Fairy Tales

One of my favorite types of stories growing up were fairy tales. And why not? Children have vivid imaginations which allow them to be swept away in the magic of the story. Even before I was reading, I would look at the pictures and make up my own stories. My absolute favorite childhood story is "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" by Mercer Mayer which is actually a retelling of a classic fairy tale story.

But what does it take for a story to be considered a fairy tale? When did they first come about?

Well, first of all, there is a bit of a debate about what it exactly takes for a story to be a fairy tale as you can see below in the link to the Wikipedia page on fairy tales. Typically though, fairy tales are stories of a fantastic series of events usually containing elements of magic, fairies, elves, giants, and princes and princesses. As opposed to taking place in an actual place or time, fairy tales usually begin with, "Once Upon a Time" and are typically known for their "Happily Ever Afters," although by no means are they required to end happily. Many fairy tales that originally ended darkly were rewritten to end happily and vice versa.

As to when they came about, it is hard to determine. They have been around for thousands of years, but only some were originally written down. Most began by being passed generation to generation by telling the stories orally.