Rhyming Stories, Music Books, and Arts and Crafts
Once upon a time there was kidscornucopialtd.com! Turn the pages of this site to explore the fascinating history behind children's stories and rhymes, as well as some fantastic arts and crafts projects for you and your child to enjoy.
Stories for children have been around for decades, ever since man first learned to speak. To begin with, stories were narrated, Viking children would lay on their fathers shields and listen to stories of adventure, young Arabs would be enchanted by tales told under the stars while the flocks were gathered. And it remained this way for centuries, nothing was written down, only told.
It was not until the 15th century that children's stories were put down on paper. The tales of Robin Hood and his band of merry men thrilled children with his righteous morality and heroic acts.
It was the 19th century that became the golden age of modern children's stories. The brothers grim penned such classics as Snow White, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel. All of these cautionary tales have strong morals that frighten children into knowing the difference between right and wrong.
Hans Christian Andersen wrote The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly duckling. Lewis Carroll published Alice Adventures in Wonderland and Rudyard Kipling published The Jungle Book.
All of these tales still remain as popular today and enthrall a new generation of children who are spellbound by the telling or by the Disney interpretation. On the stranger side of tales for children is the bizarre children's book "Der Struwwelpeter." Much in the vein of the Brothers Grimm, the book tells cautionary tales to children, but unlike the Grimm classics, Der Struwwelpeter does not end happily-ever-after.
Tales from the book include "The Very Sad Story of the Matches," which describes a young girl who plays with matches and then burns to death and "The Story of Thumb-Sucker" where a mother warns her child not to suck his thumbs and his disobeying results in a tailor cutting off his thumbs. These disturbing tales for children have gained cult status over the years and make entertaining reading that is only for grownups.
Nothing soothes a child like a bedtime story and nursery rhymes are passed down from generation to generation and this is a testament to who effective they are at putting the little ones to sleep. Even hearing the word "lullaby" makes you sleepy. It is thought that the word originates from baby gurgles "la la" and "lu lu" and "bye bye." What is really fascinating about lullabies is that they haven't really changed, the same nursery rhymes are still being told today that were being told in 1744. And if turn to the rhyming stories section you will read about the fascinating history associated with these classic nursery rhymes.
Whether it is fables, fairytales, legends or myths children love to hear and read stories that make their supple imaginations soar.