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Granny's Wonderful Chair
Seven fairy tales, set in an interesting framework which relates the adventures of the little girl Snowflower and her magical chair at the court of King Winwealth. When Snow-flower, from her nook in the kitchen, said, "Chair of my grandmother, take me to the highest banquet hall," "instantly the chair marched in a grave and courtly fashion out of the kitchen, up the grand staircase, and into the highest hall." There it told the following stories to the king and queen, the fair lords and ladies, the many fairies, and notable people from other lands: The Christmas Cuckoo, The Lords of the White and Gray Castles, The Greedy Shepherd, The Story of Fairyfoot, The Story of Childe Charity, Sour and Civil, and The Story of Merrymind. Numerous black and white illustrations by noted artist Katharine Pyle complement the text. Suitable for ages 7 and up.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1857
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 27, 2021
Frances Browne was born seventh in a family 12 children in County Donegal , Ireland. She was blind as a consequence of an attack of smallpox when she was 18 months old. In her writings, she recounts how she learned by heart the lessons which her brothers and sisters said aloud every evening, and how she bribed them to read to her by doing their chores. She then worked hard at memorizing all that she had heard (from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances...). In 1852 she and a sister moved to London – the sister wrote down the stories and poems that Frances spoke/dictated. In the Christmas of 1856, she published this book. She was 36 at the time.
I thought the premise was good. There was an initial fairy tale and then within that fairy tale, Granny’s wonderful chair told 8 more tales. They all had a common theme, there were good people and greedy people, and the good people ultimately triumphed over the greedy people and lived happily ever after. The stories were interesting enough to me to keep on reading. I read this in one sitting.
You could tell the good people from the bad people by their names. Care to guess who was good and who was bad:
• Princess Greedalind vs. Prince Wisewit
• Hardhold and Drypenny vs. Woodwender and Loveleaves
• Sour vs. Civil
She mentioned Hans Christian Anderson in one of the stories (they were from the same era):
• “…for the fairies dance no more. Some say it was the hum of schools—some think it was the din of factories that frightened them; but nobody has been known to have seen them for many a year, except, it is said, one Hand Christian Andersen, in Denmark, whose tales of the fairies are so good that they must have been heard from themselves.
Thanks to my Goodreads friend, Rosamund, who recommended this book here. This site is a gold mine to me…lots of books I have read and enjoyed come from the recommendations and reviews of people on this site. 😊
Reviews:
• https://thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac... by Rob Maslen, PhD, co-director of the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow, October 14, 2016. Interesting!: In 2015 Rob Maslen founded the MLitt English Literature: Fantasy, the first graduate programme in the world specifically dedicated to the study of fantasy and the fantastic.
I thought the premise was good. There was an initial fairy tale and then within that fairy tale, Granny’s wonderful chair told 8 more tales. They all had a common theme, there were good people and greedy people, and the good people ultimately triumphed over the greedy people and lived happily ever after. The stories were interesting enough to me to keep on reading. I read this in one sitting.
You could tell the good people from the bad people by their names. Care to guess who was good and who was bad:
• Princess Greedalind vs. Prince Wisewit
• Hardhold and Drypenny vs. Woodwender and Loveleaves
• Sour vs. Civil
She mentioned Hans Christian Anderson in one of the stories (they were from the same era):
• “…for the fairies dance no more. Some say it was the hum of schools—some think it was the din of factories that frightened them; but nobody has been known to have seen them for many a year, except, it is said, one Hand Christian Andersen, in Denmark, whose tales of the fairies are so good that they must have been heard from themselves.
Thanks to my Goodreads friend, Rosamund, who recommended this book here. This site is a gold mine to me…lots of books I have read and enjoyed come from the recommendations and reviews of people on this site. 😊
Reviews:
• https://thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac... by Rob Maslen, PhD, co-director of the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow, October 14, 2016. Interesting!: In 2015 Rob Maslen founded the MLitt English Literature: Fantasy, the first graduate programme in the world specifically dedicated to the study of fantasy and the fantastic.
September 18, 2017
This is one of my favorite books from when I was a young girl. Fairy tales at their best!
Young Snowflower's grandmother leaves her alone in the cottage with only an enchanted chair for company. The chair tells wonderful stories and takes Snowflower on a journey to the court of King Winwealth. Each evening Snowflower is called to the court after their feasting, and she asks her magical chair to tell the company a story. The King rewards Snowflower for each story that is told.
