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Acting Out: Great Books to Adapt into Children's Plays
Source: Parents' Choice Foundation
By reading aloud, children develop their reading, language, and vocabulary skills and learn to express emotion as they portray the roles of characters in a book. This experience is further enhanced when they adapt one of their favorite stories into a play. Fables and fairytales offer an easy division of roles and interesting dialog among characters for younger children. While older children will enjoy dramatizing the action and conflict present in folktales from around the world. Picture books, and even poems, also present lots of potential for stage production. With a little creativity, any one of your child's favorite books could be ripe for a stage debut.
Fables
Farmer Duck
Ages: 3 & Up
Author: Martin Waddell Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Candlewick Press
Duck lives with a lazy farmer who lies in bed all day while Duck does all the work. The other barnyard animals conspire to effect a horrendous - actually, a truly shocking - revolution.
The Story of the Three Kingdoms
Ages: 5 - 8 yrs.
Author: Walter Dean Myers Illustrator: Ashley Bryan
HarperCollins Children's Books / HarperTrophy
Long ago, Elephant ruled the forest, Shark ruled the sea, and Hawk ruled the sky, until the People discovered a unique power that enabled them to dominate the other creatures.
Fairy Tales
Cinderella, Puss in Boots and Other Favorite Tales
Ages: All Ages
Author: Charles Perrault Illustrator: Corinne Chalmeau
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. / Abrams Books for Young Readers
These eight old favorites, newly translated by A. E. Johnson into straightforward, simple English, do not shrink from the harsh truths of a more primitive time. The tellings are leisurely, and more than one tale at a sitting would be too many.
How I Became a Pirate
Ages: 3 - 7 yrs.
Author: Melinda Long Illustrator: David Shannon
Harcourt Trade Publishers/Harcourt Children's Books
The pirate crew is sorely in need of a good digger to help them bury a treasure and are in luck to discover Jeremy building a sandcastle on the beach. Jeremy becomes their willing captive; nobody tells pirates when to go to bed or take a bath or change into pajamas. But listeners and our young hero alike soon learn the negatives of pirate life: no bedtime stories, no tucking- in, no goodnight kisses.
Look Out, Jack! The Giant Is Back!
Ages: 4 - 8 yrs.
Author: Tom Birdseye Illustrator: Will Hillenbrand
Holiday House, Inc.
This wacky sequel to Jack and the Beanstalk brings us to the late giant's big brother, bent on recovering his sibling's bags of gold, hen that lays golden eggs, and harp that plays itself. Since he is "twice the size...ten times as nasty, and ugly as slug pie," it looks as though the odds are in his favor, but don't count on it.
The Tale of the Turnip
Ages: 4 - 8 yrs.
Author: Brian Alderson Illustrator: Fritz Wegner
Candlewick Press
An old-fashioned gem of a traditional English tale is stylishly retold by Brian Alderson. It concerns a turnip that just grows and grows and grows some more, and what the old farmer in whose field it appears decides to do with it.
Nursery Tales Around the World
Ages: 4 - 9 yrs.
Illustrator: Stefano Vitale Told By: Judy Siera
Houghton Mifflin /Clarion Books
A fine international selection of eighteen traditional tales retold with charm, richly illustrated in vibrant folk art styles that reflect the country of origin.
The Kingfisher Book of Fairy Tales
Ages: 4 & Up
Editor: Vivian French Illustrator: Peter Malonje
Larousse Kingfisher Chambers Inc.
It's hard to imagine a better selection of seven tales from the classic fairy-tale repertoire nor one so generously and sensitively illustrated. The author's retellings are leisurely, faithful and well suited to being read aloud - a full week's entertainment, one tale at bedtime each night.
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
Ages: 5 - 9 yrs.
Author: Eugene Trivizas Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Simon & Schuster/Aladdin Paperbacks
"Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves... who lived with their mother," begins this "fractured fairy tale," and the giggles don't cease till wolves and pig merrily play "pig-pog" and then "piggy-in-the-middle."
A Handful of Beans
Ages: 5 - 10 yrs.
Author: Jeanne Steig Illustrator: William Steig
Harper Collins
Irresistible both in content and format is this enticingly fat, small-size tome containing six of the most popular traditional fairy tales (Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince, and Jack and the Beanstalk). Rendered in Jeanne Steig’s folksy, witty and refreshingly contemporary prose, the stories have never seemed more timely or compelling.
How and Why Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read and Tell
Ages: 7 - 11 yrs.
Author: Martha Hamilton Author: Mitch Weiss
August House Audio
Tales from across the globe and through the ages explain such mysteries as why the sea is salty, why a bear has a stumpy tail and why babies say "goo". Each story’s brevity, background information and presentation tips – as well as a general section on telling stories and reference sources – make it easy and fun for children to learn the expressive, entertaining art form of story telling.
Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter
Ages: 9 & Up
By: Diane Stanley
HarperCollins/William Morrow
This tongue-in-cheek rendition of a popular fairy tale should delight all those children who thought Rumpelstiltskin got a raw deal in the original telling.
