Happy Vacation!  Here are some problems to ponder while you’re lounging, skiing or skating, dancing, or running, reading, or healing, building, or singing, creating  or,  …enjoy what comes to you in your week.

Because I was thinking that one way we can grow as writers is by looking at stories we know well, I checked out folktales.  There are Cinderella stories from every one of the countries our class chose to research.  I think that is very cool!  We’ll be exploring them in March.

The Cinderella we are most familiar with, was first written inFrance in 1697.  How old is that version of Cinderella?

The oldest Cinderella story is from Egypt.  It was written in 83 BC.  (That’s 83 years before 0.)  How old is that story?

How much older is the Egyptian Cinderella than the version from France?

The Chinese version is called Yeh Shen.  It was written during the T’ang Dynasty in 618 AD.  How old is that story?

How much older is Yeh Shen than the version from France?

Did you know that some of the main characters in “Cinderella” stories are boys?  I hope we’ll have a lot of fun with fairytales in March.  Do you have a favorite fairytale?