What is a literary fairy tale: definition, examples. Fairy tales and their types What fairy tales do we call literary?

Anna Kozlushkina
Fairy tales and their types

"Fairy tales and their types"

Fairy tale- an integral part of childhood. There is hardly a person who, when he was little, did not listen to many different stories. Having matured, he retells them to his children who understand them in their own way, drawing in their imagination images of the acting characters and experiencing emotions that the fairy tale conveys.

What's happened fairy tale? What are there fairy tales? We will try to answer these questions further.

According to the scientific definition in the literature, fairy tale -"an epic literary genre, a narrative about some magical or adventurous events, which has a clear structure: beginning, middle and ending." From any fairy tales the reader must learn some lesson, a moral. Depending on the type, fairy tale performs other functions as well. There are many classifications of the genre.

Basic types of fairy tales.

What are there fairy tales? Each of us will agree that it is worth highlighting as a separate species fairy tales about animals. The second type is magical fairy tales. And finally, there are so-called household fairy tales. All kinds have their own characteristics, which become clear through their comparative analysis. Let's try to understand each of them in more detail.

What are there fairy tales about animals?

The existence of such stories is quite justified, because animals are creatures that live in close proximity to us. It is this fact that influenced the fact that folk art uses images of animals, and the most various: both wild and domestic. However, attention should be paid to the fact that animals found in fairy tales, are presented not as typical animals, but as special animals endowed with human characteristics. They live, communicate and behave like real people. Such artistic techniques make it possible to make an image understandable and interesting, while filling it with a certain meaning.

In its turn, fairy tales about animals can also be divided into fairy tales involving wild or domestic animals, objects or objects of inanimate nature. Literary scholars often talk about what genres there are fairy tales, classify them into magical, cumulative and satirical. This classification also includes the fable genre. Can be divided fairy tales about animals into works for children and adults. Often in fairy tale there is a person who can play a dominant or secondary role.

Usually with fairy tales Children become familiar with animals between the ages of three and six. They are most understandable to young readers, since they meet with regular characters: a cunning fox, a cowardly hare, a gray wolf, a smart cat and so on. As a rule, the main feature of each animal is its characteristic feature.

What types of constructions are there? fairy tales about animals? The answer is very different. Cumulative fairy tales, for example, are selected according to the principle of plot connection, where the same characters meet, just in different circumstances. Often heroes fabulous stories have names in diminutive form (Fox-Sister, Bunny-Runner, Frog-Frog and so on).

The second type is magical fairy tale.

What are the literary tales of magic? The main characteristic feature of this type is the magical, fantastic world in which the main characters live and act. The laws of this world are different from the usual ones, everything in it is not as it really is, which attracts young readers and makes this look fairy tales, undoubtedly the most favorite among children. The magical setting and plot allow the author to use all his imagination and use as many appropriate artistic techniques as possible in order to create a work specifically for a children's audience. It's no secret that children's imagination is limitless, and satisfying it is very, very difficult.

In most cases this type fairy tales has a typical plot, certain characters and a happy ending. What are there tales of magic? These can be stories about heroes and fantastic creatures, fairy tales about unusual objects and various trials that are overcome thanks to magic. As a rule, in the finale the heroes get married and live happily ever after.

Note that the heroes of magical fairy tales embody many positive qualities. Among the main topics of this literary genre- the struggle between good and evil, the struggle for love, truth and other ideals. There must be a negative hero present, who will be defeated in the finale. Structure ordinary fairy tales - beginning, main part and ending.

Household fairy tales.

Such stories tell about events ordinary life, illuminating various social problems and human characters. In them, the author ridicules negative human qualities. Such fairy tales can be social and satirical, with elements of magic fairy tales and many others. Here the negative qualities of the rich and vain people are ridiculed, while the representatives of the people embody the positive traits. Household fairy tales show that the main thing is not money and power, but kindness, honesty and intelligence. Literary scholars claim - and this is a fact - that they were written at a time when people were experiencing social crises and sought to change the structure of society. Among the popular artistic techniques here, satire, humor, and laughter stand out.

What types there are fairy tales?

In addition to the above classification, fairy tales They are also divided into original and folk. Already from the names it is clear that the author’s - fairy tales, which were written by a specific famous writer - storyteller, and folk ones are those that do not have one author. Folk fairy tales passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and the original author is unknown to anyone. Let's consider each type separately.

Folk fairy tales.

Folk fairy tales are rightfully considered a powerful source historical facts, information about the life and social system of a certain people. Over the course of their history, each of the nations has come up with a huge number of instructive stories for adults and children, passing on their experience and wisdom to the next generations.

Folk fairy tales reflect human relations and a change in moral principles, show that the basic values ​​remain unchanged, teach to draw a clear line between good and evil, joy and grief, love and hate, truth and falsehood.

Feature of folk fairy tales is that that the deepest social meaning is hidden in a simple and easy to read text. In addition, they preserve the richness of the vernacular. What folk there are fairy tales? They can be both magical and everyday. Lots of folk fairy tales talks about animals.

The question often arises about when the first Russian folk song was invented. fairy tale. This will probably remain a mystery, and one can only speculate. It is believed that the first "heroes" fairy tales there were natural phenomena - the Sun, Moon, Earth, etc. Later they began to obey man, and in fairy tales included images of people and animals. There is an assumption that all Russian folk narratives have a basis in reality. In other words, some event retold in the form of a fairy tale, has changed over the centuries and has come to us in the form to which we are accustomed.

What types of Russian folk are there? fairy tales, figured it out. It's time to talk about fairy tales, whose authors are well known to readers.

Typically, an author's work is a subjective adaptation of a folk story, however, new stories are found quite often. Character traits copyright fairy tales - psychologism, sublime speech, vivid characters, use fairytale clichés.

Another feature of this genre is that it can be read on different levels. Thus, the same story is perceived differently by representatives of different age groups. Children's fairy tales Charles Perrault seems innocent to a child story, while an adult will find serious problems and morals in them. Often books that are initially aimed at young readers are interpreted by adults in their own way, just as fantasy stories for adults are enjoyed by children.

