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Olivia Roberts

Alstot

Child Literature

14 January 2020

Mini Fairy Tale ESA

It may not cross one’s mind, but when children learn about other cultures it helps them

both learn and accept beliefs and customs different from their own while also giving them a

chance to form their own opinions on it. Most children may be familiar with the fairy tale

Cinderella, but Yeh-Shen, the Chinese version of the story, can introduce children to a culture

they may not be used to. In this version of the story, there was a “spring festival” in the village

where “young men and women” would “choose whom they would marry”, and while Yeh-Shen

“longed to go”, she couldn’t because of her stepmother (Louie, 8). In this version of the story,

there is just a small village “festival” instead of a big royal ball that we are used to hearing in a

Cinderella story. This is an example of something that can boost a child’s knowledge since it

informs them about customs in ancient China, where there were festivals with the purpose of

finding a spouse. Children can also learn to sympathize with Yeh-Shen, since she “longed” to

just have a fun day at the festival but couldn’t because of her abusive step-mother. Children are

able to recognize that Yeh-Shen has been characterized as someone who was kind and

hardworking despite her poor treatment, so they learn to root for her and hope she gets a happy

ending. Being able to sympathize with this character also reminds children of how they should

act in a social situation, since they can understand how a person’s unkindness can greatly hurt

someone. One may wonder why it is necessary to consider the effectiveness of telling these
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stories from the perspective of different cultures, but that it because it gives children the chance

to empathize with a character from a different cultural background than them. It helps them to

understand that they still feel the same emotions and have similar struggles despite the

differences in upbringing. Telling stories from different cultural viewpoints are also beneficial

for promoting unity and diversity in the classroom. In the article ​What We Can All Learn From

Reading Fairy Tales, the author goes over the benefits of reading these stories in the first place.

The author argues that fairy tales are important for teaching “life lessons” and “basic morality”

(Telegraph Media Group, 7). The term “morality” should be taken in the context that different

cultures have different morals and lessons that they emphasize. Sometimes there are morals that

can vary from person to person depending on what their opinion is on it, and oftentimes our

culture and upbringing affects this. In terms of unity, children are given the chance to understand

that their cultures and morals may be similar to someone of a different background. However,

hearing a story or lesson from a different perspective creates diversity since children can better

understand how they may be different in terms of their lifestyle but also be respectful of one

another. Often times when people grow up to be racist or discriminatory against certain groups,

it’s likely because they were never exposed to different cultures or perspectives when they were

young, so they have a more difficult time grasping the idea that other people prefer to live a

different lifestyle from them. Exposing children to other cultures, backgrounds, and morals help

to learn how to accept our differences.