The National Centre of Multicultural Education (NAFO) has a website, morsmal.no, which presents stories from various countries in many languages. All storiesare free and open for everyone to use.
"Literature which reflects children's experiences can contribute to giving some children a clearer sense of identity, and for others it can expand their perspective," says Elise Wagner Finnanger from NAFO, who has worked on adapting the story.
A story from all over the world
The story of the giant turnip is known in many places around the world. The tale "Repka" was first written down by the Russian fairy tale collector Alexander Afanasyev in 1860.
In recent times, various versions of the story have been published in different languages. NAFO's version is inspired by the Ukrainian author Ivan Franko's version of the tale "Ripka" from 1891.
Colleagues from places such as Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Afghanistan, China, and Ukraine recognize the story from their own childhood. The Norwegian folk song “Gubben og gamla låg og drog” has a similar plot.
The story published by NAFO is illustrated by Alyona Potyomkina, who heard the story during her own childhood in Ukraine.
During NAFO's 20 years anniversary conference on October 21 2024, "The Giant Turnip" was performed in front of 750 participants. To their great delight, the story was presented bilingually by Svitlana Kucherenko in Norwegian and Hassan Javed in Urdu.
Photo: Benjamin Ward / OsloMet
Stories in multiple languages empower children
At morsmal.no, there are stories in both text and audio formats in multiple languages. This gives kindergartens and schools the opportunity to let children and students hear stories in their mother tongue, even if the staff does not speak all the languages.
"For children who master another language better than Norwegian, hearing the story in their mother tongue can make it easier to understand the content when the story is conveyed in Norwegian in kindergarten. Encountering multiple languages in kindergarten can also lead to curiosity and inspire conversations about languages that increase children's awareness of language," says Finnanger.
Read or listen to the Giant Turnip in your language (in Norwegian, morsmal.no)
Find more information about NAFO (nafo.oslomet.no)
