This tale about invisible clothes carries far more substantive messages about reputation, conformity, and lies The post The Emperor’s New Clothes: A Transparent Message about Transparent Threads first appeared on SWW. The post The Emperor’s New Clothes: A Transparent Message about Transparent Threads appeared first on SWW ..read more

So I realized something this week: this is my four-year anniversary of this blog and also my one hundredth article on Snow White Writes. Hard to believe, but true. In honor of this big milestone, I figured it was a good day to write about numbers. Specifically the symbolism of numbers in fairy tales because… The post The Most Magical Numbers in Fairy Tales first appeared on SWW. The post The Most Magical Numbers in Fairy Tales appeared first on SWW ..read more

“After I have eaten up my cat, and made myself a muff from his skin, I must then die of hunger.” The cat, who heard all this, but pretended otherwise, said to [his master] with a grave and serious air, “Do not be so concerned, my good master. If you will but give me a bag, and have a pair of boots made for me, that I may scamper through the dirt and the brambles, then you shall see that you are not so poorly off with me as you imagine.” “Puss in Boots,” Charles Perrault Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE cats. I can’t even say exactly why. Maybe because cats are the perfect combinatio ..read more

[Cinderella] first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the prince, who gave her the golden shoe. She sat down on a stool, pulled her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, and it fitted her perfectly. “Aschenputtel,” Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm I noticed something recently: fairy tales have a singular fascination with shoes. Maybe it’s unobservant of me to not have seen this sooner. But after writing about The Twelve Dancing Princesses, it occurred to me just how many fairy tales feature magical shoes. We have the world-famous glass slippe ..read more

I’ve mentioned before that the Twelve Dancing Princesses is on my top ten list of favorite fairy tales. And there are many reasons why. I grew up watching Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre and loved her charming adaptation of this story. Beyond that, many elements of this tale have always intrigued me. Twelve princesses all in the same family? A mystery of dancing shoes that wear out overnight every night? A brave suitor with an invisibility cloak? A clandestine ball at an underground castle? Truly, what’s not to love? But the Original Twelve Dancing Princesses Is Also . . . Odd I’m not sur ..read more

It’s been decades since the classic fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk has even crossed my mind. But I certainly remember all the good parts: spontaneously growing vines, magic kingdoms in the clouds, a hen that lays golden eggs, and the terror of a giant’s approaching footsteps. I was excited to dive into the original text of this adventure story to find out exactly how much I’d forgotten. Now that I’ve reread it, I can say with certainty . . . Jack Is Kind of the Worst Truly. This is the shallowest fairy tale I think I’ve analyzed so far on Snow White Writes. And that’s mostly because the mai ..read more

Well folks, it’s that time of year again for chocolate and valentines. Also the time when everyone who isn’t in a relationship questions everything about their lives and everyone IN relationships questions all their overblown expectations. But in all seriousness, I’m a fully recovered Valentine’s Day hater who now enjoys this holiday every year with my gorgeous husband. That being said, I totally get why many (or most?) people despise this holiday. Zero judgment from me. And despite now enjoying February 14, I still approach our culture’s demanding expectations of romance with a healthy dose o ..read more

There’s a famous quote out there from Scottish author George MacDonald: “All mirrors are magic mirrors.” And I don’t think George was wrong. Mirrors are capable of creating mind-bending optical illusions, making rooms look bigger, and even generating infinite images. Seeing your own reflection can be a pretty uncanny experience, one that most of us are desensitized to. Everyone can afford a mirror these days, but mirrors were once an expensive luxury owned only by the rich. This combination of rareness and mystique is probably why magic mirrors have become such a hallmark of storytelling—and s ..read more

So big announcement: I had a baby! My daughter, Juliet, was born just over a month ago, and her arrival has turned my life upside down in the most wild and wonderful way imaginable. I was so stressed out about becoming a parent that it never even occurred to me that this new era might be awesome. Hard and very sleep deprived? Of course. But also the best! Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would ever blog again after having a baby, but here we are, already reclaiming some of the activities I enjoy. I’m surprised, but also satisfied. Obviously parenting is on my mind day and night lately, so I’d ..read more

Newsflash: I haven’t been getting much sleep lately. Being nine months pregnant and perpetually anxious will do that, but instead of dwelling on my sleepless nights, I’d rather write about a particular Danish fairy tale that features another woman who seriously can’t sleep. Sleeping Beauty’s polar opposite, if you will. Of course I’m referring to “The Princess and the Pea” by the venerable Hans Christian Andersen. I’ve adored this story from a young age. Its distinct imagery and kooky premise is just delightful, and this story has many, many fantastic adaptations. But today, let’s dive into th ..read more