In each chapter a different fairytale story is told, and although they follow the classic fairytale structure, they are not common or well-known. Each one is a delight to read!
Young Snowflower's grandmother leaves her alone in the cottage with only an enchanted chair for company. The chair tells wonderful stories and takes Snowflower on a journey to the court of King Winwealth. Each evening Snowflower is called to the court after their feasting, and she asks her magical chair to tell the company a story. The King rewards Snowflower for each story that is told.
In each chapter a different fairytale story is told, and although they follow the classic fairytale structure, they are not common or well-known. Each one is a delight to read!
December 19, 2021
A light and entertaining read that has been brought back to life with a republication.
Written with the essence of classic fairytales. It is layered in morals for children, employing the classic tropes of good vs. evil, etc. It has an interesting concept of a fairy tale within a fairytale making it original and, at times, a little bit confusing. The tales themselves though were cute and refreshing, a sweet story within a story.
Frances Browne’s writing reminds me of Enid Blyton meets Hans Christian Anderson. The stories are a wonderful testament to her life, which I am eager to learn more about.
Thank you to NetGalley and BJU Press, JourneyForth for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Written with the essence of classic fairytales. It is layered in morals for children, employing the classic tropes of good vs. evil, etc. It has an interesting concept of a fairy tale within a fairytale making it original and, at times, a little bit confusing. The tales themselves though were cute and refreshing, a sweet story within a story.
Frances Browne’s writing reminds me of Enid Blyton meets Hans Christian Anderson. The stories are a wonderful testament to her life, which I am eager to learn more about.
Thank you to NetGalley and BJU Press, JourneyForth for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 27, 2021
Written in 1856, this is a selection of seven fairy stories, linked by the wonderful chair, and Snowflower, an impoverished girl, who is the only person able to ask the chair to tell its tales. Frances Browne was one of twelve children, and was from Donegal. She was blind from infancy, and her sister wrote her stories down for her. This book was a favourite of my grandfather's, who used to read to me from it. I hadn't read it in many years, but decided to track down a copy. The stories are old-fashioned in many ways: characters are named after their principal character traits, so the selfish queen is Queen Wantall, and the sensible prince is Prince Wisewit. We meet fishermen called Sour and Civil, and shepherds called Clutch and Kind. People are born good or evil and there is no possibility of change. But despite these limitations, the stories in this book are imaginative, immersive, and full of beautiful language. I was surprised by how well I remembered many of them, and I enjoyed encountering them again. The Lords of the White and Grey Castles, about lords bespelled by fairies, and whose children follow them into the deep woods and live in a house made of moss, was a particular favourite. I'm also very fond of Merrymind who saves a kingdom by playing a magical violin, and The Christmas Cuckoo, in which the good humour of a humble cobbler saves the day. A really enjoyable selection, although I'm sure the nostalgia I feel makes them particularly compelling.
Read
November 24, 2008IN an old time, long ago, when the fairies were in the world, there lived a little girl so uncommonly fair and pleasant of look, that they called her Snowflower. This girl was good as well as pretty. No one had ever seen her frown or heard her say a cross word, and young and old were glad when they saw her coming. . .
July 7, 2019
Refreshing to read fairy stories where the characters actually listen to the fairies and everything works out splendidly.
June 25, 2015
It was a very beautiful book.I really enjoyed the time that I spent reading it.I don`t have any special favorite character because I liked them all. What I learned from this book was that good people and hardworking ones will always have what they really deserve in the end.
April 24, 2018
This is a wonderful collection of fairy tales in the self professed vein of Hans Christian Anderson. The names of the characters are a little clunky, but they were written that way to make a point, and the point should not be lost, because each tale has a definite moral to the story.
October 14, 2019
Well..the stories were fun! This book is for you if you seek for an entertaining light stories (fairy-tale stories). My favorite was The Story of Sour and Civil😂
June 6, 2017
Read the complete book, not that other Kindle edition that leaves out some of the stories. Or read the Project Gutenberg edition at
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35820....
This is a collection of fairy stories, all original to the authoress, as she would have been known in her time, set in a framework that is itself a fairy story. Little Snowflower goes to the king's feast, and there her chair tells a new story every night. Finally it is revealed that the chair--
I loved this book as a child and still like it. The stories are unique and vivid, amazingly so since the authoress was blind from birth.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35820....
This is a collection of fairy stories, all original to the authoress, as she would have been known in her time, set in a framework that is itself a fairy story. Little Snowflower goes to the king's feast, and there her chair tells a new story every night. Finally it is revealed that the chair--
I loved this book as a child and still like it. The stories are unique and vivid, amazingly so since the authoress was blind from birth.