Who are they, the authors? fairy tales? Surely everyone has heard about « Tales of My Mother Goose» Charles Perrault, tales of the Italian Gozzi, works German writer Wilhelm Hauff, the Brothers Grimm and the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. We must not forget about the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin! Their stories are loved by children and adults around the world. On these fairy tales Whole generations are growing up. At the same time, all author’s works are interesting from the point of view of literary criticism; they all fall under a certain classification and have their own artistic features and author's techniques. According to the most famous and beloved fairy tales make films and cartoons.

So, we figured out what they are fairy tales. Whichever no fairy tale - author's, folk, social, magical or telling about animals - it will definitely teach the reader something. The most interesting thing is that it doesn’t matter who reads the story. Both adults and children will definitely learn something useful from it. Fairy tale will make everyone think, convey the wisdom of the people (or author) and will leave a lasting good impression in the minds of readers. The effect is not at all exaggerated. There are even so-called therapeutic fairy tales who are able to re-educate and wean from a variety of bad habits!

Fairy tales are a very important genre in literature. This is where young children begin to become acquainted with the world of prose and poetry. But what do they mean, what is the history and specificity of the author's fairy tales? Let's look at all this below, as well as a list of Russian literary fairy tales with their authors and features.

Definition

A fairy tale is a genre in literature, usually based on folklore. It can be both prosaic and poetic. However, this is mainly folklore prose, and each nation has its own fairy tales. The main difference for them is usually the presence of mythical creatures and/or fantasy, fantastic, and magical elements.

But unlike folklore works, fairy tales always have an author. Often there is an obvious struggle between good and evil, bad and good. Usually there is main character- “favorite” of the author and, as a result, the reader. And there is also an antihero - a mythical villain.

Story

As mentioned above, fairy tales originate from folklore. However, not always, because they can also be purely copyrighted. They appeared a long time ago in the form of folklore works, passed on “from mouth to mouth.” In Rus', for a long time, their own folk tales existed and spread.

Some works can be classified as very old fairy tales. For example, many folklore tales Ancient Rus' and church parables of the Middle Ages, in many ways reminiscent of the genre we are considering.

Further, fairy tales began to appear in Europe in the usual sense for people: the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault and many others. But on the territory modern Russia Previously (and still) Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was very popular. In the 18th century, in general, many writers loved to take a basis from folklore and thus create new works.

In the 20th century, even more fairy tales appeared. Such great writers as Maxim Gorky, Alexei Tolstoy and others were known as authors of this genre.

Specifics

Author's fairy tales are also called literary. As already described above, they are distinguished from folklore works by the presence of an author. Of course, even very old folk tales had their creators, but the authors as such were lost, because for centuries the stories passed orally from one person to another, sometimes even significantly modified, since each person could interpret and retell in different ways, and so for a long time.

Another difference between an author’s fairy tale and a folk tale is that it can be in both verse and prose, while the second can only be in prose (initially it was only oral). Also, folklore usually touches on the theme of the confrontation between good and evil, while in literary works it's not obligatory.

Another difference is that folk tales have more superficially described characters, while in literary tales, on the contrary, each character is clearly expressed and individual. In folklore there is also a beginning, a saying and peculiar figures of speech. They also tend to be even smaller than literary ones. This is all due to the fact that it was transmitted orally, so much was lost, and the size was shortened because it was forgotten over generations. But nevertheless, the tendency to different speech patterns, characteristic only of Russian fairy tales, has been preserved. For example, “once upon a time,” the epithet “good fellow,” and in Pushkin: “in the distant kingdom, in the thirtieth state,” etc.

The most surprising thing is that there is no exact definition of an author's fairy tale as such. Yes, it originated from folklore and has changed greatly, which helps in defining this term. Fantastic creatures have been preserved, which change depending on the people. Fairy tales are usually small in size. There is definitely some fiction in them. But you can always find some kind of morality, which is the main purpose of a fairy tale. This distinguishes it from fantasy, where the emphasis is not on morality, but on the narration of the plot, which also differs in that it has more adventures, events, and breathtaking events. Also, fantasy works and epics are long in size. And the world described in them usually does not have a folklore basis. It is often a fiction of an author who has completely created his own reality. In fairy tales, on the contrary, there is fiction, but it is within the framework of the real world.

Kinds

Many researchers divide literary fairy tales into several categories. E. V. Pomerantseva, for example, divides them into 4 genres:

  • adventure-novelistic;
  • household;
  • about animals;
  • magical.

But the domestic folklorist V. Ya. Propp divides fairy tales into a larger number of categories:

  1. About inanimate nature, animals, plants, objects. Everything is simple here: fairy tales tell about this, respectively, about animals or inanimate nature as the main element. An interesting fact here is that such works are rarely Russian or European. But similar tales are often found among the peoples of Africa and North America.
  2. Cumulative fairy tales refer to those works where the plot is repeated several times until the denouement reaches the climax. This makes it easier for children to perceive them. A striking example is the stories about the turnip and the kolobok.
  3. The everyday (novelistic) genre tells about different people by character. For example, a fairy tale about an evil deceiver or stupid man.
  4. Boring fairy tales are designed to lull children to sleep. They are very short and simple. (For example, a fairy tale about a white bull).
  5. Fables about something that could not happen in reality. It is worth noting that all fairy tales have a share of fiction, but fables contain the most fiction: talking animals, humanized bears (they live like people, communicate, etc.). As a rule, all subspecies overlap with each other. It is rare that a work belongs to only one of them.

In Russian fairy tales, heroic and soldier branches are also distinguished.

The most interesting thing is that fairy tales as a genre are studied very seriously. In Europe, A. Aarne wrote the so-called “Index of Fairy-Tale Types” in 1910, which also contains divisions into types. Unlike the typology of Propp and Pomerantseva, well-known European tales about fooled devils and anecdotes are added here. Based on the works, Aarne created his index of fairy-tale plots and S. Thompson in 1928. A little later, folklorist N.P. Andreev and many other researchers worked on this typology, but with the introduction of Russian (Slavic) types.

