Fables and Fairy Tales Books

We were given this book when my children were ages 4 and 6. At the time, I was involved in trying to save natural areas near our neighborhood. The kids loved this book, I loved this book, and we all understood the relationship between fairies, using your natural gifts, and pursuing your dreams. I was surprsed the kids loved it as much as they did (girl and boy). We still read the story about once a year -- always aloud, even thought the kids are now 9 and 11! We, too, loved the rhyme, almost like a chorus, which another reviewer shared. The illustrations are also lovely.

Wasn't sure my son would go for this book, because the main character is a girl who loves to jump rope (not our usual fare), but I was enamored with it and gave it a go. I'm glad I did, because he loved it. The writing flows very nicely, and has it's own 'Old World charm' - "Elsie Piddock skips as never so." Lots of fun to read, and a great story about standing up for what is important to you sort of snuck in there...
Buy this book as a gift for anyone who has girls because they will surely love it!

Any child, and I am now fifty-nine years old, who can recite Andy Spandy's ropeskipping rhyme has me for a friend. This is one of those tales for children that sounds better being told aloud by a good reader. When I was growing up, both my parents loved to read aloud, and my sister and I heard many fine tales before the fireplace, listening to mother or father.
But the lilt of the language as the rope swings round is the unforgettable part:
ANDY SPANDY SUGARDY CANDY
FRENCH ALMOND ROCK!
BREAD AND BUTTER FOR YOUR SUPPER'S
ALL YOUR MOTHER'S GOT!

There may be no better book for reading aloud to pre-teens. Originally one of the stories in Farjeon's "Tales Told Under the Green Umbrella" -- long out of print -- Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep is easily as much fun for the adult reader as for the young listener, and in this case that is saying a great deal. It is actually two consecutive stories (ideal for consecutive nights), one a delightful fantasy of fairies and skipping rope -- just as appealing to boys as to girls, honest -- and the second an adventure, at once enthralling and emotionally satisfying, with an ending that will bring tears of delight to all who hear it.

I registered for this book for our infant, and I can't wait to read it to her (a few years from now, obviously...). Unlike some Aesop's Fables (which are rewritten or dumbed down) this one is a 17th Cent. trans by L'Estrange with engravings. It's clever and amusing (so many of the fables have to do with avoiding court flattery! Obviously quite a concern for them...) If you're looking for a picture book for young children, this probably is not what you're looking for, but if you want to fill your child's library with educational classics, this is a great choice.

This 17th century translation by Everyman's Library, while at times difficult because of the Elizabethan English, contains expanded reflections that explain the moral behind each story. This edition emphasizes the importance of character building and morality rather than mere entertainment. Presented in a schoolbook style, this text is a wonderful book for adults as well, especially those concerned about the education of their children. Be sure to read the Preface. Includes a lengthy introduction to the life of Aesop.

Legend has it that Aesop lived during the sixth century BC. He was born a deformed slave and in some of the early stories was said to of had a speech impediment as well. In his lifetime he supposedly was owned by two different masters before the latter of which gave him his freedom as a reward for his wit and intelligence. As a free man it is theorized that he then became involved in public affairs and traveled a lot, telling his fables along the way. His fables went on to be among the first printed works in the vernacular European languages, and writers and thinkers throughout history have perpetuated them to such an extent that they are embraced as among the essential truths about human beings and their ways. All fables told before him came to be attributed to him, and all fables told after him were said to be influenced by him. At the beginning of this book are some short stories about Aesop the man, from the time he was a slave up through when he was freed and became a philosopher. The later parts of the book then contain the actual fables themselves that Aesop told (I believe there are 84 in all). Although I liked some of the earlier stories, I still enjoyed the later parts better.

In the early stories Aesop seemed at times like a detective using his wits and intelligence to help solve cases. A lot of it just seemed like common sense, but some of the other stories had morals in them as well. In the very first story for instance (pg. 18), which also happened to be one of my favorites, Aesop and his fellow slaves are upon a journey to Ephesus. When given a choice of burdens to carry Aesop chooses a pannier of bread that at first was twice as heavy as any of the other parcels, and this made all of the other slaves think him a fool. By the time they had all eaten from this pannier for lunch and dinner however, Aesop then had the lightest burden of all to carry at a time of day when they were all at there weakest. This showed them that he had a lot more sense then they had first given him credit for. The main moral expressed here was that you can't judge a man's intelligence just by this appearance. (I'm sure in more modern times this went on to became "You can't judge a book by it's cover".)