November 4, 2017
I was lucky enough to read an original edition of this book, and I loved it.
This is the story of Snowflower. Left to fend for herself by her grandmother, Dame Frostyface, Snowflower turns to the ‘wonderful chair’ for company. The chair is able to tell stories and to transport Snowflower wherever she wants to go. In the search for her grandmother, Snowflower visits a magical land. Ruled by King Winwealth, Snowflower entertains the court with nightly stories narrated by the chair. Individual fairy stories, framed by Snowflower’s experiences at court, result in a charming story that has left me eager to read more by Frances Browne.
This is the story of Snowflower. Left to fend for herself by her grandmother, Dame Frostyface, Snowflower turns to the ‘wonderful chair’ for company. The chair is able to tell stories and to transport Snowflower wherever she wants to go. In the search for her grandmother, Snowflower visits a magical land. Ruled by King Winwealth, Snowflower entertains the court with nightly stories narrated by the chair. Individual fairy stories, framed by Snowflower’s experiences at court, result in a charming story that has left me eager to read more by Frances Browne.
November 13, 2020
Thank you to JourneyForth Books (and BJU Press) for accepting my request to read this as an E-ARC via Netgalley.
The information page in the ARC tells me that this edition is featuring the version from the 1904 version (then published by McClure, Philips & Co.), but it was first published back in 1857.
It's a sweet little fairytale (within another fairytale), and tells us the usual story about how being a good person will make life easy and that people who are greedy and unfriendly will end up in a bad place. Like most fairytales it was probably used as a pedagogic means of teaching children the importance of certain traits.
Nothing new, but still a rather nice story.
The information page in the ARC tells me that this edition is featuring the version from the 1904 version (then published by McClure, Philips & Co.), but it was first published back in 1857.
It's a sweet little fairytale (within another fairytale), and tells us the usual story about how being a good person will make life easy and that people who are greedy and unfriendly will end up in a bad place. Like most fairytales it was probably used as a pedagogic means of teaching children the importance of certain traits.
Nothing new, but still a rather nice story.
April 16, 2018
My Father had a vintage copy of this book and used to read it to me when I was a small child. I found a vintage copy, also, and felt as if my Dad was still with me as I read it. The stories are quaint and sweet, older fairy tales that you can imagine past generations passing down to the young. What I really appreciated was that although the tales were older, there weren't any prejudiced phrases or references that would taint them, they were just sweet little stories.
April 26, 2017
I grew up with rocking chairs--had my own little one as a child, and they got bigger as I grew. The idea of a rocker that tells stories and can take you places really appeals to me, which is why I loved this book so much. Originally written in 1856 (and the author was blind!), this is a highly recommended Victorian children's classic.
September 4, 2016
Loved this book!
We all want to go away for a while and enter a beautiful or mysterious place that will take us on a journey through palace, treasures, and magic. This is that such book of open ended stories and tales of witches fairies, creatures of the sea and air. Loved this book...
We all want to go away for a while and enter a beautiful or mysterious place that will take us on a journey through palace, treasures, and magic. This is that such book of open ended stories and tales of witches fairies, creatures of the sea and air. Loved this book...
July 30, 2008
My reading copy was published in 1910 by EP Dutton & Co in NY. My other copy was published in 1915. It remains my favorite story book. It's most amazing to me how Frances Brown could write word picture of things she had never seen. Blind from birth everything must exist in her imagination.
April 9, 2014
A cute little public domain book written in Great Britain in an earlier era. A creative writing approach to fairies.
I don't usually read these kind of books, but I found this one a nice, short, enjoyable read.
Four stars for her overall writing ability.
I don't usually read these kind of books, but I found this one a nice, short, enjoyable read.
Four stars for her overall writing ability.
October 30, 2014
This book is one of the most magical books I've read in my childhood, I recommend it to all the kids who want some adventure and magic in their lives and I tell you this: You will not be disappointed.
Have a nice read ♥
Have a nice read ♥
June 10, 2016
Great read
This is an excellent book with excellent stories. It is like having many books in one. My granddaughter will love me to tell her of all the adventures in this great book.
This is an excellent book with excellent stories. It is like having many books in one. My granddaughter will love me to tell her of all the adventures in this great book.
August 22, 2016
A book of fairly-tales from my childhood. I love this book. It has been great reading it to my kids.
January 28, 2011
One of my absolute favourites as a child. Love it still.
