Folktales

Pancakes symbolize family love. My step-father used to pour the batter into animal shapes on Saturday mornings when we were small until my jealous mother put a stop to it. The kitchen was HER domain. 

In the book I just read, Blackbird, by Jennifer Lauck, the folk tale Snow White recurred and soothed her through all of her childhood trials.

Rapunzel, Snow White, and Cinderella were compelling stories for me as a child. We had recordings of them (on vinyl!) and I would play them over and over. I loved the poison combs and poisoned apples. It all made perfect sense to me, encoded messages and warnings about the jealous siblings and adults.

In college I took a course about folk tales. As an adult I have a number of collections. I still can't get enough of them. I have discovered that folktales are TRUE!!