Author Archives: Wowospot

A Story about Ogre | Little Thumb | Mother Goose Fairytale(III)

When it comes to spooky stories, we often think of strange creatures living in the deep forests, unknown mysteries hidden in abandoned houses, dangers lingering in the darkness in the woods….

My early memories of spooky stories were all about ghosts. When I was a toddler, my father and my grandmother used to tell ghost stories, in the living room, after dinner time. Me and my brother and sister would hold our blankets, wide-eyed, listening to the stories, so quietly. Interestingly, ghosts in oriental culture are conceived in a much more serious way. We would worship spirits on the “ghost day” and avoid going out to catch anything unwanted on July 7, on the lunar calendar, the spirit day.

Spooky stories do not seem to be out of fashion at any time in history. When I am trying to find a tale that is scary, chidren friendly and classic, I am glad to find “Little Thumb” from Mother Goose Fairytale book.

The bad guy in the tale is mainly the Ogre. The hero? Little thumb, a brave and smart little boy. Let’s take a good look at this story!

A Story about Ogre | Little Thumb | Mother Goose Fairytale(II)

When it comes to spooky stories, we often think of strange creatures living in the deep forests, unknown mysteries hidden in abandoned houses, dangers lingering in the darkness in the woods….

It is Halloween today in Canada. Children are dressed up with their favorite costumes, going out knocking door to door to “trick or treat”. We see every house creatively decorated with ghost themes: a human hand sticking out from the grass, witches and spiders, bats, monsters and wolves howling.

My early memories of spooky stories were all about ghosts. When I was a toddler, my father and my grandmother used to tell ghost stories, in the living room, after dinner time. Me and my brother and sister would hold our blankets, wide-eyed, listening to the stories, so quietly. Interestingly, ghosts in oriental culture are conceived in a much more serious way. We would worship spirits on the “ghost day” and avoid going out to catch anything unwanted on July 7, on the lunar calendar, the spirit day.

Spooky stories do not seem to be out of fashion at any time in history. When I am trying to find a tale that is scary, chidren friendly and classic, I am glad to find “Little Thumb” from Mother Goose Fairytale book.

The bad guy in the tale is mainly the Ogre. The hero? Little thumb, a brave and smart little boy. Let’s take a good look at this story!

A Story about Ogre | Little Thumb | Mother Goose Fairytale (I)

When it comes to spooky stories, we often think of strange creatures living in the deep forests, unknown mysteries hidden in abandoned hourses, dangers lingering in the darkness in the woods….

It is Halloween today in Canada. Children are dressed up with their favorite costumes, going out knocking door to door to “trick or treat”. We see every house creatively decorated with ghost themes: a human hand sticking out from the grass, witches and spiders, bats, monsters and wolves howling.

Mother Goose Fairytale | Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood is one of my favorite stories when I was a kid. I believe the story was told in Chinese when I first learned about it. To my surprise Little Red Riding Hood is part of the Mother Goose Fairytale collected by French author Charles Perrault in 1696. This tells us Little Red Riding-hood is a folklore tale that has been passed on from generation to generation.

Mother Goose Fairytale: Cinderella

I remember browsing in a downtown bookstore in Taipei with my mother when I was about eleven and was fascinated by a box set of classic fairytale books. I was so happy that my mother bought the box set for me that contained the most amazing stories including Sleeping Beauty, Litte Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and of course Cinderella.

Pages and pages of colorful illustrations and characters that were foreign and imaginary brought me to another world that was full of magics and wonders. The princes and princesses, the big bad wolf and the little girl, the cursed princess, the fairies and the unfortunate girl who turned into a woman who married the prince, and the glass slippers. Oh! so amazing.

Hickory Dickory Dock | fun English nursery rhyme

When I first heard Hickory Dickory Dock, it was when I taught my five-year-old daughter to play the piano. I was intrigued by the cute mouse who ran up the clock with the clicking and came down with the sound of the clock striking every hour.

What a wonderful way to teach young children about numbers, with literature and music combined in an imaginary story!

Jasmine Flowers | Chinese Folk Song adapted in Puccini’s opera Turandot

Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini’s hit opera Turandot (杜蘭多) adapted the tune of a very popular Chinese folk song Jasmine Flowers (茉莉花). I imagine Jasmine Flowers worked as a perfect material for Puccini to portray the princess as an oriental beauty.

Momotaro | Peach Boy | an iconic Japanese folk song | the lyrics, story and music

Momotaro is an iconic Japanese folk song that my father and my grandmother can sing to this day.

I grew up in Taiwan where Japanese culture is prevalent. The Chinese Chin dynasty lost the the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895 and ceded Taiwan islands to Japan. As a result, Japan had ruled Taiwan for fifty years until the new, modern China won the World War Two in 1945. Under this historical background, many elder people in Taiwan are fluent in Japanese and still remember the Japanese folk song Momotaro they learned to sing as a kid.