10 Examples of Children's Legends

The children's legends are those narratives that include fantastic events and that have been adapted to be read or listened to by children.

The legends they are anonymous stories of oral transmission that originated to give explanations about various phenomena, to respond to concerns or to transmit teachings.

Although these stories include wonderful or extraordinary beings, events or places, they generally mention places, dates or characters that exist or existed in reality. In addition, many people believe that they are true stories.

Children's legends are told or read in family, community or educational settings with the aim of transmitting beliefs and traditions and promoting imagination, creativity and reading or listening comprehension.

• See also: legend types

Characteristics of children's legends

• Topics. The themes of children's legends are the origin of animals, plants, traditions or natural phenomena, values, family, friendship, among others.
• Characters. The characters of children's legends are animals, common people, gods and fantastic beings.
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• Places. The places where children's legends take place can be the countryside, the forest, the city, the jungle, among others. Reference is almost always made to a site that exists or existed in reality.
• Time. Children's legends narrate events that occur in real historical time, that is, not mythical, although in some cases no reference to an exact date is made.
• Purpose. The purpose of children's legends is to convey a lesson or a moral, or to entertain.
• Adaptation. Children's legends are adapted to have child-friendly structures and themes. For example, you can change tragic endings or make a shorter version of a longer legend.

Examples of children's legends

1. The legend of yerba mate

This Guarani legend narrates the origin of yerba mate, an infusion that is consumed in many South American countries. It is said that Yasí, the goddess of the moon, wanted to know the earth, since she could only see it from the heavens. Since she did not want to go alone, she proposed to her friend Araí, the goddess of the clouds, to join the trip.

Before leaving, the two transformed into women, so that no one would realize what their true identity was. They went down to earth, they toured fields, forests, jungles, lakes, rivers and seas and they were amazed at everything they had seen.

As they were exhausted from so much walking, they sat down to rest under a tree, but they did not realize that a jaguar was lying hidden among the plants. The animal jumped to attack them, but was startled by the sound of an arrow shot by a hunter, and fled.

The two goddesses thanked the man, who also invited them to his house so they could eat and rest in peace. The next day, they said goodbye to the hunter and his family and returned to heaven.

A few weeks later, Yasí came down to earth again to give a plant, yerba mate, to her new friend and explained how she had to use it to drink it. The very grateful man told her that he would share it with her family and friends.

1. The legend of the woodpecker

This legend belongs to the Onas, a people native to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, and explains how the first woodpecker was created. It is said that Kákach, a young and brave warrior, one day went to fetch water from the only lake in the area and saw that a giant woman was drinking on the shore.

When he returned to his tribe, he was informed that the woman was Taita, an evil and very dangerous witch. Meanwhile, the giantess had fenced off the lake with trees so that no one else could get close.

Some scouts from the tribe went to the lake, saw what had happened, and came back to tell the others that if they didn't act soon, they would run out of water to drink.

But Kákach decided to act alone: ​​as was the custom before fighting, he painted his body black and his head red and went looking for the witch. He climbed the trees that surrounded the lake and, after a long struggle, managed to defeat his fierce enemy. Later he returned to his family, who thanked him for such a great feat and because he had saved them.

It is believed that before dying, the witch cast a spell on the warrior, because over time the young man began to dwarf and have feathers until he finally transformed into the woodpecker.

1. the legend of fire

This legend of the Huichols, a native people of Mexico, explains how fire arose. A long time ago, people did not know how to make a fire and therefore could not cook food or have light at night.

Everything changed one day, lightning struck a tree and produced a flame that later grew. The enemies of the Huichols realized the importance of this element and did not want to share it with anyone, so they took turns so that no one came near the bonfire.

However, the Huichols also had friends; the coyote, the deer, the armadillo, the iguana and the weasel devised a plan to catch some fire. First the coyote tried, but they found out. Then they tried the other animals, but they also failed.

Only the weasel remained. This little girl stayed close to the men who took care of the fire and since they saw that she was harmless, they did not worry about her. One early morning the friend of the Huichols realized that the sentinels had fallen asleep, so she approached the bonfire and lit her tail.

He quickly went to the Huichol camp and told them to bring pieces of wood to light with their tails. The men and women thanked her friend for her help and were very happy, because they would no longer be afraid at night or cold in winter.

1. The legend of the lizard

This Mexican legend explains why lizards grow their tails back. Long ago, humans hunted lizards for food, but unlike other animals, they had no way to protect themselves from these attacks.

One day all the lizards got together to find a solution to this problem. They went to talk to other animals to ask how they defended themselves from hunters.

The jaguar told them that he defended himself with his claws and his roars. The monkeys, with their screams and their ability to jump and escape quickly. Wild boars, with their tusks and for walking in a herd.

All the animals recommended to the lizards that they talk to the Lord of the Mountains, since he had bestowed those gifts on them. So the little reptiles went looking for him and he told them that he couldn't give them fangs or claws, but he could make their tails grow if a human cut it off.

They thanked him very much and thus they were able to survive different attacks.

1. the legend of the sakura

This legend narrates the origin of the sakura or Japanese cherry blossom. It is said that in the Middle Ages in a forest there was a tree that did not flower. Then a fairy proposed that he would transform him into a human for twenty years and that only if he found true love, beautiful flowers would grow.

The tree accepted, he became a man and one day near a stream he met Sakura, a young woman with whom he fell madly in love. He approached her, introduced himself as Yohiro, and helped her carry water to her house.

The following days Yohiro and Sakura spent many hours talking and walking. One afternoon he confessed that it was a tree and that he was in love with her, but the young woman did not answer him at all.

