar y bailar alrededor de la nia. Pero, no conocan la cancin ni

    tampoco el baile mgico. Por ello, aunque bailaron y bailaron, la nia no despert. De pronto,se acordaron de Daisy. Quiz ella pudiera ayudarlas a despertar a la chica.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    31/166

    31

    Cuando Esther y Raquel le contaron a Daisy el problema, sta inmediatamente se

    transform. Se puso sus gafas de detective y empez a investigar. No era un caso fcil de

    resolver. La bella nia durmiendo estaba y la cancin de las jvenes no la despertaba.

    Daisy su libro de magia consult. En l un hechizo mgico encontr. Tenan que

    intentar la solucin. Las chicas ayudaron a Daisy a prepararlo todo. Pusieron las bolas

    brillantes alrededor de la cama de la nia y Daisy empez a cantar. Entonces, a la bella nia se

    acerc, el dedo meique le lami y un ojito abri. Un grito de las chicas se escuch y despus

    de que Daisy lamiera el pulgar una radiante sonrisa la nia mostr.

    Y as fue como las tres amigas Daisy, Raquel y Esther conocieron una nueva amiga,

    Zandarel, la bella durmiente en la cabaa de un mundo misterioso.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    32/166

    32

    The White Witch

    Calvo Martnez, Elena

    Once upon a time there were three friends. Their names were Esther, Rachel and

    Daisy. They lived in a small village near the mountains. Esther had golden hair, Rachels hair

    was like barley and Daisys hair was cream coloured.

    It was the fifth of December, it was cold but the sun was shining in the sky. Today was

    Daisys birthday and so they put some water and sandwiches in their satchels and went for a

    picnic together.

    They had been walking for a while when something strange happened. The sun

    disappeared and everything grew dark. Suddenly a forest sprang up. What was happening?

    The forest was very dense, the girls could hardly see, but Daisy found a small cottage.

    It was beginning to rain so they opened the door and entered quickly in the cottage. Inside,

    there was a bed and a table. On the table there was a bottle of milk, some fruit and fresh

    flowers. Esther thought that someone lived in this house, but even though they waited for a

    long time, nobody came. It was raining cats and dogs and so they decided to stay inside the

    cottage for a while. Rachel was very thirsty and after having a look at the room discovered a

    big cupboard in a corner.

    On top of this cupboard, there were a few little balls of gliding colours but when Rachel

    tried to catch them, they fell down and went rolling behind the chimney. She went closer the

    chimney to get the shining balls and there, she found a secret door. She cried out and Esther

    came quickly to see what was happening. The girls wanted to know if there was somebody

    inside and so they opened the door. What a surprise! Behind the door, they found a small

    cave. Inside the cave, a little, little girl was sleeping. They tried to wake her up but they could

    not. They touched her face, she was a bit cold. However, when they came nearer her, they saw

    she was breathing. She was alive!

    They wanted to wake her up but did not know how. Suddenly, they remembered the

    story of the old magician Zinger. In this story, the magician sang a very nice song and danced

    around the haunted girl to wake her up. Esther and Rachel decided to give it a try and began to

    sing and dance around the girl. But, they did not know the magic song or the magic dance. But,

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    33/166

    33

    even though they danced and danced, the girl did not wake up. Suddenly they remembered

    Daisy. Maybe she could help them to wake the girl up.

    When Esther and Rachel explained the problem to Daisy, she immediately transformed

    herself. She put on her detective glasses and began to investigate. It was not an easy case to

    solve. The beautiful child was still sleeping and the girls song has not worked.

    Daisy consulted her magic book. In it, she found a magic spell. They had to try it. The

    girls helped Daisy to prepare everything. They put the gliding balls around the childs bed and

    Daisy began to sing. Then, coming closer to the beautiful girl, she licked her little finger and a

    little eye opened up. The girls gave a cry and after Daisy licked the thumb a sunny smile

    appeared at once.

    And this was the way in which the three friends Daisy, Raquel and Esther got a new

    friend, Zandarel, the sleeping girl in the little cottage of a mysterious world4.

    4ImagenRosa Fernndez Prez

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    34/166

    34

    La nia burbuja

    Campos Garca, Mara del Carmen

    En la maana de septiembre ms soleada y radiante de 1986, naci en Sidney la nia

    con la piel ms destellante y sorprendente nunca jams vista antes. Toda su familia estaba

    preocupada por ella y su extraa situacin Porqu no era como los dems bebes? Bueno,

    todos menos su madre quien estaba segura de que su bebe era especial, la nia mas especial y

    nica en el mundo. Adems, ella tambin se senta la mama ms afortunada de todas. Desde

    aquella maana supo que algn da algo increble le sucedera a su nia.Cuando la niita cumpli los cinco aos, los mdicos se dieron cuenta de que el brillo

    de su piel se iba apagando poco a poco, porque all donde iba la gente no paraba de mirarla, y

    la mejor solucin fue ponerle una burbuja protectora. As fue como metieron a la nia ms

    bonita y brillante dentro de una burbuja!

