6 Classic Children’s Stories You Can Share With Your Family
Although children’s literature has made tremendous progress, there are many books and stories that never go out of fashion. We talk about classic children’s stories… the stories our grandparents read to our parents and that our parents read to us.
Now it’s our turn to pass these classic children’s stories on to our own children to make sure they continue.
Below we will provide you with a list of a few classic children’s stories that will allow you to revisit your childhood. Of course, they will also serve as an inspiration for stories you can share with your own children.
6 classic children’s stories you can share with your family
The Little red ridinghood
This classic European folk tale dates back to the 10th century. The most well-known version, told by the Brothers Grimm, tells the story of a little girl with a red hood, wise mother sends her off to bring food and medicine to her grandmother’s house. The story reflects two essential values.
First of all, The Little Red Riding Hood reflects the value of family unity. Here it is concrete between the little girl, her mother and her grandmother. Second , the story is a reminder to our children around that they should stay away from strangers.
The wolf and the seven little goats
The wolf and the seven little goats also come from the collection of fairy tales published by the Brothers Grimm.
This story is about a goat family. The mother has to leave her 7 little goat kids at home so she can go shopping. She warns them not to open the door for anyone. Furthermore, she tells them that she will give them a sign when she gets home so they know it really is her.
When a wolf who wants to eat them enters the scene, a series of events will lead to the wolf’s stomach being filled with small goats. In this moment, the mother’s love – one of the fundamental values of this story – will give her the courage and strength needed to burst the wolf’s belly up and save her seven small children.
Again, one of the primary values in this story reminds children that they should stay away from strangers. It is an important matter to talk to children about during early childhood.
The three little pigs
Although this story was first published in the 1840s, it has still been passed down from generation to generation long before this. Even to this day, we can still recall how the big, ugly wolf breathed and snorted to destroy the three little pigs home to eat them.
There are many values that our children can take with them from this classic children’s story. One of them is, for example, the use of strength and willpower when it comes to achieving a goal.
In addition, the story highlights the importance of collaboration and teamwork to make difficult tasks easier to handle.
More classic children’s stories
The princess and the Pea
The Princess on the Pea is a classic fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. History provides us with one of the most important lessons of life: appearance can deceive.
Apparently, this is something the queen of the story does not understand. A princess with a sad appearance arrives at the castle where the queen and her son live. The prince is looking for a woman he can marry, but the queen rejects the princess with the unpleasant look.
A little pea will be what makes the queen change her mind. The princess proves that she can feel the presence of a pea under her mattress and this is despite having 20 of them. Only then is she accepted by the queen, as only true princesses have such delicate skin.
Goldilocks and the three bears
This 19th-century British fairy tale is one of the best, classic children’s stories to teach children the value of respecting others and their privacy.
The main character is a little girl with gold lures who – without permission – enters a bear family’s home. She eats their food, uses their furniture and even sleeps in their beds.
As expected, the bear family comes home and discovers that the little girl is sleeping in their home. Frightened, Guldlok jumps out of bed and runs out of their home and into the woods as fast as she can.
The milkmaid and her bucket – the last of our classic children’s stories
This is one of Aesop’s fables. This simple story describes a milkmaid who enters the city. As she walks, the imaginative young woman daydreams about what she will be able to do with all the money she will earn from all the milk she has to sell.
All these thoughts make her imagine having more and more money. That is until she just suddenly falls on the road and spills all her milk on the street. Since she was not aware of where she was going, she was not going to make any money at all.
The story reminds children that it is not important not to “count their chickens before they have hatched”. We must be careful not to be too greedy or exalted with the things we do not have or want to achieve. Sometimes it can actually be counterproductive if we focus too much on our ambitions.
