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Best Fairy Stories of the World
Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
Of the various types of mythological literature, fairy tales are the simplest and purest expressions of the collective unconscious and thus offer the clearest understanding of the basic patterns of the human psyche. Every people or nation has its own way of experiencing this psychic reality, and so a study of the world’s fairy tales yields a wealth of insights into the archetypal experiences of humankind. Folk tales and fairy stories were originally intended for both adults and children – Grimms’ Household Tales , for instance – and this international anthology brings together ‘The Frog Who Became an Emperor’ from China, ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ from Norway, and ‘Pinocchio’ from Italy as well as the classic stories of Aesop, Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, Charles Perrault and Oscar Wilde, among many others. The masters of children’s book illustration have been chosen for the pictures in this book, and will give it appeal to readers of all ages. They include Arthur Rackham, Charles Robinson, Walter Crane, Howard Pyle and many other masters of the genre. Illustrated by various artists.
Of the various types of mythological literature, fairy tales are the simplest and purest expressions of the collective unconscious and thus offer the clearest understanding of the basic patterns of the human psyche. Every people or nation has its own way of experiencing this psychic reality, and so a study of the world’s fairy tales yields a wealth of insights into the archetypal experiences of humankind. Folk tales and fairy stories were originally intended for both adults and children – Grimms’ Household Tales , for instance – and this international anthology brings together ‘The Frog Who Became an Emperor’ from China, ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ from Norway, and ‘Pinocchio’ from Italy as well as the classic stories of Aesop, Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, Charles Perrault and Oscar Wilde, among many others. The masters of children’s book illustration have been chosen for the pictures in this book, and will give it appeal to readers of all ages. They include Arthur Rackham, Charles Robinson, Walter Crane, Howard Pyle and many other masters of the genre. Illustrated by various artists.
528 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 9, 2021
This book collects sixty-two well-known fairy and folk tales. While the bulk of the stories are European, there are a few entries from Indian, Japanese, Aussie, Slavic, and Middle Eastern folklore. There are several stories which will be familiar to all readers (often by virtue of their Disney adaptations,) such as: “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Snow White.” There are others that are widely known as go-to bedtime stories, e.g. “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” and “The Three Little Pigs.” Then there are others that are likely to be – at most – vaguely familiar to any reader who is not a specialist in global oral storytelling traditions, some because they are anachronistic and relate less well in the modern world and others because they are not well-known in the Western world (e.g. Japanese and Indian stories.)
For the most part, the selection of tales is not surprising. As mentioned, the collection is European-centric with all but about a dozen entries being from Europe. However, given the book is directed toward the English-speaking market, that narrow focus is to be expected. In fact, stories from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson together make up about one-third of the included works. Some readers may take umbrage that the proposed “Best Fairy Stories of the World” includes examples from so little of the world (ignoring Africa, the Western Hemisphere, and the vast majority of Asia, altogether.)
What is strange about the collection is that there are just a few pairs of stories for which both stories in the pair are structurally identical. I’m not talking about having a common theme or moral. The common objectives of these stories often result in them having thematic overlap, but that is not necessarily a problem for readers. For example, there are several “rags to riches” type stories. However, these stories are widely different in story events and characters, such that reading them does not leave one with the feeling of having reread the same story. Instead, I’m talking about instances like the inclusion of both “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Tom Tit Tot.” In both of these stories, the lead is charged with a task they cannot complete, and some magic creature comes along and says they will do the work and, if the person can guess their name, it’s a done deal, but if they can’t guess their rescuer’s name, they will be owned by said savior. Even how the two stories’ endings unfold is identical except in the finest granularity of detail. On one hand, I can see how including overlapping tales would give readers some indication of how these tales spread and became adapted by other cultures. However, on the other hand, I would have preferred that the editor selected the better of the two and use the freed-up space to include, say, some Native American or African stories.
I enjoyed this collection. It took me back to my youth, and also exposed me to some stories with which I was unfamiliar. I do believe the title could have been better worded because to call these the best in the world and then to make them almost entirely from northern Europe could be interpreted as being pretty conceited. However, I doubt there was any such conceit, just a desire to sell stories that would appeal to a particular readership, and then to hype it in as big a way as possible.