    Antes de todo esto su vida era ms o menos normal, pero despus se hizo ms famosa

    y se convirti en la nia ms bonita nunca jams vista. No era lo normal ver a una nia con esa

    piel y dentro de una burbuja era imposible dejar de mirarla! Los aos pasaron y su vidacontino; era una buena estudiante, tena muchos amigos, iba al colegio como los otros nios

    y adems tena una maravillosa familia que cuidaba de ella a todas horas. Pero, un da su

    madre la not de mal humor y vio que su brillo haba disminuido! Le pregunto qu era lo que

    le pasaba y la nia le cont que le gustaba un chico de clase pero l no quera ser su amigo

    porque viva en una burbuja y era rara. Despus de eso unos nios de la escuela se metieron

    con ella dicindole que nunca tendra un amigo as por culpa de su burbuja. No cario!

    exclam su madre. Ella era una mujer tan dulce que no soportaba ver a su hija sufriendo de

    esa manera. As que esa noche le dijo a su pequea: si te propones de verdad que puedes

    conseguir cualquier cosa y crees en ello, lo lograras. Desde aquel da su madre le repeta lo

    mismo con el beso de buenas noches. La nia creci creyendo en las palabras de su madre y la

    burbuja no fue nunca ms un obstculo. Lo nico que no saba era que su gran da estaba por

    llegar

    Una noche mientras dorma vio una luz en su cuarto que no era la de su piel. Era una

    preciosa hada! El hada dulcemente le cont que en algn lugar exista alguien igual que ella y

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    35/166

    35

    que por alguna razn seria su alma gemela. As pues, la espolvoreo con polvo de hada mgico y

    se march. La nia estuvo soando con aquello durante los siguientes seis aos

    Un da de lo ms deslumbrante, a los 16 aos, sali al parque y de repente su burbuja

    empez a flotar ms de lo normal y de la nada divis otra burbuja como la suya con un chico

    guapsimo dentro de ella. Pronto se dio cuenta de que flotaba hacia ella. Cinco minutos

    despus las burbujas se acercaron tanto que chocaron y se convirtieron en una sola burbuja!

    De esta manera la nia brillante conoci por fin a su alma gemela y vivieron

    brillantemente juntos por siempre felices!

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    36/166

    36

    The Bubble Little Girl

    Campos Garca, Mara del Carmen

    On the sunniest and shiniest morning of September 1986 a little girl was born in

    Sydney with the most spectacular bright skin that you have never seen before. All of her family

    was worried about what was wrong with her, why wasnt she a normal baby? But her mum

    was really sure that this was a sign that her baby was special, the most special and unique girl

    on earth. Besides, she felt like the luckiest mum in the world. That morning she knew that

    someday, something unbelievable was going to happen to her little girl.

    At the age of 5, the doctors realised that her skin was turning less shiny because

    everywhere she went, people could not stop looking at her. Because of this, they decided that

    she must wear a bubble to protect her skin. So, there we have the most beautiful glowing girl

    living inside a bubble!

    Before that, her life was more or less normal, but after that, she became more popular

    and the most beautiful girl ever, as it was so unusual to see a girl walking along the street

    trapped inside a bubble with that skin that it was impossible not to look at her!

    Time passed and everything in her life was normal; she was a good student, she had a

    lot of friends, she could go to school as a normal child and she had the best family in the world

    that took care of her all day.

    One day, her mum noticed her in a bad mood and saw something wrong with her

    glow. She asked her and the little girl told her mum that she was in love with a boy from the

    school but he didnt want to be her friend because she was inside a bubble, that she was

    weird. A few boys told her that she would never have a boyfriend because of her bubbleOh,

    no, babe! -exclaimed her mum. She was such a sweet woman that she could not see her

    daughter suffering like that. The next night, she told her little girl: whatever you want to do,

    believe you can do it and you will. Since that very moment her mum told her the same thing

    every time she kissed her good night.

    That girl grew up, and she was convinced that her mum was still right; the bubble was

    not anymore of an obstacle for her. What she didnt know was that the best day of her life was

    still to be discovered...

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    37/166

    37

    One day, while she was sleeping, she saw another incredible light that was not her

    skin. It was such a beautiful fairy! The fairy told her that in another world there was a creature

    exactly like her that was her soul mate for one reason. Then, she sprinkled her with magic dust

    and went away. The girl dreamt of that for the following 6 years...

