Clever Beatrice By: Margaret Willey and Heather Solomon (Traditional/Folk Literature)

Clever Beatrice by Margaret Willey and Heather Solomon is a tall tale from Michigan's upper peninsula. It is a great story about a clever and sharp little girl named Beatrice. One day her mother sets a bowl of porridge in front of Beatrice and explains to her to eat slow because it's the last of it they have left. Eager to help her mother get more money, Beatrice tells her mom that she's going to get money for them. Her mother explains that there is only two ways to get money, one is to cut down trees with the lumberjacks and the other is to win a bet with the rich giant, neither a job for a little girl. Beatrice asked her mother if the giant was smart and her mother replied "when you are rich you don't have to be smart." Beatrice decided to set out to find the giant and make a bet with him. She bet him ten gold coins that she could strike a blow harder than him. The giant took her on and with his fist punched his door. The walls trembled as the giant said "your turn." Beatrice and her clever ways, pointed to a tree laying on the ground and told him that's what he could use to make a new front door after she knocked it down. The giant, not being very smart, did not like the idea of having to build a new front door. Instead of finishing out the bet, he gave Beatrice the ten gold coins. Getting tricked into doing two more bets, and being outsmarted in two more bets, Beatrice won a total of thirty gold coins from the giant. This is a great story of a young girl believing in herself and out smarting a giant with three times her strength. This would be a great story to read when introducing tall tales and fairy tales. It also has great morals behind it that could be used in lessons!