Reading is Magic: 2. Wishes

Who needs a wish giver?

Leading on from genies there is the magic of wishes. They allow us to hope for something even if in reality we know it is not likely to happen. 

Stories about wishes and how they can be used go far back as they appear in many folktales and fairytales that were first told, not written.

In many of the most popular stories about wishing, three wishes are granted. This allows for the chance to make a rash or “greedy” wish which may reflect the less than good side of a character’s nature; the chance to try to put that right by being more modest (which usually ends in something even worse) and a final wish where things go back to the beginning – more or less. 

The process leaves the wish-maker wiser and supposedly happier.  They have had a chance to experience their dream and found it has just as many downsides as the reality they know so well. 

The first story I remember from my childhood that had wishes in it was The Fisherman and the Three Wishes,  a Grimm fairytale. I didn't know about Aladdin until much later. When I started teaching nearly every teacher I knew was serialising The Magic Faraway Tree  or The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair by Enid Blyton to their class...plenty of wish fulfilment there.

When I started postgraduate study in Children's Literature I was introduced to Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig and despite being a product of its time, it is still a favourite.

These two books give you versions of the story about the fisherman and his wife.

This is a folktale from Japan where a poor flower seller drops his leftover flowers into the sea as a gift for the Dragon King. What does he get in return? A little snot-nosed boy--with the power to grant wishes! 

King Midas and the Golden Touch is a Greek myth where a King wishes everything he touches would turn to gold only to discover it is not as good as he thought it would be.

 

These four newer stories have three wishes to be granted!

Then three, where animals do the wishing.

And a short chapter book for those who want something longer.

Newly-qualified fairy, Cobweb is on a mission – she has lost a wish and must get it back! Dickon finds it and there is no limit to the number of times a lost wish may be used.