The Revival of Local Fairy Tales for Children Education Fathu Rahman Department of English Language Studies, Literature Hasanuddin University, Indonesia Abstract—This study explored the function of fairy tales as a means of entertainment and education for children. Fairy tales in children's literature have gradually shifted from an oral storytelling tradition to a mass media product. The role of the mother as the first and foremost teacher of her children is increasingly challenged in modern education. From pre-school age up to junior high school level, a child needs special attention from his or her parents, especially the mother. From the age of three until a child enters primary school, the parents, especially the mother, play a strategic role in fostering various aspects of development language, psychology and character. One way in which this takes place is through storytelling, however unfortunately children's literature in the form of local fairy tales often no longer has a place in the home or the kindergarten. This case study in South Sulawesi, Indonesia explored the causes behind this change. Data were gathered through interviews and questionnaires. A simple statistical method was used to analyse the data. The results show that telling fairy tales to children is still relevant and can help to instil character values in young children. Index Terms—fairy tales, children’s literature, cyber literature, moral value I. INTRODUCTION Modern children’s literature includes short stories, picture books, comics, magazines, cartoons, and poetry that can potentially be enjoyed by most children. Children's literature is growing rapidly in line with the need to provide reading matter and entertainment for children. In recent years, modern childr en’s literature has been classified from two different perspectives: by ‘specific genre’ or based on the age of the target listeners/readers. The target age of readers in this research was up to 15 years old (until entry into senior high school). Children’s literature is literature created specifically for children, although the readers are not always children, as many adults also love reading children's literature. Originally, children’s literature was founded on old tales and folk- songs/folklore, as part of a wider oral tradition that adults shared with children before printing was invented. Thus, it stands to reason that children's literature was born before people became familiar with the written language. Some oral traditions are still maintained within modern society in South Sulawesi, such as ritual speeches, annual traditional celebrations including the ‘maulid’ ceremony and traditional festivals. Although a writing system was developed many centuries ago, the oral tradition has been the main media for societal and cultural communication. The practice of oral traditions has long been a convention, and that convention is a cultural absolute. The development of children's literature is an expected norm within human civilization. Long before printing was invented, mankind created stories; and the stories told by their ancestors have survived in many cultures because they formed a part of the oral tradition within that society. In fact, it is often difficult to trace the source and origination of a story from the language in which it is currently told and the characters involved. Multiple versions of a story can mean that the origin of a story becomes even more blurred. Fairy tales are one cultural heritage originating in oral traditions, and in general they are enjoyed by children. One reason for this is that fairy tales were often intended to be an entertainment for children, told by parents. When parents want share certain experiences with children, fairy tales are often used as a medium. In this way, parents can make strategic use of parables to convey their true intent in a mutually pleasurable manner. Fairy tales have sometimes been distinguished from other folklore and narrative story media, such as myths and legends which generally involve world views, traditions, and belief in the veracity of the events mentioned. Nevertheless the definition of a fairy tale remains vague. A fairy tale can be considered to belong to a kind of storytelling that typically features fabled fantasy characters and explicitly moral tales. In South Sulawesi, the term is mainly used for tales or stories with origins in the traditions of the Bugis, Makassar, Tator and Mandar ethnic groups. The names of the characters are often associated with recognizable traits or values in the cultural environment in which the children are immersed. Technically, the term fairy tale is generally used to describe something utopian. Additionally, the plot will contain facts which cannot be true, and it is also not possible that the tale as a whole could be true. This distinguishes the fairy tale from a legend, which is told as if the plot is real, and impressed as a part of history. In a fairy tale, the events always take place 'once upon a time', not in actual or specific times. According to Gruner (2010), the fact that most fairy tales begin with ‘once upon a time’, and the resulting effacement of both time and place, is central to their perceived universality (p, 5). Zipes (2001) notes that the timelessness of the tale and its lack of ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 336-344, May 2017 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0705.02 © 2017 ACADEMY PUBLICATION