Above we looked at the main subspecies, which relate more to folk art. Author's fairy tales, as a rule, are much more complex, and it is not easy to type them into a certain subgenre, but they have adopted a lot from folklore and the types described above as their basis. Also, plot motifs are taken from many sources. For example, the hatred of stepdaughter and stepmother, popular in works.

Now let's move on to the lists of folk and literary fairy tales.

Fairy tales for 1st grade

The list is large, since children begin their introduction to reading with stories and fairy tales, because they are small and easy to remember and master. In first grade it is recommended to read:

  1. Small folk tales. Often they are about animals: “The Cat and the Fox”, “Kolobok”, “Crow and Crayfish”, “Geese-Swans”, as well as “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka”, “Porridge from an Ax”, “A Man and a Bear”, “ Cockerel-golden comb”, “Morozko”, “Bubble, straw and bast shoe”, “Teremok”, “At the command of the pike”, etc.
  2. Charles Perrault, "Little Red Riding Hood".
  3. Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" and other short stories.

Literary fairy tales: 2nd grade, list

  1. Folk tales adapted by A. N. Tolstoy.
  2. Works of the Brothers Grimm, for example "The Town Musicians of Bremen".
  3. E. L. Schwartz, "The New Adventures of Puss in Boots."
  4. C. Perrault: "Puss in Boots" and "Little Red Riding Hood".
  5. Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.
  6. As well as small works by A. S. Pushkin, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, P. Ershov, P. Bazhov, K. D. Ushinsky and others.

List of literary fairy tales for grade 3

In these classes they also read fairy tales, but they are longer, and there are also fewer folk tales and more literary ones. For example, everyone famous fairy tale Lewis Carroll about Alice Through the Looking Glass. As well as larger fairy tales by Mamin-Sibiryak, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Pushkin, Bazhov, Zhukovsky, Tchaikovsky, Perrault, Andersen and many others.

4th grade

List of literary fairy tales:

  • Garshin V. M., “The Tale of the Toad and the Rose”;
  • Zhukovsky V. A., “The Tale of Tsar Berendey”, “There the skies and waters are clear”;
  • E. Schwartz "The Tale of Lost Time."

5th grade

Literary tales in high school in the reading program they are much less common than in grades 1-4, but nevertheless there are such works. For example, fairy tales by Andersen and Pushkin, which are also in primary school. The list of literary fairy tales for grade 5 does not end here. There are also works by Zhukovsky, Schwartz and many others for children of this age.

Instead of a conclusion

A fairy tale is a very interesting genre, which is still studied by various researchers, and children read according to the school curriculum. Initially, they were only folk, transmitted orally. But then author’s literary fairy tales began to appear, which usually take folklore plots and characters as a basis. Such works are small, they contain fiction and a special narrative. But this is precisely what makes the fairy tale genre special and distinguishes it from others.

Gradually, the literary fairy tale became a full-fledged direction fiction. Today this genre is universal; it reflects the phenomena of the surrounding reality, its problems, achievements, successes and failures. At the same time, the connection with folklore remained the same, inextricable. So, let's try to figure out what a literary fairy tale is.

Definition

First, let's give a definition: a fairy tale is a folk-poetic narrative work that tells about fictional events and characters. Often involving fantastic and magical phenomena.

Now let’s find out what a literary fairy tale is.

This is a genre of storytelling with a fantastic or magical plot, taking place in a real or magical world, in which both real people can act and the author can raise moral, social, aesthetic problems of history and modernity.

The definitions are similar, but in the second, concerning a literary fairy tale, there is a certain specification and clarification. They relate to the types of characters and space, as well as the author and the problems of the work.

Features of a literary fairy tale

Now let's list the main features of a literary fairy tale:

  • Reflects the aesthetics and worldview of its era.
  • Borrowing characters, images, plots, features of language and poetics from folk tales.
  • A combination of fiction and reality.
  • Grotesque world.
  • There is a game beginning.
  • The desire to psychologize heroes.
  • The author's position is clearly expressed.
  • Social assessment of what is happening.

Folk and literary tale

What is a literary fairy tale, how does it differ from a folk fairy tale? The author's fairy tale is considered a genre that has absorbed folklore and literary principles. It grew out of folklore, transforming and changing its genre differences. We can say that the folk tale has evolved into a literary one.

Literary fairy tale goes through a number of stages as it moves away from the original source - the fairy tale. We list them in order of increasing distance:

  1. A simple recording of folk tales.
  2. Processing recordings of folk tales.
  3. Retelling of a fairy tale by the author.
  4. In the author's fairy tale, the internal form differs from the folk one, and folklore elements vary depending on the writer's intentions.
  5. Parodies and stylizations - their tasks are related to pedagogical orientation.
  6. A literary fairy tale is as far removed from common folklore plots and images as possible. The speech and style of such a tale are closer to the literary tradition.

How do folk traditions of literary fairy tales manifest themselves?

What is a literary fairy tale? These, as we have already said, are combinations of literary and folklore. Therefore, in order to answer the question, let’s determine what folk heritage the literary fairy tale inherited.

Writers usually take folklore stories as a basis. For example:

  • magical origin or birth of the main character;
  • the stepmother's dislike for her stepdaughter;
  • the hero's trials are necessarily moral in nature;
  • rescued animals that become the hero’s assistants, etc.

Writers also exploit those endowed with certain functions. For example:

  • The ideal hero.
  • The ideal hero's assistant.
  • The one who sends the hero on his journey.
  • Giver of a magical thing.
  • The one who harms the ideal hero and prevents him from completing his assignment.
  • A stolen person or thing.
  • A false hero is one who tries to take credit for the exploits of others.

The space and time of the fairy-tale world are often built according to the laws of folklore. This is a fantastic, uncertain place, and time either slows down or speeds up, it is also magical and does not lend itself to the laws of reality. For example: the distant kingdom, the thirtieth state; whether long or short; The tale is told quickly, but the deed is not done quickly.

Trying to bring their tales closer to folk tales, writers resort to the use of folk poetic speech: epithets, triple repetitions, vernacular, proverbs, sayings, etc.

