When I was a child, I would play in the attic of our farmhouse, with an oversized bridesmaid dress worn over my clothes. The dress was icy-blue taffeta, with covered buttons down the back. Dragging behind me, the dress rustled as it slid on the uneven wood floor. I would glide to the single attic window, overlooking my, er\u2026ah\u2026kingdom\u2026 I was a princess, a ruler, an adventurer; I was fearless. Little did I know, that I was practicing for my future career as a school librarian, teaching information literacy and other library skills, with a penchant for Fairy Tales.<\/p>\n
In a few short months, I will begin my second position as an international librarian. My first stint abroad was to the Middle East. This second venture into international librarianship is to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I will be my school\u2019s first fulltime professional librarian, grades K-12. While researching my potential new home in Thailand before accepting this position, I came across photos of the Thai \u201cYi Peng\u201d Festival, where sky lanterns are released. These photos reminded me of Disney\u2019s Tangled<\/em>, a spin on the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale, Rapunzel<\/em>. In Tangled<\/em>, there is a scene with sky lanterns, and I remember wondering about them when I watched the movie. Soon, I will be living a part of that Fairy Tale scene.<\/p>\n I started using Fairy Tales to begin library lessons each school year about 6 years ago. As a native English speaker, I found that teaching in schools where English is not a first language for students, but frequently is the first language for the school, can pose some challenges. Genres are included in my library lessons, and I just decided to start with fairy tales, mostly because I love them so much, and most libraries have them. I found that Fairy Tales are far more universal than I ever thought, and starting the year out talking about and extrapolating on these Tales have been wonderful ice-breakers, both abroad and in the United States. I have been happily surprised at how older students warm up to the genre, sharing their opinions and ideas on a range of Fairy Tales and their favorite characters. As the Tales are often universal in theme in some way, most children know the basics of them, so despite language barriers, they can be easily shared and discussed. Through this process I am constantly reminded of something very valuable; Fairy Tales connect people, and as my work life is often like living in one, I can say that Fairy Tales are alive and well!<\/p>\n Would you like to see more sky lanterns as featured in the movie Tangled<\/em>? Click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n ********************************************************************<\/p>\n Our guest blogger today is Brenda Hahn. Brenda\u2019s permanent home is in Florida, where she and her family live when her international school is not in session. As a Teacher\/Librarian, she has worked in U.S. public schools, public libraries and in several international schools. Brenda collects Fairy Tales from around the world and loves researching the theories behind them. She can be reached at neverendinglibrarian@gmail.