Storybook International Children's TV Show
Dramatizing Folktales and Fairy Tales From Around the World
Sep 14, 2009
Storybook International is a children’s TV show that dramatizes traditional folktales, fairy tales, and morality tales from around the globe. Produced from 1983 to 1984, each half-hour episode uses local stories to teach children about other cultures and to show them clever ways to solve problems.
All 65 episodes have been released in a 10-disc set, making it easy for parents and educators to show children this fun, educational children’s TV show.
An International Children’s TV Show
Storybook International truly is an international children’s TV show, with stories not only coming from around the globe but also being filmed on location with local actors. Each episode is completely narrated with no actual dialogue from the actors, giving the show the feel of a storytelling coming to life.
This show is perfect for people who love a good story but are tired of the usual fairy tales. Storybook International dramatizes stories that most people are not familiar with. Even the stories that come from Europe are not popular fairy tales. And the stories come not only from all over Europe, but also from Asia, such as the Philippines and Japan, Africa, the Middle East (Turkey and Arabia), and even North America (Canada and Native American).
It’s also enlightening to see how germs of popular stories have been preserved in these more obscure tales. For example, Ireland’s “The Widow’s Lazy Daughter” is a kind of Rumpelstiltskin story, and Bavaria’s “The Haunted Pastures” has elements from “Beauty and the Beast.”
Folktales and Fairy Tales From Around the World
Storybook International dramatizes all kinds of traditional tales from around the world. Here are some of the stories it features:
The English tale of “Cap o’ Rushes” inspired William Shakespeare’s King Lear. A king asks his three daughters to describe their love for him, but he is angered by his youngest daughter’s answer and banishes her. It is only later that he realizes the wisdom of her answer.
The Spanish tale of “The Three Coins” is about three brothers who are each given a coin by their father and told to go and find their fortune. When they meet again a year later, the skills they have each learned help them work together to rescue a princess.
From Russia, there’s the tale of “The Soldier Who Didn’t Wash,” about a poor soldier who makes a deal with the devil for riches as long as he doesn’t bathe for fifteen years. The soldier’s cleverness gets him out of the deal and earns him marriage with a princess.
In the funny Arabian tale of “The Little Beggar,” a series of accidents make various villagers believe that they have each killed a local beggar. The truth only comes out once everyone confesses at the trial.
From India comes the morality tale of “Riches or Happiness,” in which a goddess gives a young man a choice between the two. After looking closely at the choices, he realizes that money cannot buy happiness, but happiness is possible without riches.
In “100 Cattle,” a young African warrior must pay all the cattle he has in order to get a wife. His clever bride must then get her poor husband out of trouble.
In the Chinese tale of “The Clever Thief,” an imprisoned thief is able to use a clever ploy to teach the king and his jailers a lesson that gets himself out of jail.
From New Zealand comes the Maori tale of “Nikorima,” about a clever and brave young warrior who is able to defend his village from neighboring warriors all by himself.
In the Canadian tale of “The Strange Guest,” a poor farmer is granted two wishes because of his kindness to a stranger. But when the selfish landlord also tries to get some wishes, his greed makes the wishes backfire.
An Educational Children’s TV Show
Storybook International dramatizes fairy tales, folktales, and morality tales from around the world. This well-made and educational children’s TV show exposes children to traditional stories from such diverse places as Spain, Croatia, sub-Saharan Africa, India, and the Philippines. Storybook International entertains children while teaching them about other cultures.
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