By turning to folk traditions, we were able to answer what a literary fairy tale is in its connection with folklore. Let us now consider another component of our fairy tale - the literary one, and try to understand what separates it from the folk heritage.

What is a literary fairy tale and how does it differ from a folk tale?

Examples and comparisons of literary and folk tales allow us to highlight a number of their differences.

A literary fairy tale is distinguished by its depiction. The author tries to describe the area and events in detail, to make the characters closer to reality, so that the reader believes in what is happening as much as possible.

Thus, what is a literary fairy tale if not the psychologism of the heroes? The writer is trying to explore the character’s inner world and depict experiences. Thus, Pushkin in “Tsar Saltan,” depicting the hero’s meeting with his wife and son, describes: “A zealous spirit began to beat within him... the spirit in him became busy, the king burst into tears.” You won't find this in folklore.

Ershov, Pushkin, Odoevsky and other fairy tale writers endow their characters with full-fledged character. These are not just heroes typical of folklore, these are full-fledged living people with their own aspirations, experiences, and contradictions. Pushkin even gives the little devil in “The Tale of Balda” a naive, childish character.

What else is different about a literary fairy tale?

What is a literary fairy tale? The answers to this question can be found in the specifics, namely, in the vivid expression of a fairy tale, it manifests itself through assessments, attitudes towards what is happening, from which it is easy to guess which of the characters the author sympathizes with and which he dislikes or ridicules. So, describing the priest, his fears and natural greed, Pushkin ridicules this.

A literary fairy tale will always reflect the author's view of the world, his idea of ​​life and ideas. We will see the writer, his aspirations, values, spiritual world, desires. In a folk tale, only the ideals and values ​​of the entire people can be reflected; the personality of the narrator in it will be erased.

So, what is a literary fairy tale in its classical sense? This is a fusion of the author's originality and folk traditions.

Origins of the literary fairy tale

The roots of literary fairy tales go back to ancient times. There is a recorded Egyptian tale of two brothers dating back to the 13th century. BC e. The epic also contains references to fairy tales, for example, in the Babylonian cycle about Gilgamesh, among the Assyrians - in the legends about Ahikar, in Greek - the Iliad and the Odyssey.

During the Middle Ages, the literary fairy tale was used by the church, turning it into a parable. This tradition survived until the 19th century.

The Renaissance brought elements of fairy tales into the short story, using them to create satirical and didactic elements.

The emergence of a literary fairy tale

But only in the 18th century. The literary fairy tale became an independent artistic genre, largely due to the fascination of romanticism with folk traditions. At this time, in order to answer the question of what a literary fairy tale is, examples would have to be taken from Charles Perrault and A. Galland in Europe and from M. Chulkov in Russia.

In the 19th century The popularity of literary fairy tales is increasing. Goethe, Chamisso, Tieck, Edgar Poe, Hoffmann, Andersen turn to this genre. Russian literature of this period is also rich in fairy tales. These are V. Zhukovsky, A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, A. Tolstoy and others.

Tales of Pushkin

What is a literary fairy tale? The definition we gave above is perfectly illustrated by the fairy tales of A.S. Pushkin. Initially, they were not intended for children, but quickly found themselves in the circle of children's reading. The names of these fairy tales have been known to us since childhood:

  • "The Tale of Tsar Saltan".
  • "The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda."
  • "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish".
  • "The Tale of dead princess and about 7 heroes."
  • "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel."

All these tales have a plot connection with folk tales. Thus, “The Tale of Balda” reminds folk tale"Penor Shabarsh." “About the Fisherman and the Fish” - “The Greedy Old Woman”, a recording of which was presented to the poet by V.I. Dal, a famous collector of folklore. “The Tale of Saltan” is close to the fairy tale “About Wonderful Children.” Pushkin saw in folk art inexhaustible themes and plots for literature. Thus, the poet’s fairy tales, better than any definition, can answer the question of what a literary fairy tale is.

Summary of “Tales of the Priest and His Worker Balda”

Let's consider one of Pushkin's fairy tales. The essence of this tale is a satire on church ministers who deceive the people. Human qualities are also ridiculed: stupidity, greed and hypocrisy. Out of greed, the priest decides to hire a servant for a pittance who will do the hard work. Stupidity forces him to agree to Balda's proposal. But as the reckoning approaches, deceit and malice awaken in the priest - he decides to destroy the worker.

In this tale, as in others, Pushkin creates psychologically perfect characters. The author endows each with character and personal characteristics. And the language, although poetic, is as close as possible to the folk language. Pushkin always sought to move away from pretentious literary verse to something lighter, more flexible, and freer. He managed to find all these qualities in folk art.

Thus, a literary fairy tale has rich history development, is a unique fusion of folklore and original works and continues to develop to this day.

Friends! You have found yourself in Wonderland. Here you will find the most interesting works- literary fairy tales. Do you know what a fairy tale is?.. That’s right, miracles always happen in a fairy tale, amazing creatures live in it. Literary fairy tales are written by extraordinary writers. They know how to come up with extraordinary stories and extraordinary heroes. Can you now remember the names of the most famous storytellers?

In this section you will meet works of writers, many of whom you were not yet familiar with. In the fairy tales of Gennady Tsyferov, Donald Bisset, Sergei Kozlov, Natalia Abramtseva, Rudyard Kipling, you will meet funny and funny characters, unexpected situations and unusual words. All these fairy tales are very different, but they are united by a remarkable property - they teach us to see miracles in the most ordinary things.

To get to Wonderland, you will need your imagination and invention, your humor and kindness. You will also need paints and pencils to draw a colorful Wonderland, to which storytellers, visionaries and dreamers will lead us.

Gennady Tsyferov “About the chicken, the sun and the little bear”

When I was little, I knew very little and was surprised at everything, and loved to compose. For example, snow is flying. People will say - precipitation. And I’ll think: probably, somewhere in the blue meadows white dandelions have bloomed. Or maybe at night on the green roof cheerful clouds sat down to rest and dangled their white legs. And if the cloud is pulled by the leg, it will sigh and fly. It will fly far somewhere.

