How to Write a Reimagined Fairy Tale by TIna Cho

Like many of you, I grew up listening to fairy tales. And even more fun for me as a teacher is sharing my love of fairy tales with my kindergartners. In fact, one of our common core literacy standards is to compare and contrast stories. So, I especially like reading the original story to them and then sharing all the fun retellings. For example, we read The Three Little Pigs, and then I share my author friends’ spin on the story: The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz, illustrated by Dan Santat and It’s Not the Three Little Pigs by Josh Funk, illustrated by Edwardian Taylor.

Fairy tales with a twist are often referred to as fractured fairy tales. But I don’t like that description. Fractured means broken, something destroyed. These stories are far from that. Instead, I’m going to refer to them as reimagined. Using one’s imagination, how can you put a twist and make it fresh and new?

In my Storystorm 2022 idea notebook, I scribbled down idea #10 for one of my favorite fairy tales to teach, The Princess and the Pea. I wrote on the page: “The Princess and the Rice.” I ran the idea by my agent in June. She loved it and wanted a draft in the next month! Five months later and many revisions back and forth with my critique groups and agent, it went out on submission. The VERY next day we had a bite. Editor Grace Kendall of Farrar, Strauss, Giroux (FSG), an imprint of Macmillan really liked it because she loved watching Korean dramas. Who knew there would be an editor out there who loved all things Korea and even lived there for a summer?! (Note to writers: you never know what an editor’s interests and experiences are, so submit!!) Grace asked for an R&R (revise & resubmit). Three months later, we had an offer! And the lovely Honee Jang illustrated it. Look for her interview next time.

Here are some ideas to write your own reimagined fairy tale:

    1. Make a list of your favorite fairy tales as a kid.

To jog your memory:
Wikipedia has a running list
Popular fairy tales

   2. Change the setting.

Instead of a Western/European castle setting, I set my princess in olden-day Korea, during the Joseon period (1392-1910). Instead of a castle, it’s a real Korean palace. 

    3. Change an important object in the story.

Instead of a nasty pea (I very much dislike peas), I changed it to a grain of rice, more fitting for my setting. Also, I changed the mattresses the princess sleeps on to blankets because in olden Korea, they slept on the floor using thick blankets. 

    4.Change some characters. Swap some out for others that fit your setting.

In one of my earlier drafts, I had the usual king and queen looking for a princess for their prince. However, to make this story updated for our times, we (critique groups, agent, & editor) deleted the king, gave the princess and queen more agency, and made the prince mellow. I also inserted a mouse, not any mouse, a Korean field mouse which used to be revered in the culture of the day, go figure.

    5. Slightly change the plot to fit the setting.

After doing lots of background research of Joseon princesses, I discovered a princess Jeongson (I changed her spelling to Jeongsoon so Americans will pronounce it correctly). She actually went through a princess challenge to become the next queen for a very old monarch. (I won’t get into that tangent right now.) In olden-day Korea, there really was a competition in which noble girls would apply and flock to the palace. They would compete in etiquette, outward and inner beauty, and wisdom. BINGO! This fit nicely into the standard Princess and the Pea plot. I could just add a sleeping test on 100 blankets for another princess challenge! Do you see how I kept the main plot but changed some of the details? You still want the story to be recognizable.

    6. Add humor.

Everyone loves to laugh, from the child to the adult reading the story. Humor lightens a heavy message in a plot. And fairy tales can be heavy emotionally. Classic fairy tales have good versus evil—the wolf, the witch, an evil stepmother, etc… Children process these concepts and apply them to their own problems. So, adding in humor to lighten a scene adds to the loveable qualities of these stories! In my story, my characters fumble and tumble! Literally.

    7. Add layers to the story—emotional, cultural, thematic.

In my story, Jeongsoon, who has a heart as gentle as jade, wants to become a princess so she can help feed the hungry people in her village. But she’s a little clumsy. However, she stays true to herself to win the vote of the queen. Obviously, there are also cultural Korean details in the story. There’s also a theme of identity. The author’s note alludes to this. Growing up, I nor my daughter, had books or movies with Korean princesses. Disney princess movies had white princesses at the time. And to this day, there isn’t a Disney Korean princess. Maybe someday! So, I want readers, especially Asian kids, to see themselves in this story. There’s another theme—what does it take to become a princess? Certainly, it can’t be based on looks. What does inner beauty look like?

My daughter--Princess Anna 

    8. Add entry points or selling points for marketing.

I recently learned of this term “entry points” from my wonderful agent. This term refers to all the ways the marketing team could market your book. The more the merrier and hopefully more sales! For example, The Princess and the Grain of Rice could be marketed as a princess book. Just having “princess” in the title is high concept, IMO. It’s also marketed as a fairy tale, which teachers and librarians will love. It’s also a diverse story, especially in Asian books. It could be marketed as historical fiction because it shows the Joseon era of Korea. I just looked on Amazon. They even have it marked in the “children’s values” section. As I referred to earlier, what does inner beauty look like?

