.the princess portal.

I love Carousels, the music and lights and beautiful rococo styling. Horses, swans, strange fantasy steeds. No amusement ride could be more enchanting. A Link Carousel is something a little different though, it is a rotating series of links to interesting websites and articles provided regularly on a blog, and I’ve decided to start one for Princess Portal. The theme for this week’s Carousel is Fairy Tales.

Making Fairy Tales from Personal Stories
I found this article really interesting! Its about a method of creating Fairy Tales from personal experiences as a way of dealing with them and coming to better understand the emotions and meanings of your own stories. Fairy Tales use a lot of powerful metaphors and I wonder sometimes, how many of our traditional tales may have started off this way. The author refers to having a coach to help you with the process, but I think it would be feasible to try on your own too.

The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault
Many of the famous Fairy Tales we know today were first published in Charles Perrault’s Mother Goose Tales. His are in most cases my favourite versions of the tales, being both beautifully described and set in a world that was full of enchantment and royal splendour. His tales all have Morals, and tend to be a little more refined than some of the folk tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. You can also read his works in French here.

The Art of Kinuko Y. Craft
Of my favourite artists, K. Y. Craft would easily place among the top five. I first saw her work as a little girl, reading a picture book of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, wonderously illustrated by her. Even still, it is her images that come to mind when I think of this story, each work is laced with secrets, enchantment and something ethereal that I can’t quite name. If you ever get the chance to look at one of her picture books, it is well worth the time.

The Storyteller Series
Jim Henson’s little known series of Fairy Tale adaptions. They are a bit dark, a bit fey and very magical indeed. There are only nine stories in the original series and my favourite is Sapsorrow. The artistry of these productions is quite remarkable, considering they were made in the days before CG. Some of the tales may be a little scary for younger children. If you enjoy these previews please buy the DVDs and support the studio that made them!

SurLaLune Fairy Tales
This Carousel would not be complete without a link to the wonderful SurLaLune. This is one of my favourite websites ever, here you will find the history, interpretations, illustrations and adaptions of our most beloved tales. Many of the versions on the site are from Andrew Lang’s series of Fairy Books which are also well worth reading if you can find copies. If you’re ever curious about the origins of a tale, there is no better place to look!

Occaisionally we Princesses have the urge to leave our palaces and explore the big wide world. I think its a wonderful fun to go to new places and try new things so some days I dedicate to having adventures. These are always unplanned, of the whim type journeys and I discover exciting new places and have interesting experiences on the way.

A note on travel, I usually catch public transport on my adventures because it adds that element of the unknown, but I’m pretty experienced with this and not too worried about getting lost. If you are too young to travel by yourself or unfamiliar with the transport system please find a guardian to take with you on your adventures. If you are lucky enough to drive your own carriage you can just head off in a direction and see where it takes you!

• Be prepared! Make sure to pack everything you might need on your journey. This could include water and snacks, money for food and transport, a parasol, umbrella or coat depending on the weather, a book to read on the train, a camera and a cell phone. Sometimes I like to take Eclair or Parfait to keep me company.

• Choose a direction. If you are in a city you have lots of options to choose from, if you live in the country you might like to have a walking adventure instead but you can explore forests and hills and fields which we city folk miss out on. Perhaps you will simply choose North, South East or West. Otherwise there might be a suburb or town you’d like to explore.

• Just go! Don’t worry too much about planning things, but I would suggest devoting an entire day to the exploit and having a general idea of when you are coming home so you know you won’t miss the last train or make anyone at home worry.

• Stop wherever you feel might be interesting, get out of the car or off the train and start walking. You might find some interesting shops, I love discovering little cultural shops, recently I found a Polish delicatessen that also sold Polish magazines! Maybe you will find somewhere nice to buy lunch or a little park to eat in. I also enjoy checking out any local antique or curio stores where wonderful treasures may be found. The main point is to see new places and look at things you might not normally allow yourself time for on a planned excursion.

• Talk to strangers! Yes, it goes against everything we’re taught, but I think with a little caution and foresight one can distinguish between a danger and just being friendly. I’ve met lovely old gentlemen in parks who have told me stories of their youth, shared a bowl of strawberries with shop girls and played ball with a group of children. I love making friends with people for a day, even if I may never see them again.

I hope you have lots of fun on your adventures, don’t forget to take home some photos or a small souvenier to remember them by! You might also like to read these Guidelines for Fairy-tale Journeys.