Happy Ever Afters - disability awareness in children's storybooks - based on the book Happy Ever Afters.
DICSEY Example - a picture book for older readers
Celebrate the International Day of Disabled Persons with a Russian Folk Tale!
Masha and the Firebird retold by Margaret Bateson-HilI and illustrated by Anne Wilson. Includes Russian poem in the Cyrillic alphabet by Michael Sarni 1999
Published by Zero to Ten Ltd. ISBN 1-84089-134-3 (Zero to Ten is at 48 Chalvey Road East, Slough, Berks, SL1 2LR, UK)
The Firebird guards the eggs of the Four Elements of Earth, Water, Air and Fire. It asks Masha to paint the eggs to help protect them from Baba Yaga, the witch.
This traditional Russian Folk tale presents a good example of using images of physical appearance and implied character to represent good and evil. The story can be used to discuss Disability, Image, Control, Society, Enable and Young Carers.
If needed, a quick link to 'An Introduction to the DICSEY Code' is here.
The Firebird protects the basic elements of life.
Question: Why doesn' t Firebird want Baba Yaga to have the eggs? Answer: They both want the power that owning the eggs will bring to them. Question: What could they do with that power? Answer: Anything, without regard for anyone else. The process of choosing who controls our society could be discussed, looking at the needs and responsibilities of individuals to the wider community and vice versa.
Masha is afraid of Baba Yaga.
Question: What gives Firebird and Baba Yaga their fnendly or fearsome image? Answer: Firebird appears as a source of warmth, light and comfort in the depth of a gloomy forest. Its opponent, personified as Baba Yaga has an image of hostile, overwhelming physical power from her massive size and iron teeth in a cavernous mouth. Her evil prowess is shown by her house, a symbol of security, jumping around on a chicken's leg. In a different context, Firebird could be burning down the forest with Baba Yaga's strength and size fighting to save nature. Here, physical appearance is associated with a character that helps to tell the story. It is an example of the ' short-cuts' or stereotypes that storytellers use in traditional folk and fantasy stories.
It was very hard for Masha to help Firebird
She was worried that she would not be able to save the eggs because the responsibility was too great for her to manage on her own. For young people, the effect of having close family or friends who are disabled or ill can range from being a positive benefit to imposing a significant disadvantage, depending on individual circumstances. When the impact of disability in the family adversely effects the young person's welfare, disrupts their education or their ability to socialise on a par with their peers, they are called Young carers. Community support of the family and the young person's school life should include a specific consideration of their practical and emotional needs.
The animals enabled Masha to get over the obstacles
The wolf, eagle and fish, were experts in their own environments but Masha was disabled by the brambles, water and fog. Question: What would have enabled Masha to travel independently? Answer: Her community could have cleared a smooth path through the brambles, built a bridge over the stream and installed adequate lighting. This would have helped everybody. Question: How can animals enable us to perform tasks in different ways? Answer: We can use their strength, eg horses or elephants, or their stamina, eg sledge-dogs, or their senses, eg guide or hearing dogs and sniffer dogs, and their voices, eg geese used for guarding premises.
Above all, let children enjoy the story!
International Day of Disabled Persons information
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© K. Saunders 2000/2001