Yohiro became very sad, he returned to the forest and returned to his original form. But one day Sakura went looking for him. When he saw him, he recognized him, hugged him and told him that he loved him. The fairy appeared and asked the woman if she wanted to merge forever with Yohiro, the young woman answered that she did and, thanks to a spell, both young men were one and the tree grew flowers.

1. the legend of time

This traditional Chinese legend narrates events that serve to reflect on the passage of time. One day a farmer was plowing the land with his son. The little one said:

-Dad! The horse ran away! It is unfortunate.

"My son, we still don't know if it's a misfortune." - Her father answered.

The boy kept thinking about what his father had told him. The next day, when the two were working in the fields, the horse that had left appeared, but accompanied by another.

-Dad! What good luck! Now we have two horses. said the son.

"Why do you say that he is lucky?" We do not know yet. - Her father answered.

In the afternoon, the boy tried to get on his new horse, but he fell, injured his leg, and had to spend several days in bed. One day his father brought him lunch and the little boy said:

"Dad, how unfortunate. I won't be able to walk for several days.

"Son, we still don't know if it's a misfortune." - Her father answered.

A week later, the king's soldiers went to the peasants' house and asked if there were any young men there who could go to war. The father explained that his son had been in an accident and that he could not join the army. At that moment, the boy realized that you always have to wait to determine if an event is a misfortune or good luck.

1. The legend of the two lagoons

This legend narrates how two lagoons found in Uruguay arose. It is said that a long time ago, in a town there lived two brothers who were very good people and who worked in the same field.

Both were in love with the same woman, although neither knew that the other felt the same way. One afternoon, her older brother went to her house, confessed his love for her and told her to run away together. The young woman accepted.

When the younger brother found out, he became very jealous and went looking for the couple. She rode many places with her horse until she finally found them and told her brother:

"You've stolen the woman I'm in love with!"

—I didn't steal it from you, I didn't know you felt that way for her. replied the older brother.

And the two began to fight. The young woman, very scared, got on the horse and went to the town to ask for help, however, it was too late, her brothers were very badly injured. Before dying, they linked arms, asked for forgiveness, and after a few seconds they were transformed into two lagoons that are separated by a narrow dirt road.

1. The legend of the ants and the treasure

This African legend allows us to reflect on friendship, generosity and humility. It is said that two men lived in a village, one very poor, but very kind, and the other very rich, but very selfish.

The ants were very friendly with the first man, because he took care of them and fed them, and they decided to help him. The plan was to make a tunnel connecting the houses of the two men to transport the rich's gold nuggets to the home of the poor.

A few days later, the poor man saw that many gold nuggets had appeared under his bed and he thought they were a gift from the gods. But the rich man realized that his treasure was missing and began to investigate what could have happened. Finally, he found the tunnel entrance. So he asked his neighbors for help and told them that they had to check all the houses until they found one that had a deep hole.

The rich man found the hole in the poor man's house and accused him of theft. All the inhabitants of the town agreed that they had to lock up the alleged thief in a wooden jail.

The ants found out what had happened and were very sad, but they devised another plan to help their friend. They took the gold nuggets, took them to the jail and ate the wood so that the poor man could escape. He thanked them and thought it best to run away with the treasure and start over somewhere else.

The people of the town, seeing that the jail and the man had disappeared, thought that it had been the work of the gods and did not worry about the matter.

1. The legend of the hippopotamus and the turtle

This Nigerian legend explains why hippos spend much of the day in the water. Long ago, hippos used to be on land all the time and turtles were afraid of being crushed by these big animals.

One day the leader of the hippo herd organized a banquet and invited all the animals. As the event began, he told the diners:

—They will be able to eat only if they say my name.

The animals did not answer anything, because they did not know what the name was. Then the hippopotamus made a suggestion:

"Well, next week I'll have another banquet, but they'll only eat if they find out my name." Also, if they say my name, they can ask me for anything they want.

The next day one of the tortoises, the smartest one, dug a hole near where the hippos were and climbed into it, but she let her shell stick out a bit. The hippos began to walk, one of them hit his shell and shouted:

-Oh! Instant! How painful! I hurt my leg on this rock!

A few days later, the hippopotamus made the banquet and when the guests arrived, he asked them:

"Does anyone know my name?"

—Yes, your name is Istantim. replied the turtle.

—But… how is it possible?

-It does not matter. Now we can all eat and you and your pack will go live on the lake.

And from then on, hippos spend more time in the water than on land.

1. The legend of the color of the birds

This Hindu legend explains why birds have different colors. A long time ago, all birds were brown, but they didn't like this. So they went to ask Mother Nature to change their colors. She told them that she would do it, but each one had to choose how they would look.

One by one, the birds told him what colors they wanted. Mother Nature was painting them and, when she thought she had finished, she realized that the sparrow was still brown and that there was no more dye.

The little bird began to cry, because it would be the only one that would not have any special color. Mother Nature was desperate, but she suddenly saw that there was a drop of yellow left on a brush, she took it and placed it on the head of the sparrow, who was very happy.

Follow with:

• rural legends
• ancient legends
• children's legends
• eschatological legends

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References

• Bosch, V. g. and Rubio Amador, R. (2009). The selection of tales and legends in the infant and first grade classroom: some practical examples. Edetania, 36, 55-64.
• Rosalia, P. and Rionda, P. (2015). Notes for conferences: The revaluation of oral traditions as an educational strategy. Tales of the Wind.
• Vidal de Battini, B. AND. (1984). Popular tales and legends of Argentina. Volumes VII and VIII. Argentine Cultural Editions.