It's a morality tale, but the imagery is beautiful.
It's a morality tale, but the imagery is beautiful.
February 11, 2011
Contains a number of interesting short fantasies for children.
April 25, 2012
Fairy tales I had not heard of before. Fun.
August 3, 2014
WOW
WOW
This was a great read because of non-stop story telling from the chair. I enjoyed the storyline that drifted when the King was unhappy.
WOW
This was a great read because of non-stop story telling from the chair. I enjoyed the storyline that drifted when the King was unhappy.
March 12, 2015
Read this over and over as a child because I read any words in a row. Don't judge me! The tone and text were very dated even in the 1970s. But the stories stuck with me, I admit.
June 5, 2019
I am tempted to give five stars to this charming, lovely little book. If I had read this as a child, it would have been one of my most cherished memories. I am glad to have discovered it at all.
November 22, 2023
My all time favourite book. So magical, a forgotten gem.
April 12, 2021
Somewhere in my youth I discovered this book. Having long been a fan of the Brothers Grimm, these tales are reminiscent of them but lighter in tone.
March 13, 2022
BJU Press has reprinted a fairy tale that will enchant readers young and old. Despite its age (written in 1857!), The Wonderful Chair has much for modern readers to glean. The main character, Snowflower lives with her grandmother, Dame Frostyface. Her grandmother planned to be away and she told Snowflower to lay her head on the grandmother's armchair and request a story whenever she felt lonely. When the food stores began to get low, Snowflower asked the chair to take her the way that her grandmother went.
Snowflower learns of a feast in honor of King Winwealth's daughter and decides to join them. She feels ashamed of her shabby appearance but she is grateful to eat the scraps that the cook threw away. The guests were intrigued by the chair that had transported Snowflower and when the king's spirits were low, his favorite page reminded his majesty about the little girl and her curious chair. She was asked to report to the king and Snowflower said the magic words and the chair began to tell a story. Each story offered a moral lesson and upon its conclusion, Snowflower was rewarded with gifts and progressively nicer locations to eat and sleep.
Children will not only adore Snowflower, but will admire her bravery and loyalty to Dame Frostyface when she ventured out to find her. How long will Snowflower remain at the palace? Will she ever find her Grandmother? You'll have to read the book to find out! I highly recommend this wholesome read full of great life wisdom!
Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Wonderful Chair from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.
Snowflower learns of a feast in honor of King Winwealth's daughter and decides to join them. She feels ashamed of her shabby appearance but she is grateful to eat the scraps that the cook threw away. The guests were intrigued by the chair that had transported Snowflower and when the king's spirits were low, his favorite page reminded his majesty about the little girl and her curious chair. She was asked to report to the king and Snowflower said the magic words and the chair began to tell a story. Each story offered a moral lesson and upon its conclusion, Snowflower was rewarded with gifts and progressively nicer locations to eat and sleep.
Children will not only adore Snowflower, but will admire her bravery and loyalty to Dame Frostyface when she ventured out to find her. How long will Snowflower remain at the palace? Will she ever find her Grandmother? You'll have to read the book to find out! I highly recommend this wholesome read full of great life wisdom!
Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Wonderful Chair from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.
October 5, 2022
A robin who turns into an old man, shepherds who shear wolves, and a dog who is really a prince. These are just some of the weird and wonderful characters in this enchanting set of fairy tales. Any child who loves Hans Christian Anderson will love these fairy tales full of adventures in medieval forests and flower-filled meadows. They have moral lessons like all good fairy tales!
Dame Frostyface leaves her granddaughter, telling her that an unusual chair will tell her tales if she is lonely. Snowflower sets off to find her eventually, and hears about a wonderful feast that King Winworth is giving for Princess Greedalind, so she asks the chair to take her there. It surprises her that no one is happy at the royal court, and they don't treat her well. They like the chair's stories, however, and progressively reward Snowflower. Will she find her grandmother, though?
Almost all children would like these stories, I think.
I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781646260843
PRICE $6.99 (USD)
Dame Frostyface leaves her granddaughter, telling her that an unusual chair will tell her tales if she is lonely. Snowflower sets off to find her eventually, and hears about a wonderful feast that King Winworth is giving for Princess Greedalind, so she asks the chair to take her there. It surprises her that no one is happy at the royal court, and they don't treat her well. They like the chair's stories, however, and progressively reward Snowflower. Will she find her grandmother, though?
Almost all children would like these stories, I think.
I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781646260843
PRICE $6.99 (USD)
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