Why am I telling you all this? Here's what it's all about. Yesterday an amazing thing happened in our chicken coop: a yellow chicken hatched from a white chicken egg. Yesterday he hatched, and then all day, all week he was surprised at everything. After all, he was small and saw everything for the first time. It’s about how he was little and saw everything for the first time that I decided to write a book.

It's good to be small. And it’s even better to see everything for the first time.

First surprise

Why was the chicken surprised at first? Well, of course, the sun. He looked at him and said:

- And what's that? If this is a ball, then where is the thread? And if it is a flower, then where is its stem?

“Stupid,” the chicken mother laughed. - This is the sun.

- Sunshine, sunshine! - the chicken sang. - Need to remember.

Then he saw another sun, in a small drop.

“Little sunshine,” he whispered into his yellow ear, “do you want me to take you to our little house, to the chicken coop?” It's dark and cool there.

But the sun didn’t want to shine there. Again the chicken sun took him out into the street and stamped his paw:

- Stupid sunshine! Where it is light, it shines, but where it is dark, it does not want to shine. Why?

But no one, even the biggest and oldest, could explain this to him.

Second surprise

Why was the chicken surprised then? Again to the sun.

What is it like? Of course, yellow. This is how the chicken saw it for the first time and decided that it would always be like this.

But one day a mischievous wind unwinded the golden ball. Along the path where the sun walked, from the green hills to the blue river, a multi-colored rainbow stretched.

The chicken looked at the rainbow and smiled: but the sun is not yellow at all. It's colorful. Like a nesting doll. Open the blue one - it contains green. Open the green one - it contains blue. And in blue there is also red, orange...

So is the sun. If you roll it out and unwind the ball, there will be seven stripes. And if each of these strips is wound separately, there will be seven colored suns. Yellow sun, blue, blue, green - all sorts of suns.

How many days are there in a week? Also seven. This means that every day one sun will rise. On Monday, for example, it’s blue, on Tuesday it’s green, on Wednesday it’s blue, and on Sunday it’s yellow. Sunday is a fun day.

How the chicken first wrote a fairy tale

Yes, it’s very simple: I took it and composed it. They once told him a fairy tale about a house on chicken legs. He thought and immediately came up with another: a fairy tale about a house on calf's legs. Then about the house on elephant legs. Then about the house on hare legs.

The house had horns growing on calf's legs.

The house had ears growing on hare legs.

A pipe-proboscis hung near the house on elephant legs.

And the house on chicken legs had a red comb.

The house on hare legs squealed: “I want to jump!”

The little house on calf's legs mooed: “I want to butt heads!”

The house on elephant legs began to puff: “Pfft!” I want to blow the trumpet!”

And the house on chicken legs sang: “Ku-ka-riku! Isn’t it time for you to go to bed?”

Here the lights went out in all the houses. And everyone fell asleep.

About friends

The chicken had few friends. Only one. This is because he looked for friends by color. If yellow means friend. If it's gray, no. If it's brown, no. Once a chicken was walking along a green path, saw a yellow thread and walked, and followed it. I walked and walked and saw a yellow caterpillar.

“Hello, yellow,” said the chicken, “are you probably my yellow friend?”

“Yes,” grumbled the caterpillar, “probably.”

- What are you doing here? — the chicken asked with interest.

- Don't you see? I pull the yellow phone.

- What for?

- Don't you guess? The blue bell that lives in the forest and the blue bell that lives in the meadow decided to call each other today.

- What for? - asked the chicken.

— Probably to find out about the weather. After all, they close when it rains.

“Me too,” said the chicken and hid his head. And this greatly surprised the caterpillar.

For a very long time she could not understand who it was - a flower or a bird?

“Probably a flower,” the caterpillar decided and made friends with the chicken. After all, caterpillars are afraid of birds.

What were the two yellow friends doing?

What are all the little ones doing? Were playing. They danced. Blowing bubbles. They splashed into a puddle. And they were also sad. And sometimes they cried.

Why were they sad

On Monday that's why. On this day they deceived their mothers. They told them: “We will go to the meadow.” And they themselves went to the river to catch crucian carp.

Of course, if it had been a boy, he would have blushed. If it's a girl, too.

But they were a yellow chicken and a yellow caterpillar. And all day they turned yellow, yellow, yellow. And by evening they became so yellow that no one could look at them without blue glasses. And whoever looked without blue glasses sighed and cried: “How sad all this is! How sad it all is! They deceived their mothers! And now they are so, so yellow on such a blue evening!”

Why did they laugh

On Wednesday they decided to play hide and seek. In the morning they decided, at lunch they considered:

- One two three four five! Whoever plays should run!

The chicken ran away and hid under the porch. The caterpillar crawled away and hid under a leaf. Are waiting,

who will find whom. We waited for an hour - no one found anyone. Two waited - no one found anyone...

Finally in the evening their mothers found them and scolded them:

- Is this hide and seek? Hide and seek is when someone is hiding from someone. Someone is looking for someone. And when everyone is hiding, it’s not hide and seek! This is something different.

At this time thunder roared. And everyone hid.

Gennady Tsyferov “How frogs drank tea”

The tomato turned red on one side. Now it’s like a small traffic light: where the sun rises, the side is red; where the moon is green.

A shaggy fog sleeps in the meadows. He smokes a pipe. It blows smoke under the bushes.

In the evening, by the blue-blue river, green frogs drank tea from white-white water lilies.

The birch asked the pine tree where it was going.

- To the sky.

— I want to put a cloud-sail on the top.

- For what?

- Fly over the blue river, over the white hill.

- For what?

- See where the sun sets, where it, yellow, lives.

A donkey went out for a walk on a starry night. I saw a month in the sky. I was surprised: “Where is the other half?” I went looking. He looked into the bushes and rummaged under the burdocks. I found her in the garden in a small puddle. I looked and touched it with my foot - it was alive.

It rained, incessantly, through the meadows, fields, and flowering gardens. He walked and walked, tripped, stretched out his long legs, fell... and drowned in the last puddle. Only the bubbles went up: glug-glug.

It's already spring, but the nights are cold. The frost is freezing. The willow showed her little fingers and put fur mittens on them.