    9. Add an author’s note and backmatter if needed.

If you use a real setting and time in history like I did, you’ll want to write back matter on the real places and people mentioned in the story. Plus, to my surprise, my editor even added a photo of my family at the princess’s gravesite. *Note, when we lived in Korea, we would go to these huge cemeteries because of their beauty and serenity, the green GRASS that was hard to find in an overcrowded Korea, and the openness of nature. Little did I know I would someday be writing about the very princess-turned-queen on whose ground my children played on!

    10.Add a catchy title that alludes to the original.

The Princess and the Grain of Rice it is! And the title alone sold the idea to my agent.

 

And there you have it! My 10 ideas for writing a reimagined fairy tale. What are your favorite fairy tales? Share in the comments! And if you have more tips, add yours!

Author Tina Cho with her young kids at a Korean palace in Seoul 2012

Tina Cho is a kindergarten teacher and author of many books including Rice from Heaven, The Ocean Calls, (4 starred reviews JLG, Freeman Honor Award), God’s Little Oceanographer, the forthcoming The Princess & the Grain of Rice (Feb. 10th), and The Kimchi Fridge (Oct. 6th). Her graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow received five starred reviews, a JLG Gold Standard Selection, SLJ Best Graphic Novels List 2024, Kirkus Best Middle Grade 2024, Freeman Book Honor Award from NCTAsia, SCBWI Golden Kite Award, state lists, etc… 

You can visit her website at www.tinamcho.com 

The Princess & the Grain of Rice is available!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have We Done Enough? Diversity in Children's Lit by Tina Cho

Note: I’m writing this from a mom, teacher, and author’s perspective.

            December 19, 2023, my 18-year-old son, a freshman in college, faced racial discrimination by two high schoolers at our local YMCA, where he has been a member over the past few years. He reported it to the person at the front desk, who alerted the owner/boss. Aside from her filing a report with her supervisor and just talking to the boys, I don’t think anything was done.

            My sister said my niece, an 8^th grader, who is half Korean, but doesn’t look Asian, receives racial discrimination daily at her school, such as a book being thrown in her face. I asked why she doesn’t report it. “It will make matters worse,” I was told.

            As a mom (and aunt), I’m outraged. How can racial discrimination still be going on, especially among youth? Just turn on the news, and we’ll all see it sadly is.

            Putting on my teacher hat, (I’m a kindergarten teacher at a public school), I’ve seen over the past years, literature slowly changing. More books showing people of color have been published. Yay! Librarians have been challenged to check the number of books on their shelves featuring white characters versus people of color. However, many diverse books seem to focus more on a cultural holiday or how to say someone’s name, rather than just a regular story that happens to have a diverse cast of children. In my classroom, I read lots of books that feature children of color, especially those represented in my class, so kids can not only see themselves, but to make diversity the norm. I saw evidence of this when a couple of my Caucasian students drew their parents with Crayola’s skin-colored crayons, but colored dark skin. Ha!

            The same day my son faced discrimination, in my inbox was the listing of acquired books in Publisher’s Weekly’s Children’s Bookshelf. I read through the picture book section, and noticed that most picture books listed had animal characters. How can we teach diversity if most children’s books feature animal characters? Don’t get me wrong—my kindergartners and I love reading books with animals. But, if we want students to accept each other, they need to see children of color in books, not just animals. (And I know, reporting in PW isn't a total representation of books, and some reportings were acquired long ago.) 

Data: There were 9 picture books listed in the weekly list.

4/9 or 44% featured animals.

2/9 or 22% featured white characters as far as I could tell.

1/9 or 11% featured a black character.

2/9 or 22% featured Asian characters (but like I said, they seem to be holiday or folklore themed, not about current life).

Now, putting on my author hat, I say, we’re not done in this area. Sure, a lot more diverse books books have published over the years. You can see stats for 2022 from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center here. I don’t think the 2023 data is available yet. And Scientific American has a recent article titled, “Are Children’s Books Improving Representation?” My advice to illustrators is—please don’t change an author’s characters to animals. Instead, illustrate with a diverse cast of races. My advice to authors, especially those of color, not only write stories about your culture’s traditions, holidays, and folklore, but also current everyday life stories that feature a family/character of color. Teachers need books showcasing diversity for all different topics, not just when it comes to holidays, etc… A good read is “Teachers Push for Books with More Diversity, Fewer Stereotypes” in Education Week. I appreciate Instagrammer & video creator Maya Lê of Maistorybooklibrary who showcases children’s books with people of color in themed topics as well as other Instagram reviewers who highlight these books. Thank you so much for what you do for educators and parents.

From Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream speech”:  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. 

