Flannel Friday: Toads & Diamonds

One of my favorite lesser-known folk tales is "Toads & Diamonds," a Cinderella variant in which our good and deserving heroine ends up with plenty of lovely things and kind friends while her toad of a mean sister ends up with, well, toads, among other things. If you're unfamiliar with this story, allow me to recommend Charlotte Huck's version, illustrated by Anita Lobel.

When I adapted this story for a flannel board, I created flannel pieces to give a visual to the jewels and slimy creatures with which the fairy in the story "gifts" the two girls. That means that I'm doing straight oral storytelling for the setup of the story, with the flannel pieces starting about halfway in. I've found that this story is plenty captivating for most audiences preschool and older--a good story keeps you interested regardless of what there is to look at.

I will say, when I tell this story, I modify the ending a bit. Instead of the kind sister ending up getting married to a prince, the jewels her dowry, I tell a version in which she ends up venturing out on her own and finding true friends--people who respect her for who she is, not what she has. Let's call it my feminist re-envisioning.

 

Check out this week's full Flannel Friday roundup on Hannah's blog Lovin' the Library.