Read-Aloud Story Scripts 


Five folk and five fairy tales from AROUND THE WORLD have been adapted and scripted especially for grades 6 - 10 classroom readers.
 

These story scripts are not theatre scripts. No knowledge of stage directing, costuming, set design or drama experience is required. They have been designed to motivate enthusiastic reading, to encourage language development, to teach literary forms and terms, to challenge English as a Second Language students, and to make oral reading fun for everyone! Unlimited duplication rights within school of purchase. These scripts are meant for repeated usage. (Yes, scripts may also be purchased separately).

 
 

M-10. CLEVER LUCY (6 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: Adapted from a well-known Russian tale, a woman is asked to divide a goose for a wealthy baron and ends up profiting through her cleverness. In the English version of this same story, the clever woman is replaced by an Irish tramp in a story called “Dividing the Chicken”.

M-8. SILLY, SILLY, SILLY (8 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: This adapted script from the English noodle story about a young man searching for someone sillier than his bride-to-be is a classic tale known throughout the world. Another version, “The Three Sillies” can be found in British Foktales by Katharine Briggs. Many known variants of the tale exist, but the Grimm version, “Clever Elsie”, is probably the most well-known.

M-11. THE HAPPY MAN (5 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: The story of a luck-bringing shirt has its origins in a Greek legend about Alexander the Great. From Greece, the story found its way to Europe and the Orient. An Italian version of the story, “The Happy Man’s Shirt”, can be found in Italian Folktales, Pantheon, New York, 1981. Hans Christian Andersen used a similar motif in his story “The Shoes of Happiness”.

M-20. THE SILLY GOOSE WAR (6 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: An adaptation of “The Silly Goose War”, a folk tale from Latvia in which clever parents outwit a “clueless” son and keep a fortune in gold away from greedy relatives. The Latvian version by Mae J. Durham, can be found in Tit for Tat and Other Latvian Folk Tales, Brace and World, 1967.

M-28. THE ROLY RICE BALLS (5 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: This script comes from a Japanese folklore rich in stories about kind old men living next door to mean old men. The familiar motif: “dropped ball (basket) leads to adventure when recovery is attempted” has been used throughout the world. A recent version by Margaret R. MacDonald, “Roly Poly Rice Ball”, can be found in Twenty Tellable Tales, H.W. Wilson, 1986.
 

M-14. THE FAST SKIPPIN’ POT (6 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: This story had its origins in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, which have spawned at least three versions. Shades of Jack and the Beanstalk: traded pot brings wealth midst much adventure! The script has been adapted from “The Talking Pot” found in Danish Fairy and Folk Tales by Christian Bay, Harper, 1899.

M-13. THE TRICKSY MOUNTAIN ELVES (6 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: Adapted from an old world-wide favorite! Here’s the tale about a clever woman who rids her home of unwanted invader elves. Another version, “Eggshell Pudding” can be found in Tell Me Another Tale by Jean Chapman, Hodder and Stoughton (Australia), 1976.

M-7. THE RAT PRINCESS (7 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: There are countless versions of the motif, rodent searches for strongest husband, dating back to the 15th/16th centuries. A French version has a rat turned into a princess by a fairy. Sun, cloud, wind and mountain are likely bridegrooms, but the princess is turned back into a rat and weds a rat. In Japanese and Burmese versions, a mouse seeks a husband. In Korea a mole is the central figure.

M-6. MISERY’S TREE (6 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: This tale originates from a motif which personifies death and also explains why misery remains in the world. A Portuguese and a Puerto Rican version feature a pear tree as the central symbol. In both versions the central character, Aunt Misery, traps local village boys in her tree in order to teach them a lesson about stealing. A Flanders version features an apple tree and Misery traps children, parents, and various animals in the branches of her tree.

M-5. THE KING OF THE CATS (6 Readers)
EDUCATIONAL NOTES: “The King of the Cats” is a suspenseful English fairy tale which makes a good Halloween story. This script features sinister talking cats who deliver a confusing message to a terrified gravedigger! Several versions of this tale have been collected in England. The names Tom Tildrum and Tim Toldrum appear in an English version by Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales, 1894.

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