Using Local History in the Classroom Book

Inspired by a Christmas story devised for his daughters, Thackeray’s The Rose and The Ring is an old favourite. First published in 1854, subtitled “a fireside pantomime for great and small children,” it’s a wonderful parody of a traditional fairy tale, with a thinly-veiled satirical edge and a dash of macabre, gothic melodrama. The actions of disgruntled Fairy Blackstick, fed up with her royal godchildren growing up to be vain and frivolous, spark a complex chain of events across the kingdoms of Paflagonia and Crim Tartary, in which a princess is lost, a prince displaced, an ill-tempered princess gets her comeuppance, magical items transform the unlikeliest of individuals, and a pair of lions comes in handy. Thackeray’s plot machinations rival Shakespeare’s, and, as with Shakespeare’s comedies, all’s well that ends well. I love this one, it’s a marvellously entertaining, surprisingly gripping but light-hearted piece, enhanced by Thackeray’s delightful, humorous, original illustrations.