The boy drew the sun. And all around are rays - golden eyelashes. Showed it to dad:

- Fine?

“Okay,” said dad and drew a stem.

—- Uh! - the boy was surprised. - Yes, it’s a sunflower!..

Victor Khmelnitsky "Spider"

The spider was hanging on a cobweb. Suddenly it broke, and the spider began to fall.

“Wow!..” thought the spider.

Having fallen to the ground, he immediately stood up, rubbed his bruised side and ran to the tree.

Having climbed onto a branch, the spider now released two webs at once - and began to swing on a swing.

Viktor Khmelnitsky “Galchonok and Stars”

“When you fall asleep, hide your head under your wing,” his mother taught the black jackdaw.

“My neck hurts,” answered the naughty little jackdaw...

And then one frosty night, when the sky sparkled huge stars, and the snow was silver on the ground, the little jackdaw accidentally woke up.

I woke up and decided that everything around me was a dream.

And the cold wind seemed not so cold. And deep snow is soft and welcoming.

The huge stars seemed even brighter to the little jackdaw, and the black sky seemed blue.

- Hello! - the little jackdaw shouted into the whole blue light.

“Hello,” the stars responded.

“Hello,” the round Moon smiled. - Why are not you sleeping?

- How?! - shouted the little jackdaw. - Isn't this a dream?

“Of course, it’s a dream,” the stars twinkled. - Dream! Dream! They were bored and wanted to play. In addition, the little jackdaw's eyes sparkled like real stars.

- And Luna asks why I’m not sleeping?

- She was joking!

- Ur-r-ra! - shouted the little jackdaw. - So-o-he!!!

But then the whole forest woke up from his scream. And his mother gave him such a beating that since then the little jackdaw, like all birds, when falling asleep, hides his head under his wing - so that when he wakes up at night, he won’t see the deceiving stars!

Viktor Khmelnitsky “Fruit of Imagination”

“It’s very interesting,” the frog began, “to come up with something like that!.. And then see it.”

“A figment of the imagination,” the grasshopper supported, jumping up.

All the color of the field and forest gathered in the clearing. There were blue cornflowers, scarlet poppies, white butterflies, red ladybugs with a white dot, and so on and so forth, incomparable...

The grasshopper decided to invent an elephant.

Big, big elephant!

“I probably have the biggest figment of my imagination!” - he thought, not without secret pride.

But the grasshopper was in vain secretly proud. White daisy came up with a cloud. And the cloud is very often larger than the elephant.

Chamomile came up with a cloud as white as herself.

“If we’re going to come up with something,” the frog decided, “it’s very pleasant...”

And the frog came up with rain and puddles.

Ladybug invented the sun. At first glance, it is very simple. But only for the first... What if for the second or third? Surely your eyes will hurt!

- Well, who came up with what? - asked the frog.

- I came up with a big, big elephant! - the grasshopper announced louder than usual.

“And I am a white, white cloud,” said the chamomile. - And I saw a white-white cloud in the blue transparent sky.

- There's a cloud! - exclaimed the chamomile. - Just like I came up with!

Everyone looked up and began to envy the daisy.

But the closer the cloud floated, the more it resembled a big, big elephant.

- Here it is, my elephant! I came up with it! - the grasshopper was happy.

And when rain suddenly began to fall over the clearing from the elephant cloud and puddles appeared, the little frog began to smile. This is someone who really has a smile from ear to ear!

And, of course, of course, then the sun appeared. Which means it’s time for... the ladybug to triumph.

Sergey Kozlov “Hedgehog’s Violin”

Hedgehog has long wanted to learn to play the violin.

“Well,” he said, “the birds sing, the dragonflies ring, but I can only hiss?”

And he planed pine planks, dried them and began to make a violin. The violin came out light, melodious, with a cheerful bow.

Having finished his work, Hedgehog sat down on a stump, pressed the violin to his muzzle and pulled the bow from top to bottom.

“Pi-i-i...” the violin squealed. And the Hedgehog smiled.

“Pi-pi-pi-pi!..” flew out from under the bow, and the Hedgehog began to come up with a melody.

“We need to come up with something like this,” he thought, “so that the pine tree will rustle, the cones will fall and the wind will blow. Then the wind died down, and one cone swayed for a long, long time, and then finally plopped down - bang! And then the mosquitoes should squeal and evening would come.”

He sat down more comfortably on the stump, held the violin tighter and waved the bow.

“Uuuu!..” - the violin hummed.

“No,” thought the Hedgehog, “that’s probably how the bee hums... Then let it be midday. Let the bees buzz, the sun shine brightly and the ants run along the paths.”

And he, smiling, began to play: “Oooh!” Oooh!..”

"It turns out!" - Hedgehog was happy. And “Noon” played all day until the evening.

“Uh-oh! Oooh!..” - rushed through the forest.

And thirty Ants, two Grasshoppers and one Mosquito gathered to look at the Hedgehog.

“You’re being a little false,” said the Mosquito politely when the Hedgehog was tired. — The fourth “y” needs to be made a little thinner. Like this...

And he squealed: “Pi-i-i!..”

“No,” said the Hedgehog. - You play “Evening”, and I play “Noon”. Can't you hear?

The mosquito took a step back with its thin leg, tilted its head to the side and raised its shoulders.

“Yes, yes,” he said, listening. - Noon! At this time I really like to sleep in the grass.

“And we,” said the Grasshoppers, “work in the forge at noon.” In just half an hour, a Dragonfly will fly to us and ask us to forge a new wing!..

“And we,” said the Ants, “have lunch at noon.”

And one Ant came forward and said:

- Please play a little more: I really like lunch!

The hedgehog held the violin and played the bow.

- Delicious! - said the Ant. - I will come every evening to listen to your “Noon”.

Dew fell.

Hedgehog, how a real musician, bowed from the stump to the Ants, Grasshoppers and Mosquitoes and took the violin into the house so that it would not become damp.

Instead of strings, blades of grass were stretched on the violin, and, falling asleep, Hedgehog thought how tomorrow he would string fresh strings and finally make the violin make the noise of pine, breathe in the wind and stomp on falling pine cones...

Sergey Kozlov “Hedgehog-Christmas Tree”

Throughout the pre-New Year week, a blizzard raged in the fields. There was so much snow in the forest that neither the Hedgehog, nor the Donkey, nor the Little Bear could leave the house all week.

Before the New Year, the blizzard subsided, and friends gathered at Hedgehog’s house.

“Tell you what,” said the Bear, “we don’t have a Christmas tree.”

“No,” agreed Donkey.

“I don’t see that we have it,” said the Hedgehog. He loved to express himself in intricate ways, especially on holidays.

“We need to go look,” suggested Little Bear.

“Where can we find her now?” Donkey was surprised. - It’s dark in the forest...

“And what snowdrifts!..” sighed the Hedgehog.

“We still have to go get the tree,” said the Little Bear.

And all three left the house.

The blizzard had subsided, but the clouds had not yet dispersed, and not a single star was visible in the sky.

- And there is no moon! - said Donkey. - What kind of tree is there?!

- How about the touch? - said the Bear. And crawled through the snowdrifts.

But by touch he found nothing. There were only large trees, but they still wouldn’t have fit into Hedgehog’s house, and the small ones were completely covered with snow.

Returning to the Hedgehog, Donkey and Little Bear became sad.

- Well, what is it? New Year!.. - sighed the Bear.

"If only some autumn holiday, so maybe a Christmas tree isn’t necessary, thought Donkey. “And in winter you can’t live without a Christmas tree.”

Meanwhile, the hedgehog boiled the samovar and poured tea into saucers. He gave the little bear a barrel of honey, and the Donkey a plate of dumplings.

The Hedgehog didn’t think about the Christmas tree, but he was sad that it had been half a month since his clock had broken, and the watchmaker Woodpecker had promised, but had not arrived.

“How will we know when it’s twelve o’clock?” - he asked the Little Bear.

- We will feel it! - said Donkey.

- How will we feel this? - Little Bear was surprised.

“Very simple,” said Donkey. - At twelve o’clock we will already be sleepy for exactly three hours!

- Right! - Hedgehog was happy.

- Don’t worry about the Christmas tree. We will put a stool in the corner, and I will stand on it, and you will hang toys on me.

- Why not a Christmas tree! - Little Bear shouted.

And so they did.

They put a stool in the corner, Hedgehog stood on the stool and fluffed up the needles.

“The toys are under the bed,” he said.

The Donkey and the Little Bear took out toys and hung a large dried dandelion on the Hedgehog’s upper paws, and a small spruce cone on each needle.

- Don't forget the light bulbs! - said the Hedgehog.

And chanterelle mushrooms were hung on his chest, and they lit up cheerfully - they were so red.

“Aren’t you tired, Yolka?” - asked Little Bear, sitting down and sipping tea from a saucer.

The hedgehog stood on a stool and smiled.

“No,” said the Hedgehog. - What time is it now?

The donkey was dozing.

- Five minutes to twelve! - said the Bear. — As soon as Donkey falls asleep, it will be exactly New Year.

“Then pour me and yourself some cranberry juice,” said the Hedgehog-Christmas tree.

— Do you want cranberry juice? - Little Bear asked Donkey.

The donkey fell asleep.

“Now the clock should strike,” he muttered.

The hedgehog carefully took the cup in his right paw

with cranberry juice, and the bottom one, stamping, began to beat the time.

- Bam, bam, bam! - he said.

“It’s already three,” said the Bear. - Now let me go!

He hit the floor with his paw three times and also said:

- Bam, bam, bam!.. Now it’s your turn, Donkey!

The donkey hit the floor with his hoof three times, but said nothing.

- Now it’s me again! - Hedgehog shouted.

And everyone listened with bated breath to the last “bam!” bam! bam!

- Hooray! - Little Bear shouted, and Donkey fell asleep. Little Bear soon fell asleep too.

Only Hedgehog stood in the corner on a stool and didn’t know what to do. And he began to sing songs and sang them until the morning, so as not to fall asleep and not break his toys.

Sergey Kozlov “Hedgehog in the Fog”

Thirty mosquitoes ran out into the clearing and began to play their squeaky violins. The moon came out from behind the clouds and, smiling, floated across the sky.

“Mmm-uh!..” sighed the cow across the river. The dog howled, and forty moon hares ran along the path.

Fog rose above the river, and the sad white horse drowned in it up to its chest, and now it seemed like a large white duck was swimming in the fog and, snorting, lowered its head into it.

The hedgehog sat on a hill under a pine tree and looked at the moonlit valley, flooded with fog.

It was so beautiful that he shuddered from time to time: was he dreaming of all this? And the mosquitoes never tired of playing their violins, the moon hares danced, and the dog howled.

“If I tell you, they won’t believe it!” - thought the Hedgehog, and began to look even more carefully in order to remember all the beauty down to the last blade of grass.

“So the star fell,” he noted, “and the grass bent to the left, and only the top of the tree remained, and now it floats next to the horse... But it’s interesting,” thought the Hedgehog, “if the horse goes to sleep, it will choke in the fog ?

And he began to slowly descend from the mountain in order to also get into the fog and see what it was like inside.

“Here,” said the Hedgehog. - I can not see anything. And you can't even see a paw. Horse! - he called.

But the horse didn't say anything.

“Where is the horse?” - thought the Hedgehog. And he crawled straight. Everything around was dull, dark and wet, only the twilight glowed faintly high above.

He crawled for a long, long time and suddenly felt that there was no ground under him, and he was flying somewhere. Pounding!..

"I'm in the river!" - the Hedgehog realized, turning cold with fear. And he began to hit with his paws in all directions.

When he emerged, it was still dark, and Hedgehog didn’t even know where the shore was.

“Let the river itself carry me!” - he decided. He took a deep breath as best he could, and was carried downstream.

The river rustled with reeds, seethed in the riffles, and Hedgehog felt that he was completely wet and would soon drown.

Suddenly someone touched his hind paw.

“Excuse me,” someone said silently, who are you and how did you get here?

“I am the Hedgehog,” the Hedgehog also answered silently. - I fell into the river.

