| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to explore preschool- and primary school teachers’ perceptions of fairytales, why they use fairytales and what thoughts they have about the impact of fairytales on children’s reading and writing development. We interviewed seven teachers and three preschool teachers in northern Sweden to find out how work with fairytales is carried out in preschool and primary school. We also interviewed twelve pupils who were seven and eight years old to find out what they thought of fairytales in primary school. The result showed that preschool- and primary school teachers had a positive attitude towards fairytales and the opportunities provided by fairytales. The preschool- and primary school teachers in this study used fairytales to stimulate the imagination and the language development of the children. Fairytales were believed to create engagement and emotions within the children. To stimulate reading and writing among the children many teachers let the children write their own fairytales, pointing out the structure of a typical fairytale before the students start writing. Preschool teachers used fairytales to introduce the children to written language, since not all children were familiar with written language. This study shows that fairytales were used in different ways among the teachers and the preschool teachers and that the pupils enjoyed working with fairytales
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