I'm thankful my forthcoming picture book, God's Little Astronomer, features characters of color in a nonfiction book. More about that later, in another post. 

Thank you, Grog Readers, for sticking with us. Please support people of color creators by checking out their books (or buying them) and sharing them on social media, reading them to your kids and grandkids and students.

And if you haven't yet, please subscribe to our blog in the blue box at the top right side of this site! Thank you!

Tina Cho is first a teacher of 20 years with a master's degree. She is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans (Little Bee Books 2018), Korean Celebrations (Tuttle 2019), My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God around the World (Harvest House 2020), The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story (Kokila/Penguin Random House 2020), God’s Little Astronomer (Waterbrook 2/20/2024) & God’s Little Oceanographer 2025. Her lyrical middle grade graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, debuts from Harper Alley (11/12/2024). After living in South Korea for ten years, Tina, her husband, and two kids reside in Iowa where Tina also teaches kindergarten. 

How to Turn Your Vacation into a Star Story by Tina Cho

Yesterday (August 4th) was the book birthday of The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story published by Kokila, illustrated by Jess X. Snow, my 4th picture book. It’s the end of summer, and I want to encourage you Grog Blog readers to turn your curiosities and vacations into stories! Then your vacations can be tax deductible, hehe.

An 83 year old haenyeo & me

So, it all started with a tweet I read on Twitter in 2016 about the haenyeo. Here I was living in South Korea, and I had never heard of them! They are diving women off the coast of Jeju Island, the southern tip of Korea. They are unique because they don’t use breathing equipment, and most of them are over 50 years of age. Some are in their 80s. 

I scoured the Internet for everything I could read and watch about these fascinating mermaids of the sea. I wrote a first draft. This draft was pure nonfiction, and I thought Highlights Magazine would be interested. I was correct. They were interested, but they wanted more sensory details and quotes. Ugh. No sale.

Jeju Island

I asked my husband how far Jeju was from where we lived, how much it would cost to fly there, etc… It turned out to be a cheap ticket & 30 minute flight. This would be our spring break vacation. I could research haenyeo. I dragged took my family to every haenyeo spot around the island. I took photos, talked to them, and even visited the haenyeo museum. When I returned home, I wrote a new story, this one fictional with a haenyeo grandmother teaching her granddaughter the tradition. The story went through 9 drafts with my critique groups. My agent sold it to Kokila, a new imprint of Penguin Random House in 2018. Since then, we’ve flown back to Jeju for spring break 2019 and snapped more photos for the illustrator, Jess X. Snow. I also found haenyeo in Busan, a large city on the southern tip of Korea and was able to take photos of them.

intergenerational theme

My advice for turning your vacation into a star story:

1. Plan your vacations around your curiosities and places you are interested in.

Canola among the volcanic rocks

2. Write down detailed sensory notes. Because I was able to watch the haenyeo firsthand, I could hear their special breathing called sumbisori which sounds like “hoowi,” when they exhale all their held-in breath. You will find that several times in my book. I took photos of the landscapes and shared them with the illustrator. Off the sandy shores were fields of bright yellow canola flowers and volcanic rocks. Jess did a beautiful job showing it! This is my favorite scene.

my favorite spread

3. Find a way to tell your story using your vacation as the backdrop. You can write nonfiction, or like me, fictionalize it but keep it based on something true.

4. Take lots and lots of photos and videos. You never know when an editor or illustrator will need them. I took photos of locals’ houses, and when invited inside a haneyo spot, I took more photos. 

Haenyeo spot in Busan, South Korea

5. Talk to the locals. Get their perspective on things.

6. Find the uniqueness of your vacation story. My uniqueness is the haenyeo themselves. I couldn’t find any English children’s books about them. 

7. Find a way to relate your story to today’s generation of kids. In my story the main character is afraid to swim & dive in deep water. She also learns something new from her grandmother. And many kids nowadays are trying new things since they have been home-bound.

8. Add layers of themes. My story showcases women and girls who are strong and courageous, attune to nature, with an intergenerational thread, the passing of tradition and culture, in a caring sisterhood of community.

9. Make sure it has a snazzy title that gives a hint about the story and snags an agent or editor. Add back matter if appropriate.

10. Send it to your critique group(s). I belong to 3. And they each chimed in with different perspectives and advice.

The Ocean Calls garnered 4 stars—from Kirkus, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, & School Library Journal. It’s also a Junior Library Guild selection.

Me in South Korea

Bio: Tina Cho is the author of four picture books-- Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans (Little Bee Books August 2018), Korean Celebrations (Tuttle August 2019), My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God around the World ( Harvest House June 2, 2020), and The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story (Kokila/Penguin Random House Aug. 4, 2020). Her lyrical middle grade graphic novel, The Tune Without Words, debuts from Harper Alley in 2023. On July 22nd, she and her family flew across the ocean to start a new life back in the states. Korea will always be part of their home.