Once upon a time… This evocative opening phrase instantly promises to transport us to a world of wonder and enchantment, with the power to create nostalgic memories. Some of us perhaps had a grandparent, parent or friendly aunt tell us stories when we were young.

Orally transmitted stories passed down through the ages by telling and retelling are a rich cultural resource and repository of wisdom that have fascinated and influenced young minds over centuries. They can also be an exciting resource for joint reading in the home to promote the development of children’s language and literacy skills.

A systematic review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries showed that having books in the home is an important factor tied to the home language and literacy environment that impacts children's literacy development. More recently, a meta-analysis by the same research group showed books at home to be a significant predictor of children’s language and literacy skill development.

A survey we conducted on home learning environments in the Udupi district in the southern Indian state of Karnataka gives a unique insight into story reading in children’s lives in the 21^st century as it was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

This survey was completed with 52 children ages 4 to 7 (a little over half being girls). Children were attending schools run by the church, run by temples and were low fee, or run by the government with no tuition fees.

The Udupi district has been known for excellent school enrollment, school completion rates and an average adult literacy level of 93%. Despite this, the survey found only 3 out 52 children had access to books at home, including children’s magazines, picture books, activity books and short stories books.

This disparity is consistent with another study conducted in the same region before the COVID-19 pandemic that found 86% of the 100 homes surveyed had less than 10 children's books.

An obvious recommendation from these findings is to support parents to bring more story books into the home. These could be books they buy or books they borrow from school and public libraries. But which ones?

Why should we promote traditional stories in storybooks?

Oral traditional stories are an essential part of preserving rich local cultures. In a place like Udupi, local culture is infused with vibrant multilingualism and traditions of diverse communities.

When traditional tales become books, the familiar language from oral storytelling can become richer and more formal when written down, exposing children to new vocabulary.

When we delivered a folktales-inspired intervention, we used common words found in an audio corpus of folktales and new, potentially challenging words from a print corpus of storybooks for 5- to 10-year-olds. These included uncommon animals and their habitats, body parts and verbs of perception, among others.

The audio corpus had familiar language from the culture but the language quality wasn’t that varied, containing fewer mentions of animals and associated words as well as more repetition of the same words. In contrast, storybooks with traditional tales had rich and novel language for children to learn.

The tales can be crafted into narratives that reflect school topics while still being rich in local values, knowledge and customs (see an excellent example from Cameroon). Folktales can also be windows into different cultures, exposing students to values, customs and beliefs that widen their perspective on the world.

And the advantages go beyond cultural awareness. Research shows folktales are a valuable teaching tool for improving secondary language skills in children, and have been used to teach English as a second language, for example in India to also promote cultural understanding.

By incorporating engaging stories with well-known themes, folktales can make language learning fun and interesting, fostering positive associations with the new language. The captivating storyline and happy resolution of fairy tales also offer an ideal environment for acquiring language skills.

In addition, folktales have been argued to be effective for ‘character education’ because they impart moral principles and can demonstrate important attributes like harmony, patience, sincerity, honesty and acceptance.

Continuing a tradition

Some might argue traditional tales lack relevance in our modern world. But these stories offer a unique bridge to a cultural heritage. They not only transmit timeless knowledge, but also provide a foundation to develop crucial skills to understanding our complex modern world.

If parents and caregivers can have books in the home, then getting traditional books is a great option.

But if parents don't have access to books, we know storytelling still makes a difference for children’s language learning without needing any investment other than time, enthusiasm and a bag of stories from memory.

To encourage learning and to create lifelong memories, a strong message in parent-teacher meetings could be for parents to try reading or telling stories. Mealtimes, bedtime or simply any other convenient time would work!

Whether folktales, fairy tales, myths or fables, traditional tales hold great significance in our society. By sharing these stories with children, we not only teach them important life lessons, but also promote their language and narrative skills.

Embracing traditional tales within children’s storybooks ensures this cherished tradition continues to improve lives and influence future generations.