Childrens stories play an important part in the development of pupils especially in social, aesthetic, cognitive and moral dimensions.

After reading through several childrens stories, we have decided that the story Snow White and Rose Red fit well under those aspects. The story is originally a German fairy tale, before it was adapted by the Brothers Grimm. The plot is straightforward with the two sisters helping a bear and later on the bear repay his gratitude by saving them from the wicked gnome. First of all, from the social aspect, the story shows the interaction between the characters and the way they conduct themselves toward others. Snow White and Rose Red are sisters and they are very nice to each other. They respect their mother and always help with the chores. These interactions teach the children to love their family and practice filial piety. It helps the children to develop their interpersonal intelligence as well as helping them understand the effect of their actions towards others. For example, by doing good to the bear, Snow White and Rose Red became friends with him. On the other hand, the wicked gnome was killed for his evil deeds towards the bear. This helps the children to understand that in society, doing good things is rewarding while doing bad things is unacceptable. Aesthetic development refers to the appreciation of art and beauty especially in the story itself or the message transmitted in it. We can see that the story shows the beauty of human interaction between the characters. In the story, the warmth of a family can be felt from how Snow White and Rose Red treat each other. The fantasy aspect of the story such as the gnome and the talking bear helps to improve the childrens creativity and imagination. The variation of the characters also give choices for the children for their favourite characters, such as the shy Snow White, the outgoing Rose Red, their loving mother, the ungrateful wicked gnome and the bear who also is a prince. The story ends with a happy ending thus making the children to feel good and rewarded as they read or hear it. All these provide plenty of ways for the children to appreciate and enjoy the story as true learning happens when they are motivated to learn. From cognitive aspect, the story should be easy to be understood as the plot is very straightforward. The story moves chronologically and does not rely on much plot

devices such as flashback. This may help children to comprehend the story in the correct sequence. The language used is also simple, suitable for the proficiency level of Year Two or Three pupils. The length of the story is also not too long so the children will less likely to lose focus. The simple sentences used in the story should help the children to read it without much difficulty. Therefore, the story should be able to provide enjoyable reading to the children with less trouble from the language barrier. Finally, the story provides plenty of moral values to be learnt by children. In the story, it shows how Snow White and Rose Red help the bear, a total stranger by inviting him into their home and provided food and warmth for him. In return, he saved both of them from the wicked gnome. This shows that doing good to others is a rewarding deed or how karma applies in our life. Doing good deed should be repaid with good, and doing evil will only bring retaliation. Another moral value that can be learnt from the story is not to judge a book by its cover. Snow White and Rose Red accepted the bear, who looked ugly and fierce without discriminating him. In the end it is revealed that he was a prince, cursed by the wicked gnome as a bear. This shows to children that we should not judge people at face value. In a classroom filled with multicultural pupils, this could help them to understand that the differences that they have does not matter but what is inside of them that does. Based on the reasons above, we decided that this story is suitable to be used in Year Two or Three classes as it includes the social, aesthetic, cognitive and moral aspects. As teachers, we should be vigilant in choosing stories for children in order to provide a meaningful learning for the pupils.