For the most part, the selection of tales is not surprising. As mentioned, the collection is European-centric with all but about a dozen entries being from Europe. However, given the book is directed toward the English-speaking market, that narrow focus is to be expected. In fact, stories from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson together make up about one-third of the included works. Some readers may take umbrage that the proposed “Best Fairy Stories of the World” includes examples from so little of the world (ignoring Africa, the Western Hemisphere, and the vast majority of Asia, altogether.)
What is strange about the collection is that there are just a few pairs of stories for which both stories in the pair are structurally identical. I’m not talking about having a common theme or moral. The common objectives of these stories often result in them having thematic overlap, but that is not necessarily a problem for readers. For example, there are several “rags to riches” type stories. However, these stories are widely different in story events and characters, such that reading them does not leave one with the feeling of having reread the same story. Instead, I’m talking about instances like the inclusion of both “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Tom Tit Tot.” In both of these stories, the lead is charged with a task they cannot complete, and some magic creature comes along and says they will do the work and, if the person can guess their name, it’s a done deal, but if they can’t guess their rescuer’s name, they will be owned by said savior. Even how the two stories’ endings unfold is identical except in the finest granularity of detail. On one hand, I can see how including overlapping tales would give readers some indication of how these tales spread and became adapted by other cultures. However, on the other hand, I would have preferred that the editor selected the better of the two and use the freed-up space to include, say, some Native American or African stories.
I enjoyed this collection. It took me back to my youth, and also exposed me to some stories with which I was unfamiliar. I do believe the title could have been better worded because to call these the best in the world and then to make them almost entirely from northern Europe could be interpreted as being pretty conceited. However, I doubt there was any such conceit, just a desire to sell stories that would appeal to a particular readership, and then to hype it in as big a way as possible.
July 6, 2023
This was okay, but not more. I know that old stories have old values, but the misogyny got too much for me. I might continue at some point, but not now. I got to page 179.
February 3, 2020
I just finished it this January 2020!
I bought this in Kinokuniya in Singapore and thought, "Wow, what a fancy book!". Its pages stacked up and look likes it's covered in golden. The book itself is covered in a blue, soft, cloth.
I started reading in December and i just realized, this book actuay got a lot of pages! And a lot of stories, too. Some were my favorite and very common, too, like Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Ali Baba, etc.
The way the writer wrote this story was really good, i can enjoy it very much. This book gave so many new vocabularies that we dont see everyday in social media or magazines.
I kept thinking after reading these stories..
1. Phew, how could they decide marriage that way? Like, so, instant.
2. How could they easily believe things that are told to them? Dont you got to recheck them?
3. Some of them are really good and nice and pure and it makes me feel a little bad because i dont have such behavior.
4. Some of these stories have great plot twists.
5. The illustrations were really great and feel like a "mature" art. I love them. It shows light and darkness.
Well. That's all i got to say. I really love it!
I bought this in Kinokuniya in Singapore and thought, "Wow, what a fancy book!". Its pages stacked up and look likes it's covered in golden. The book itself is covered in a blue, soft, cloth.
I started reading in December and i just realized, this book actuay got a lot of pages! And a lot of stories, too. Some were my favorite and very common, too, like Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Ali Baba, etc.
The way the writer wrote this story was really good, i can enjoy it very much. This book gave so many new vocabularies that we dont see everyday in social media or magazines.
I kept thinking after reading these stories..
1. Phew, how could they decide marriage that way? Like, so, instant.
2. How could they easily believe things that are told to them? Dont you got to recheck them?
3. Some of them are really good and nice and pure and it makes me feel a little bad because i dont have such behavior.
4. Some of these stories have great plot twists.
5. The illustrations were really great and feel like a "mature" art. I love them. It shows light and darkness.
Well. That's all i got to say. I really love it!
April 18, 2020
Beautiful little book which made me want to buy more of this collection. In terms of content, I enjoyed the mix of European and non-European stories, making some tales familiar and others new. Would have been nice to have had more non-European stories, however, and I wish that the tales' origins were written with the tale itself - sometimes it was obvious from context, but other times I would have liked to have known where it was from.
April 10, 2025
While growing up I didn’t have the chance to read these fairy tales, which makes it even more exciting for me to ras them as an adult now. Most of them are not my cup of tea with the expect of Andersen’s stories, East from the Sun and West of the Moon, and a few Japanese tales.
July 3, 2018
Wonderful stories, stunning edition.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews