Bringing Back Fairy Tales
I’m on a mission, be it a personal one…to bring back the classic fairy tale! I think they are beautiful and we need them, our children need them, though they have forgotten.
The original classics are amazing and important, but because the children, mine included, have read and seen them on the screen so many times; they typically choose not to pick them up anymore.
If you are like me, you have probably noticed we are losing sweetness, and sweetness is a hard trait to teach anymore. Sweet, gentleness, being nice, not near as easy to teach as it used to be!
Our children truly are surrounded by great books, this is true, but we still need sweet books. Gentle characters that are well mannered and polite, nice and respectful to each other, while still entertaining and taking the little readers to an incredible fantasy, make-believe world.
My Mischief in the Mushroom Patch series purposely does not scare the children. Remember when you were young, those witches, very scary! But the characters are funny, childlike, and though they are mischievous it is in the nicest way, and my question to myself is this, what is wrong with that? … And the answer is always the same, NOTHING!
Characters truly can be naughty and nice because there’s a proper naughty believe it or not, at least in my fairy tales. My characters naughty is innocent, they don’t mean to, truly don’t.
When I write these characters, it is with the intent that the little readers will giggle while learning a lesson at the moment they may not realize they are learning, but will once they are done. The story is never overshadowed by the lessons taught.
Boris is the character that always tries really hard, never gets it right, is clumsy at best, but is sweet. Jack is all boy, as all boy as fairies can go. He weighs his options carefully, talks himself out of the likely smartest choice every time, only to suffer the consequences. But to Jack’s credit, his intentions are always good; they’re never mean-spirited or hateful, in your face, or disrespectful.
Lilly is as perfect as a fairy could be, though still has a hand in the trouble pot. She is liked by everyone, is sweet, gentle, and kind….very pink, always in pink, and is usually found with Boris and Jack. In Fairy Kick a Berry, Game On! Well, she shines in the most unlikely way!
I am tired of my children thinking if it’s ruder it’s better, blunter or slang, it’s edgier….why or who says so…the truth is, what can be marketed, what we can we sell. But I completely understand that concept, it does make sense to me, after all, business is business!
What can we market, what can we sell, that’s what we’ll push, that’s where we’ll spend marketing dollars, and that’s what the kids will notice, and that’s what the parents will buy. I don’t have a problem with it… it’s a smart business.
Like most authors who wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of such campaigns, my mission, though personal remains the same, bring back sweet. Since I am with a small press we will forge ahead and together, hopefully, we will bring back the love of FAIRY TALES!
I completely understand where you are coming from concerning fairy tales. I just put out my first book of them and it’s hard to know if the world still wants these stories or not. I think they do, of course they do, but they are just considered childish, which is, in itself, silly.
Let’s hope that bit by bit we can change the way people think of fairy tales and bring them back into the fore again.
Baby steps….Massive Strides or at least I shall try!
By Amanda M. Thrasher
Mischief in the Mushroom Patch
I would like to say “wow” what a inspiring post. This is really great. Keep doing what you’re doing!!
oh this is most inspiring message , i do admire the way you put the fact ,it would certainly help society in inculcating sweet breath that we need of ….thanks