A Literary Leaf for The Little Match Girl Strikes Back

Overview and Outcomes:

This is a 15-session Literary Leaf for The Little Match Girl Strikes Back which covers all aspects of the Upper Key Stage 2 content domains.  Throughout the sequence children will get to know the characters through making inferences based on their behaviours and motivations.  Children will study the language used by the author to portray differences in the ways factory workers and street sellers were treated in comparison to the more privileged classes.  There will also be opportunities to compare the original text by Hans Christian Andersen to this newly-imagined version and children will be encouraged to take part in whole class discussions and debates around the topics covered and the links to other historical contexts. 

Synopsis of Text:

This beautifully written and illustrated story is not just a retelling of the original Hans Christian Andersen tale The Little Match Girl, but a reinterpretation. The Little Match Girl Strikes Back allows the protagonist to tell her story in her own words. This version – like the original - lays bare the class inequality of Victorian London but also gives the Little Match Girl a sense of agency and defiance rather than being resigned to her ill-fated end, “…a bold new heroine for future generations to treasure.”

Links to Curriculum areas, other Literary Leaves and Planning Sequences:

Suffragette (Y6 planning sequence in the Literary Curriculum) would be an ideal text to teach this alongside.

Protest, activism, rights