“Then sit on my back,” someone said silently. - I'll take you to the shore.

The hedgehog sat on someone's narrow, slippery back and a minute later found himself on the shore.

- Thank you! - he said out loud.

- My pleasure! - someone the Hedgehog didn’t even see soundlessly said, and disappeared in the waves.

“That’s the story...” thought the Hedgehog, shaking himself off. “Who will believe it?!” And he hobbled in the fog.

Sergey Kozlov “How to catch a cloud”

When the time came for the birds to fly south and the grass had long withered and the trees had fallen off, the Hedgehog said to the Little Bear:

- Winter is coming soon. Let's go catch some fish for you one last time. You love fish!

And they took fishing rods and went to the river.

It was so quiet, so calm on the river that all the trees bowed their sad heads towards it, and clouds slowly floated in the middle. The clouds were gray and shaggy, and Little Bear became scared.

“What if we catch a cloud? - he thought. “What are we going to do with him then?”

- Hedgehog! - said the Bear. - What will we do if we catch a cloud?

“We won’t catch you,” said the Hedgehog. — Clouds cannot be caught on dry peas. Now, if you caught it with a dandelion...

- Can you catch a cloud with a dandelion?

- Certainly! - said the Hedgehog. - You can only catch clouds with dandelions!

It began to get dark.

They sat on a narrow birch bridge and looked into the water. The little bear looked at the Hedgehog's float, and the Hedgehog looked at the Little Bear's float. It was quiet, and the floats were motionless reflected in the water...

- Why doesn’t she bite? - asked Little Bear.

— She listens to our conversations. - said the Hedgehog. — Pisces are very curious in autumn!..

- Then let's be silent.

And they sat for a whole hour in silence.

Suddenly Little Bear's float began to dance and dive deep.

- It’s biting! - Hedgehog shouted.

- Oh! - exclaimed the Little Bear. - Pulls!

- Hold it, hold it! - said the Hedgehog.

“Something very heavy,” whispered Little Bear. “Last year an old cloud sank here.” Maybe this is it?

- Hold it, hold it! - Hedgehog repeated.

But then Little Bear's fishing rod bent in an arc, then straightened out with a whistle - and a huge red moon flew high into the sky.

And the moon swayed and floated quietly over the river.

And then Hedgehog’s float disappeared.

- Pull! - Whispered the Bear.

The hedgehog waved his fishing rod - and a small star flew high into the sky, above the moon.

“So...” whispered the Hedgehog, taking out two new peas. - Now if only there was enough bait!..

And they, forgetting about the fish, spent the whole night catching the stars and throwing them all over the sky.

And before dawn, when the peas ran out, Little Bear hung from the bridge and pulled two orange maple leaves out of the water.

“There’s nothing better than fishing with a maple leaf!” - he said.

And he was about to doze off, when suddenly someone grabbed the hook tightly.

“Help!..” whispered the Little Bear to the Hedgehog.

And the two of them, tired and sleepy, barely pulled the sun out of the water.

It shook itself off, walked along the narrow bridge and rolled into the field.

It was quiet and good all around, and the last leaves, like small boats, slowly floated down the river...

Sergey Kozlov “Beauty”

When everyone huddled in their holes and began to wait for winter, a warm wind suddenly arrived. He embraced the entire forest with his wide wings, and everything came to life - it sang, chirped, and rang.

Spiders came out to bask in the sun, and dozing frogs woke up. The hare sat down on a stump in the middle of the clearing and raised his ears. But the Hedgehog and the Little Bear simply didn’t know what to do.

“Let’s go swim in the river,” said the Bear.

- The water is icy.

- Let's go get some golden leaves!

- The leaves have fallen off.

- Let's go get some mushrooms for you!

— What mushrooms? - said the Hedgehog. - Where?

- Then... Then... Let's go to bed - let's lie in the sun!

- The ground is cold.

- The water is icy, the ground is cold, there are no mushrooms, the leaves have fallen off, but why is it warm?

- That's it! - said the Hedgehog.

- That's it! - Miked the Bear. - What should we do?

- Let's go cut some wood for you!

“No,” said the Bear. It is good to cut firewood in winter. Whack-whack! - and gold filings in the snow! Blue sky, sun, frost. Whack-whack! - Fine!

- Let's go to! Let's drink!

- What you! And in winter? Bam! - and steam from the mouth. Bam! You inject, you sing, and you smoke. It’s such a joy to chop wood on a clear sunny day!

“Then I don’t know,” said the Hedgehog. - Think yourself.

“Let’s go get some twigs,” said the Bear. - Bare branches. And some have only one leaf. You know how beautiful it is!

- What should we do with them?

- We'll put it in the house. Just a little, you know? - said the Bear. - If there is a lot, there will be just bushes, but if a little...

And they went, broke beautiful branches and, with the branches in their paws, headed to the Little Bear’s house.

- Hey! Why do you need brooms? - shouted the Hare.

“These are not brooms,” said the Hedgehog. - This is beauty! Can't you see?

- Beauty! There is so much of this beauty! - said the Hare. — Beauty is when there is not enough. And here - there’s so much!

“It’s here,” said Little Bear. “And our house will be beautiful in winter.”

- And will you take these brooms home?

“Well, yes,” said the Hedgehog. - And you can get some for yourself too, Hare.

- Why did I move? — the Hare was surprised. — I live in the forest and there are bare branches...

“You understand,” said the Bear, “you will take two or three branches and put them in a jug at home.”

“Better rowan,” said the Hare.

- Rowan - of course. And the branches are very beautiful!

-Where will you put them? - the Hare asked the Hedgehog.

“On the window,” said the Hedgehog. “They will stand right next to the winter sky.”

- And you? - the Hare asked the Little Bear.

- And I’m at the window. Whoever comes will be happy.

“Well,” said the Hare. - So Vorona is right. She said this morning: “If it gets warm in the forest in the fall, many people go crazy.” You're crazy, right?

The Hedgehog and the Little Bear looked at each other, then at the Hare, and then the Little Bear said:

- You are stupid, Hare. And your Crow is stupid. Is it really crazy to make beauty out of three branches for everyone?