    At the age of 16, one shiny day, she went to the park and suddenly her bubble started

    to float more and more, like a real bubble, and out of nowhere she could make out another

    bubble with a handsome boy inside, floating and coming towards her. Five minutes later, they

    were so close that they crashed and it became one single bubble! Thats the way the shiny girl

    met her soul mate and they got together, brilliantly, and forever happy!

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    38/166

    38

    La habitacin azul

    Castillo Caracuel, Sara Mara

    Todos los padres son hroes, pero el mo es an mejor. Todo empez cuando Mandali

    me dijo que pap no era ms que un soador que se distraa con historietas de un tal Crusoe,

    no saba lo que se perda quedndose con mam! Aunque estaba muy oscuro y empezaba a no

    sentir la puntita de la nariz, reconozco que fue el mejor regalo de cumpleaos de mi vida.

    Jams haba visto una barca tan grande. All cabamos pap, yo y cien personas ms por lo

    menos! Todas sentadas en silencio, muy apretadas, con sus mejores ropas, pero sin maletas,

    porque donde bamos no nos haran falta, o eso dijo mam. Todos esperbamos impacientes a

    que el capitn diese las rdenes. Todos a la derecha, Todos a la izquierda, gritaba su

    contramaestre y todos los piratas obedecamos sin dudar ni un segundo como si nuestras vidas

    estuviesen en juego. Ms de una vez rozamos las espaldas con el agua fue emocionante!

    Como en las aventuras de los libros de pap, en nuestra travesa tambin nos sorprendi la

    tempestad. Un fuerte viento nos sacudi y pap me agarr tan fuerte que mis amigos del cole

    todava se asustan cuando ven la cicatriz. Ninguno tiene nada parecido!

    La aventura slo acababa de empezar cuando desembarcamos en una playa remota y

    llegamos a esa ciudad de casas gigantes puestas unas encima de otras. Las historias de Crusoe

    no eran suficiente para pap, as que jugamos al escondite por toda la ciudad durante todo el

    da, y aunque mi estmago no dejaba de rugir, la meta vala la pena. Fue entonces cuando

    supe que ramos los mejores. Conseguimos la habitacin con colchn y una pared azul, una

    pared azul! Increble eh? Tena la ventana ms grande y luminosa que jams haba visto, pero

    pap nunca quera abrirla por si nos descubran. En verdad, yo siempre supe que aunque pap

    era un valiente, tena tanto miedo a que los vecinos envidiosos nos quisieran quitar la mejorhabitacin, que tan solo ver la luz del da asomarse por la ventana le haca temblar de pnico.

    Mandali no estaba pero yo tena cientos de hermanos, la casa siempre estaba repleta de

    gente, y aunque la mayora de veces no les entenda muy bien cuando me hablaban, me

    dejaban ducharme el primero, y eso me haca sentirme especial.

    Aquello era divertidsimo, aunque tambin un poco agotador. Todas las maanas, pap

    y nuestro compaero de pasillo, Jarrah, con sus dos hijos, completamente a oscuras nosmetan an dormidos en una furgoneta blanca que nos esperaba en el callejn de detrs de

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    39/166

    39

    nuestro palacio. Pero el sueo nos duraba poco, la furgoneta era lo ms parecido a uno de

    esos parques de atracciones de la tele saltbamos hasta tocar el techo con la cabeza! Incluso,

    una vez fuimos los que ms horas pasamos escondidos de los detectives bajo los asientos.

    Los mayores decan que haba cientos de ellos por todas partes y si te rendas no te dejaban

    volver a subir nunca ms! Cuando llegbamos a el campo, como Jarrah lo llamaba, empezaba

    la diversin para Hanas, Rayid y yo, que corramos entre los naranjos sin que los dems nos

    vieran. Buscbamos la naranja ms gorda y jugbamos a lanzrnosla con fuerza para enfadar a

    los mayores. El que ms encontrase, era el primero en elegir la naranja de la merienda de

    entre todas las cajas de la furgoneta. Rayid siempre se enfadaba cuando le tocaba una

    podrida!

    Pronto ca enfermo y pap dej de levantarse para ir a el campo. Aunque Jarrah se

    negaba a llevarnos por miedo a que nos descubrieran, finalmente tuvimos que ir a un sitio

    donde la gente se viste de blanco y te dan palos de helado para curar la tos. Pap pareca muy

    triste cuando me dijo que los detectives nos haban descubierto, nos obligaban a abandonar la

    aventura en esa ciudad y tenamos que volver a nuestro pas.

    Pero, de repente supe que la aventura no haba acabado todava. Lo que pap me

    haba preparado para la vuelta a casa era an mejor que aquella vieja barca! Estaba tan

    nervioso por tener que volver, que llor abrazado a m durante un buen rato. Nunca haba

    visto una furgoneta blanca con alas tan grande, que nos llevara volando por el cielo azul

    directos a casa5.

