Compare/Contrast Fables and Fairy Tales
This Compare/Contrast Fables and Fairy Tales idea is not anything that has ever been a part of any of the curriculum we’ve used over the years.
Honestly, it’s an idea that kind of just accidentally happened!
I’ve always loved children’s books!
Collecting a variety of different versions of classic stories has been easy to do over the years as I’ve [mostly] shopped second hands for books.
I have always loved reading aloud with my kids and weaving classic stories into our reading time together has always been fun for us!
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For the classic children’s stories we own several different versions of, it’s easy to compare and contrast aloud as we read through them.
Some of Our Favorite Classic Stories
- Three Little Pigs
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- Little Red Riding Hood
- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- Stories from Various Collections of Aesop’s Fables
What books might you have within reach in your home or local library?
Maybe you have a couple of versions of a story and you know there are others you can borrow from grandma’s house.
How We Compare and Contrast
- We gather together the like stories.
- Over the course of the next few days, we read through the storybooks together.
- While reading, we discuss what we notice is the same or different from book-to-book.
- We do any activities we have on hand that would be a good fit to include in our reading/discussion time. (Puppets, felt books, toys, etc. pictured here were purchased second-hand.)
Bonus Idea: If you have a local children’s theater, check their schedule for the year! They may be doing a show that goes along nicely with one of the stories you’re reading with your children.
One year, we realized a local theater group was going to be performing Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Attending this kid-friendly performance definitely added to the comparing/contrasting we had been doing with the different versions of this story.
Compare/Contrast Questions to Discuss as You Read
- Is this author telling the story in the same way as the others? Which version do you like best?
- Did this character act like this in the other versions? What do you think of their decisions?
- How are the illustrations in this book different? What style do you notice here?
- Do the characters look the same to you? Is this how you would draw them?
Hopefully these questions will give you a good start!
Free Venn Diagrams for You
Want to do more than just talk through the questions?
For the purpose of this activity, I have created a collection of Venn Diagrams for you to print and use!
Love free printables?
You might also enjoy these printable category labels!
Your child or students can sort their books by category!
I did this when I taught second grade. The Three Little Javelinas. Cendrillon, The Rough Faced Girl, and Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters are Cinderella stories that I included. So much fun!
I love that! I feel like this idea makes for such fun discussion!