Sweden:
Selma Lagerlof, a Swedish writer wrote many wonderful Swedish fairy tales for children around the turn of the century. One of her books, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson, published in 1909 was likened to Hans Christian Anderson. A very popular book of "Scandinavian culture of which reflects many of the traditional values of Scandinavian culture, such us love for nature, tolerance and playful learning. As a geography reader for elementary schools, Nils Holgersson's adventures transmit information to the children through interest, imagination and humour. As Nils travels over Sweden, children became familiar with the nature, climate, geography and culture, learning at the same time the importance of friendship, tolerance, and the belief in a good world." ~ Scandinavica.com.
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson with illustrations and without(downloadable version).
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson with illustrations and without(downloadable version).
Shorter adapted selections from The Adventures of Nils from Children's Readers with discussion questions:
Jarro the Wild Duck, seventh grade.
The Story of Jarro, sixth grade.
Quotation lesson from The Essentials of English: Jarro the Duck
Hatto the Hermit, seventh grade.
The Elf from Evenings with Grandpa(not a reader), there is a bit of a discussion and built up before grandpa begins the story.
The Winston Readers, four stories, third grade.
More from Selma Lagerlof:
Christ Legends (elementary - middle school)
The Outlaws(high school)
Other Swedish stories:
For the Story Teller: Story Telling and Stories to Tell: The Cap that Mother Made. Elementary school.
Norway:
By author Peter Asbjornsen:
The Queen at the Bottom of the Sea, Little Fred and His Fiddle and, The Cock and the Fox(elementary school)
Winston Third Grade Reader: The Little Ram and the Pig and East of the Sun West of the Moon, pages 112 - 123.Third grade reader: The Princess Whom Nobody Could Silence.Lesson plan.
Finland:
Snowdrops, Finland idyls for children
Whisperings in the wood, Finland idyls for children
Finnish Legends for English Children by R. Eivind
Whisperings in the wood, Finland idyls for children
Finnish Legends for English Children by R. Eivind
Denmark:
Iceland:
The Yellow Fairy Book: PRINCE RING, WITCH IN STONE BOAT, and HERMOD AND HADVOR More under Andrew Lang's Fairy Tale Index(below).
Icelandic Legends
Icelandic Legends
Collections of Scandinavian tales:
Riverside Third Grade reader: The Farmer and the Hill-Man
Andrew Lang's Fairy Tales Index: Europe
Folk-Lore and Legends; Scandinavian
Popular Tales from the Norse
Viking Tales(elementary school)
All are free and in public domain. Printing Google Books: Follow the link, right click on the image of the page and print picture. It will print as a full sized page. Entire books are also downloadable.
What we(fourth grade) do with our printable stories:
- Underline all unfamiliar words
- Use dictionary to write definitions
- Write summary of story
- Proofread, correct and discuss
Easy and fun!