    5

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_F6wncIsoTMA/SaSMRa31VAI/AAAAAAAAADg/fs-K9d0ti0Y/s400/Patera+abandonada.jpg

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    40/166

    40

    The Blue Room

    Castillo Caracuel, Sara Mara

    All fathers are heroes, but mine is even better. My adventure started when Mandali

    said that Dad was just a dreamer who enjoyed reading stories from someone called Crusoe,

    but he clearly did not know what he would lose staying at home with Mum! Although it was

    dark and I could not see past the end of my nose, I admit it was the best birthday present I

    have ever had in my life. I had never seen such a huge boat. There was room for Dad, me and

    more than a million people. All of us sat in silence, very cramped, wearing our most expensive

    clothes, but without bringing luggage as if where we were going to, we would not need it, or at

    least that was what Mum said. We were all anxious to hear the captains orders: Everyone

    moving to the right, Everyone moving to the left, he shouted and all the pirates on the boat

    obeyed as if our lives were based on those commands. More than once we reached to wet our

    backs, it was terrific! As Dad used to describe in his books, in our crossing, we were surprised

    by a tempest. An icy wind violently shook us, and Dad grabbed me in such a strong way that

    the scar he made still makes my school mates jump every time I show them it. Many people

    did not survive, but we finally landed on a lonely beach.

    The adventure had just begun when we arrived to a city with plenty of big houses,

    placed one next to another. Crusoes stories were not enough for Dad, so we played hide and

    seek all over the city, and despite being rumbling?, it was actually worth it. By then, I knew we

    were the best: The room with a mattress and a blue wall was ours! We got the one with the

    blue wall! Can you imagine? There was the most wonderful and lightest window I had ever

    seen, but Dad never let me open it so as not to be discovered by outsiders. Actually, although I

    always knew Dad was brave, he was so frightened of our jealous neighbours trying to steal thebest bedroom of the flat that the simple act of the sun shining daylight through the window

    made him panic. Mandali was not there but I had hundreds of brothers who lived in the flat,

    which was always crammed with people. I did not understand most of them when they were

    talking but they always let me have the shower first and it made me feel special.

    It was very funny, but also a bit exhausting. Every single morning Dad and our corridor

    mate, called Jarrah, with his two children, got us to sleep at dawn in a big white van which was

    waiting at the alley. But our sleep did not last very long because the van was really similar to

    those amusement parks we watched on TV. One day, we even got to touch the ceiling with our

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    41/166

    41

    heads! We spent hours being hidden under the seats from the detectives. The adults said

    there were many of them looking around and controlling the game; if you gave up they would

    never let you get in again. When we arrived to the field, as Jarrah called it, Hanas, Rayid and

    me started to enjoy it, as we ran between the orange trees trying not to be seen by anyone.

    We looked for the biggest orange and played by throwing it between us to make the adults

    angry. The one who picked up more fruit could choose his afternoon snack between all the

    orange boxes harvested. Rayid always got annoyed when he got the rotten one!

    A few days later, I started to come down with the flu and Dad had to leave his work at

    the field. Although Jarrah thought people would discover us, we finally went to a place

    where everyone dresses in white and they give you an ice lolly stick to stop coughing. Daddy

    seemed very sad telling me we had been caught by the detectives, so we were forced to give

    up our adventure in this city and we were required to go back to our country. But, suddenly, I

    noticed the adventure was not over yet, and what my dad had prepared for us to go back

    home was even better than the old boat that took us there. I hugged him and dad was so

    nervous that he cried when he saw how huge the white van with wings was, which would take

    both of us straight home flying through the blue sky.

  • 8/8/2019 Tales Final

    42/166

    42

    El enigma de la moneda de oro

    Corbn Garca, Emma

    Hace muchos, muchos aos, naci Prais, hija de una de las ms ilustres familias de la

    Gran Bretaa. Los aos pasaban y pasaban, y la nia iba creciendo. Con ella tambin iba

    creciendo su belleza y hermosura. Era alta, de cabellos largos y rubios como el oro, de ojos

    azules, que bien podan compararse con las aguas cristalinas del mar. Prais era una hermosa

    muchacha a la que ningn joven haca burla, sino todo lo contrario, todos la piropeaban y

    galanteaban. Pero ella no poda elegir a su amado, sino que eran sus padres quienes decidan

    con quien deba casarse su hija. Los padres de la bella Prais, unos nobles de alto linaje, no

    podan casar a su hija con cualquiera. Por eso propusieron una pequea prueba a todos los

    jvenes del reino que quisieran participar en ella, para ver cul era el ms cualificado de todos

    y as, casarse con Prais. La familia de nobles viva en un gran castillo situado al norte de Gales.

    En una fuente del castillo se realizara dicha prueba. Los padres de la joven dieron