Titles: Jacobs' Fairy Tales
The Rose Tree; The Story of the Three Bears; Munachar and Manachar; King O’Toole and His Goose
Author: Joseph Jacobs
Copyright Date: 1890
Reading Level: 9+
Genre: Fairy Tales
Summary: The Rose Tree
There once was a man who had a daughter by a first wife and a son by his second wife. The daughter was beautiful and the father and brother loved her dearly. The stepmother was very jealous of her beauty. One day the stepmother sent the girl to get some candles from a shop and three times the candles were lost to a dog who snatched them from her. The girl went home sad and the stepmother pretended not to be angry. The girl was told to lay her head on her stepmother’s lap and when she did the woman became more jealous of the girl’s golden hair. The stepmother said to go and get a piece of wood and axe so that she might comb the girls hair and part it better. The girl did what she was told and the stepmother cut off the girl’s head and laughed. The stepmother tried to feed the girl’s heart and liver to father and brother but father said it tasted strangely and the boy would not eat it at all. The boy ran out and buried his sister in a box under a rose tree. Each day he went out and cried for his sister. When spring came the tree blossomed and on the tree was a white bird that sang beautifully. She first went to a shoemaker and sang for him and in return he gave her some shoes. Next she went to a watchmaker and he gave her a chain. She then went to a millers and they gave her a millstone. The bird flew the millstone over the house and the stepmother cried three times saying it was thunder. The first time the boy went out and shoes fell. The father ran out the second time and the gold chain fell. The stepmother saw this and when it thundered a third time she ran out and the millstone fell and she died.
Recommendation
I would just recommend that kids be a little older possibly fifth grade and up.
Problems/Conflict
A lot of parents would say that these tales are inappropriately supposed to be for children. I think we don’t really understand just what a child can honestly handle. I heard and read a lot of fairy tales when I was younger and cannot remember the descriptive parts. I think children are protected in a lot of ways from harsh cruelties in reading just from lack of understanding.
My Reaction
Pretty gruesome little tale. I first read four of his celtic tales and decided I should do a mixture and chose The Rose Tree and The Story of the Three Bears. Someone in class had said they hated The Rose Tree so I decided to give it a shot just out of pure curiosity. I actually liked this tale because the girl was able to take revenge which may or may not be a bad reason for enjoying this tale.
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