Posts Tagged ‘writing’

A Twisted Tale!


According to (Creativity in the Class), Fractured fairy tales are a retelling of popular fairy tales but with changes to the characters, setting, or by changing the villain into the hero.

In fact, it was a fractured fairy tale at the book fair (when I was in third grade) that set me on a path forevermore to be in awe of picture books! That book was THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS.


I was absolutely delighted how the author turned this story on its head and wrote Wolf as a misunderstood victim instead of a villain. And the illustrations portrayed the pigs as just plain wolfists who judged Wolf without really knowing him! So, Wolf didn’t even have a chance when he asked his pig neighbor for a cup of sugar to make his dear old granny a birthday cake and then accidentally sneezed and knocked the pig’s house down.

Later in life I came across this cute story: LITTLE RED WRITING. The characters are pencils and pens and the big bad wolf is a pencil sharpener!


After I became a parent, I had a blast reading SLEEPING CINDERELLA AND OTHER PRINCESS MIX-UPS with both of my girls! These characters rewrite their own stories to suit them much better :)


After I experienced a major bout of depression (after some eye health stuff), this book resonated with me very much… AFTER THE FALL: HOW HUMPTY DUMPTY GOT BACK UP AGAIN.


And one of my dearest book friends (Shelli R. Johannes) just released this STEM/STEAM genius- PENNY, THE ENGINEERING TALE OF THE FOURTH LITTLE PIG.


And one of my dearest book friends (Shelli R. Johannes) just released this STEM/STEAM genius- PENNY, THE ENGINEERING TALE OF THE FOURTH LITTLE PIG.


Shop these fractured fairy tales here on Bookshop.org! (Sleeping Cinderella is not available on Bookshop but is available on Amazon).

Fractured Fairy Tales in the Classroom for all ages


Rebecca Kraft Rector says, “A fun and useful skill taught as early as kindergarten is to compare (what’s the same?) and contrast (what’s different?) a fractured tale with the original tale. Children can compare/contrast characters, setting, themes, and even illustrations.”

Rebecca and I put together some fracture fairy tale lessons and activities in the Little Red and the Big Bad Editor – Educator’s Guide! These lessons can be tailored to Kindergarten up to higher elementary.

Critique Sandwich Graphic Organizer for Students (Printable)

Filed under: For Teachers,Free Stuff,Printable Activities | August 2, 2022

Read LITTLE RED AND THE BIG BAD WOLF to your class, then challenge students to write their own versions of a fractured fairy tale! Afterward, have students trade stories and read them. Last, students can be much better editors than Wolf by making their peers a “critique sandwich”!

“My Robot” write and illustrate activity!

Filed under: Doll-E,Free Stuff | May 22, 2018


A Sketch from My Book and Notes from My Head

Filed under: Illustration,On My Mind,Sketchbook | January 15, 2013

From my sketchbook.

My baby is my muse. Here’s some practice I did of her profile. Kids are so hard! Their faces are teeny and this ended up looking nothing like my particular kid… Maybe the overall shape might be close, but the face looks too old. Kids are tough to draw. But I really enjoyed charcoal pencils after a long time of not having any. My daughter added the abstract shapes and color around figure- she’s brilliant!

Well this is a good time to update you on what I’m currently working on. I’m proud that I have a manuscript written. It’s still too long and lacking something, so I’ve signed up for a formal manuscript critique at SCBWI Southern Breeze Spring Mingle (February 20-something). This should be interesting. It’s my first time doing this, so I’m just hoping I don’t get too discouraged by the feedback. I’m an artist who is wondering if she has a CHANCE of being able to write too. We’ll just have to see!

For Illustrator’s Day (which is now attached to Spring Mingle), I’ll be working on an illustration with guidance from Mark Braught. It’s sort-of a how you see yourself kind of assignment. Still thinking about this one, but I’ll try to show my progress as I go, like I did last year. Let’s hope it’s awesome enough to put on a postcard to send out to editors and art directors:) I’m really trying to figure out who I am as an illustrator. I feel like this year is going to be a very important year of my figuring some of that out… maybe :)

Well, that’s it for now! Have a great week.
-Shanda

Shanda McCloskey, Children's Illustrator & Author