"The Tales of Broca Street": Children's Fairy Tales for the 21st Century

The best thing about the world of children is that it does not have a model that is built too solidly, does not have a stereotype that restricts imagination. While adults need a lot of time to “break the mold”, children just need to be themselves, carefree, innocent, with unlimited imagination, creating stories that only children can think of.

Broca’s Fairy Tales is such a liberating book. Published in 1967 and becoming a literary phenomenon throughout France, the book was highly appreciated by readers and critics for its unexpected plot, humor, and strange storytelling. This is a rare book in the children’s literature genre, when applying fairy tale elements in the heart of a modern city.

The work is attractive thanks to the application of fairy tale elements but tells stories with a modern feel.

Broca’s fairy tales stand out from other works of the genre thanks to their French sense of humor. Gone are the days when meaningful lessons for children had to be contained in solemn stories, with strange castles and soldiers guarding them. Broca’s setting is very simple, with characters that make us think… of our neighbors. The humor lies in the dialogues and the way unexpected situations are handled.

In particular, the work no longer follows the fairy tale model thanks to the book's "contribution" from children. More specifically, the plot was co-written by author Pierre Gripari and his "child collaborators". Told by children, the book has details that go beyond the imagination of adults. Still set in France, based on European historical events, but children have their own way of telling stories that adults cannot guess the ending of the story, not always "they lived happily ever after" as is often seen in fairy tales.

No matter how innovative it is, Broca's Fairy Tales is still an exemplary literary work for children because it meets all three factors: attractive - easy to understand - educational. The lessons from the book are very specific to modern society: about modern family, about labor, courage, kindness, friendship, love... rather than universal lessons about morality like in traditional fairy tales. Thanks to that, the stories stimulate children to think, connect the lessons to real life, as well as develop their imagination when observing daily events.

The translation of Broca's Tales into Vietnamese is by Nguyen Kan, a PhD in linguistics who has lived in France for a long time and understands French culture. Thanks to that, the work retains the atmosphere and storytelling style typical of France. In addition, with the characteristic illustrations by artist Nhu Quynh and the different arrangement of words to express the mischievous conversations, Broca's Tales leads readers into a magical world of witches, angels, little devils, and talking antiques, but in a very stylish, very modern "Parisian style".

QUYNH YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nhung-cau-chuyen-co-pho-broca-truyen-co-tich-danh-cho-tre-em-cua-the-ky-21-post788524.html