Extra Reading: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

I decided to do an extra reading this week in addition to my earlier reading. I chose to read the Brothers Grim (Ashliman) unit because I saw tales I am familiar with such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin. I kept notes on which stories I had the best time reading and these are found below.

The Cat and Mouse in Partnership

I have read a story similar to this in an earlier unit that follows the same plot (I even wrote a storytelling post about it). The difference was that the characters were supposed to build a shelter together and one kept running off and eating the spoils that were supposed to await them when they were finished. My favorite part about that story and this one was the names the cat came up with for all its godchildren when it would run off. I found it amusing that they correlated with how much fat was left in the pot!

Cat and Mouse in Partnership by Walter Crane (Wikipedia)

The Singing Bone

I liked this story as it reminded me somewhat of Cain and Abel. The younger brother killed the wild boar on his own because he was honest and pure in heart. The brother tricked him into walking ahead where he struck him dead. The older brother then took the boar to the king and acted as if he had killed it himself. It was refreshing to find out that the act was figured out in the end and I thought using one of the younger brother's bone as a horn that sang its own song was a very interesting way to solve the "mystery".