Fairy tales
Tom Otterness
For years Tom Otterness’s creations have been getting into all kinds of trouble. In New York he’s best known for his little bronze figures that roam throughout the 14th Street subway station. They’re cute and creepy at the same time; some even have money-bags for heads. Otterness wants his public sculptures to be accessible to […]
Nutcracker Nation
Christmas has its predictable signs: holiday music pumping through pharmacy loud-speakers, laser light shows on the neighbor’s lawn, and the annual production of The Nutcracker. But how did a classical ballet from czarist Russia, based on a German horror story, become an American Christmas tradition? Curtis Fox asked dance scholar Jennifer Fisher and a pack […]
We love fairy tales — maybe we’d love them more if they were translated right
If you think you know the story of Snow White, or Hansel and Gretel or any of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales, think again. You probably know the cleaned-up, Disney versions. Author Adam Gidwitz returns to the blood and gore of the original stories in his retelling of them, while adding his own contemporary comments to help ease the tension for kids.
Revisiting the Brothers Grimm
Once upon a time…there was a little girl. Once upon a time…there was a little boy. Once upon a time, we heard a story or paged through a book or were tucked into bed at night thinking about once upon a time. But where did “once upon a time” begin? Maybe you heard the phrase in a […]
