Snowdrop
Snowdrop is a young princess who escapes from her jealous stepmother and finds shelter with seven dwarfs in the forest. When the queen discovers she is still alive, Snowdrop faces a dangerous spell that only an unexpected rescue can break.
Why we recommend it
Snowdrop introduces Grade 2 readers to a classic fairy tale with memorable characters, repeated story patterns, and a clear sequence of events. It supports vocabulary development, reading comprehension, and discussions about jealousy, kindness, and friendship. The story also helps children practice identifying problems and solutions in a narrative.
Start of the book
It was the middle of winter, with broad flakes of snow falling all around, when the queen of a country many thousand miles away sat working at her window. The frame of the window was made of fine black ebony, and as she sat looking out at the snow, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell upon it. She looked thoughtfully at the red drops that sprinkled the white snow, and said, “If only my little daughter could be as white as that snow, as red as that blood, and as black as this ebony window frame!” And so the little girl really did grow up; her skin was as white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as the blood, and her hair as black as ebony; and she was called Snowdrop.
But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who became queen, and was very beautiful, but so vain that she could not bear to think that anyone could be handsomer than she was. She had a fairy mirror, which she would go to, and then she would gaze at herself in it, and say:
“Tell me, glass, tell me true!
Of all the ladies in the land,
Who is fairest, tell me, who?”
And the glass had always answered:
“You, queen, are the fairest in all the land.”
But Snowdrop grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven years old she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen herself. Then one day, when the queen went to look in it as usual, the glass answered:
“You, queen, are fair, and beautiful to see,
But Snowdrop is far lovelier than you!”
When she heard this she turned pale with rage and envy, and called to one of her servants, and said, “Take Snowdrop away into the wide woods, that I may never see her any more.” Then the servant led her away; but his heart melted when Snowdrop begged him to spare her life, and he said, “I will not hurt you, you pretty child.” So he left her by herself; and though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her to pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when he had made up his mind not to kill her but to leave her to her fate, with the chance of someone finding and saving her.
