Easy Access Books 2021
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Once upon a time there lived a man and a woman. They did not have any children. This made them very sad.
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A powerful witch Mother Gothel lived not far from their house. The woman noticed some beautiful lettuce in the witch’s garden. She began craving for it.
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The lettuce was called rapunzel. The woman kept asking her husband for it. She thought she would die if she didn’t try it. The man did not have any choice. He stole several leaves of the rapunzel and gave them to his wife.
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The woman ate the rapunzel and became even more desperate. Her husband went to the witch’s garden again. This time Mother Gothel caught him stealing. She said, “Take as much of my rapunzel as you want, but you will give me your baby in return!”
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The woman enjoyed the rapunzel, and her health restored quickly. To the man’s horror, soon he realised that his wife was expecting a child.
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When the baby girl was born, the witch appeared. She named the baby Rapunzel and took her away from her parents.
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Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful girl ever seen. She had long golden hair. Mother Gothel locked her away in a tower with no stairs or doors. Every day she called, “Rapunzel, Rapun- zel, let down your hair!” Rapunzel let her hair fall towards the ground, and the witch climbed up. 8
One day a young prince was riding by. He heard Rapunzel singing. He followed the voice and later saw the witch calling the girl, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”
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The prince decided to go to the tower when Mother Gothel was out. He called, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” The hair fell down, and the prince climbed up. After that, Rapunzel and prince saw each other every night.
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One night the prince asked Rapunzel to marry him. She gave it a thought and said yes. The young couple started getting ready to escape from the tower.
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The night before the escape Rapunzel asked the witch, “Mother Gothel, why are you so much heavier to pull than the young prince that comes to see me?” The witch was outraged. She cut Rapunzel’s hair and hid her away deep in the woods.
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Later the same night the prince came take Rapunzel away. When he climbed up the golden hair, he saw Mother Gothel instead. In sorrow, the prince threw himself down. He survived, but the thorns at the bottom of the tower poked his eyes.
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The blind prince kept wandering in the woods for many years until he reached the deepest part of it. There he heard a familiar voice. It was his beloved Rapunzel! They cried and hugged, and Rapunzel’s tears healed the prince’s eyes.
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United once again, Rapunzel and the prince came out of the woods. The prince led Rapunzel to his kingdom. Soon they married, and it was the merriest wedding ever.
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This book is a retold story of Rapunzel originally published by Brothers Grimm in 19 century. The adaptation of the text as well as illustrations are done by Alina Giles ([email protected]).
Alina is a mother of a beautiful girl with Down Syndrome. She lives in West Yorkshire, UK. Alina enjoys telling stories to her daughter by drawing pictures alongside reading a story. This is how an idea of an illustrated book was conceived.
The book is intended for reading by people who struggle to read complex texts not accompanied by illustrations.
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