Folktales
Tasty Baby Belly Buttons
Ages: 4 & Up
Author: Judy Sierra Illustrator: Meilo So
Random House Children's Books/Knopf
The Japanese giants called oni kidnap babies for their favorite treat. They are outwitted, however, by the dauntless girl, Uriko. Wonderful pink-and-green hued watercolors boost this book into the "bound-to-be-a-favorite" realm.
Three Samurai Cats
Ages: 5 - 8 yrs.
Author: Eric A. Kimmel Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein
Holiday House, Inc.
An adaptation of a Japanese folktale in which a feudal lord seeks a samurai cat to rid his castle of a savage rat, but soon discovers that violence is not always the best way to accomplish things.
Noodlehead Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read And Tell
Ages: 7 - 12 yrs.
Author: Martha Hamilton Illustrator: Mitch Weiss
August House Publishers, Inc.
A collection of folktales from around the world, all featuring the character of the fool, with tips for telling the stories aloud, related activities, and source notes.
Story & Picture Books
Swine Lake
Ages: All Ages
Author: James Marshall Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Harper Collins
The hero/villain of this suspense-filled tale is a "lean and mangy" old wolf in dire need of a square meal. When he catches the delectable whiff of a pig, the famished wolf follows his nose to the New Hamsterdam Theater, where The Boarshoi Ballet is about to perform Swine Lake. From his box seat, the wolf leaps to the stage where he is mistaken for a new member of the ballet's cast.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!
Ages: 3 - 8 yrs.
Author: Jon Scieszka Illustrator: Lane Smith
Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers/Puffin Books
This is the wolf's side of the story - how he was baking a cake for his dear old granny and trotted off to borrow a cup of sugar from one silly pig who'd built his house out of straw, and one silly pig who'd built his house of sticks ... but it's Lane Smith's ironic virtuoso illustrations that make this more than just another fractured fairy tale.
The Twelve Princesses
Ages: 4 - 8 yrs.
Author: Gordon Fitchett Illustrator: Gordon Fitchett
Penguin Putnam Inc.
With a crisp, virtuoso use of colored pencil drawings, the Australian illustrator Gordon Fitchett has provided a handsome and compelling rendition of a tale by the Grimm brothers. Not for a minute do we question the artist's decision to portray the characters as geese, because that guise seems to suit the dozen silly princesses to a tee.
A Penny a Look: An Old Story
Ages: 4 - 8 yrs.
By: Harve Zemach By: Margot Zemach
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Two brothers set out to capture a one-eyed man to display in the marketplace.
Little Red Riding Hood
Ages: 5 - 8 yrs.
Author: Brothers Grimm Illustrator: Trina S. Hyman
Holiday House, Inc.
Full of the kind of detail that children linger over, the drawings in this classic tale delineate each object or creature with loving exactitude, from grandmother's teakettle to flowers that are botanically correct to the properly sly-looking wolf and his slavering tongue. The huntsman, the mother, the grandmother, and Riding Hood herself are very human, and the text has been simplified and pruned of archaisms so that contemporary children can relate to it.
The Jack Tales: Folk Tales from the Southern Appalachains
Ages: 9 - 12 yrs.
Author: Richard Chase
Houghton Mifflin Co.
A collection of folk tales from the southern Appalachians that center on a single character, the irrepressible Jack.
The Devil's Other Storybook
Ages: 9 - 12 yrs.
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
The Devil is back, just as full of vanity and other human feelings as he was in Natalie Babbitt's first collection, The Devil's Storybook. Includes ten new tales of the Devil's exploits in his own world and the world above.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Ages: 9 - 12 yrs.
Author: Louis Sachar Illustrator: Julie Brinckloe
HarperCollins Children's Books / HarperTrophy
On the 30th floor of the wacky Wayside School is Mrs. Jewl's class. Sharie falls asleep and rolls out the window. Joe counts all wrong and gets the right answer. Calvin is sent to the 19th floor to deliver a note, but there is no 19th story- the builder forgot it. This nutty world is built on the sort of playful twists of logic that kids love.
Short and Silly Poetic Stories
It's Raining Pigs & Noodles
Ages: All Ages
Author: Jack Prelutsky Illustrator: James Stevenson
HarperCollins Children's Books / Greenwillow
Delightfully antiauthoritarian and antiestablishment, Prelutsky is the unexcelled master of word-playing nonsense. His laugh-aloud poems are rude, disrespectful, annoying and perceptive. In a word, marvelous.
Dutch Sneakers and Flea Keepers: 14 More Stories
Ages: 4 & Up
Author: Calef Brown Illustrator: Calef Brown
Houghton Mifflin Co.
This collection of fourteen nonsense verses accompanied by zany full-page (and sometimes more) illustrations requires an audience of a certain sophistication. But adults and children alike will appreciate the inspired lunacy of wearing "Dutch Wooden Sneakers"—complete with laces. (Of course, it will help if the listener knows that Holland is the home of wooden shoes.) The right audience will find the book good fun.
The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders
Ages: 5 - 18 yrs.
Author: Jack Prelutsky Illustrator: Petra Mathers
HarperCollins Children's Books / Greenwillow
The prolific and talented Jack Prelutsky offers yet another collection of newly-minted nonsense verse. There's a fresh wrinkle in this volume: exotic place names of various cities and towns across the nation - Minneapolis, Winnemucca and El Paso, to name a few - figure in the rhymes.
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