The fables themselves were then split up into three parts. "The Story", "The Moral", and then "The Reflection". The Story and the Moral I believe expressed Aesop's initial writings and were usually very short and straight to the point, while the Reflection I believe was added on by the translator Sir Roger L'Estrange in 1692. While helpful at times, The Reflection on occasion seemed redundant and unnecessary in instances where it just reworded each of the morals.

Aesop's fables tried to teach man what behaviors they should not do as opposed to teaching them what they should do. Over the years movies and television shows have touched upon many of these themes and many religions have drawn upon and adopted these teachings as well. The Greek gods (Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Juno, Hercules, etc...) are well represented in quite a few of these fables. My favorite of these was "Mercury and a Carpenter" (pg. 219). Part of the story involves a carpenter who dropped his axe into a river and prayed to Mercury to retrieve it for him. Mercury shot down and first brought up a golden axe out of the river, but the carpenter refused it admitting that it wasn't his. Mercury then brought up a Silver one, and again the carpenter refused it because it was not his. The third time Mercury brought up one with a wooden handle that the carpenter recognized as his own and accepted. Mercury was so impressed with the carpenter's honesty that he gave him all three axes, by this we are supposed to learn that Heaven loves Men of Truth and Integrity.

Almost every fable uses what now would be considered common metaphors (the sly fox, the loyal dog, the rogue wolf, the traitorous snake, the innocent lamb, the kingly lion, the stupid jackass, etc...). A brief listing of the fables I liked the most and the morals learned in each are listed below:

In "A Dog and a Shadow" (pg, 53) we learn that all who covert are lost. Later I'm sure this became better known as "a bird in the hand is better then two in the bush".
In "A Lion and a Mouse" (pg. 70) we learn that the Great and the Little have need of one another.
In "A Wolf, Kid, and Goat" (pg. 92) we learn that there is always some mark to tell a hypocrite so disguised. Use prudence, caution, and obedience (a wolf in sheep's clothing will always be revealed).
In "An Ax and a Forest" (pg. 116) we learn that nothing goes nearer a Man in his Misfortunes, than to find himself undone by his own folly, or be an accessory to his own Ruin.
In "A Fox and a Sick Lion" (pg 126) we learn that the kindnesses of ill-natured and designing People should be thoroughly considered and examined, before we give credit to them.
In "A Boy and False Alarms" (pg. 154) we learn that he must be a very wise Man that knows the true Bounds, and Measure of fooling, with a respect to Time, Place, Matters, Persons, & c. But Religion, Business, and Cases of Consequence must be excepted of that sort of Liberty.
In "A Boy and His Mother" (pg. 182) we learn that we are either made or marred in our Education; and Governments, as well as private Families, are concerned in the Consequences of it.
In "A Gnat Challenges a Lion" (pg. 309) we learn that Its in the power of Fortune to Humble the Pride of the Mighty, even by the most Despicable Means, and to make a Gnat Triumph over a Lion: Wherefore let no Creature, how Great or how little so ever, Presume on the One side, or Despair on the Other. There is nothing either so Great, or so Little, as not to be Liable to the Vicissitudes of Fortune, whether for Good or for Evil.

The Everyman Library deserves congratulations for reprinting the L'Estrange translation, which has been a much loved, much abused, and highly influential collection of Aesop since it first appeared in 1692. Its merits have little to do with its translation, since L'Estrange translated from a Latin translation of the Greek fables, and translated freely at that. Instead, it's the lively retellings, and the shamelessly opinionated "reflections" (usually longer than the fables themselves) that make this volume engaging and unique.

Modern readers will need a good dictionary in order to make sense of the obsolete vocabulary. For instance, this from "A Wolf and a Fox": "The Fox had a fetch in't, and when he saw it would not fadge; away goes he." Readers who want only the fables should look elsewhere, but readers who are interested in how the fables were interpreted, or readers interested in overlooked classics of English literature, will enjoy this.

The edition is enhanced with illustrations by Stephen Gooden, which originally appeared in a limited edition (London, 1936). Readers should note that this edition includes only 197 fables; L'Estrange's editions included 500, but these books are rare and now sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Most of the famous fables--"Hare and Tortoise," "Fox and Grapes," "City Mouse & Country Mouse," "Boy Who Cried Wolf," "Lion in Love"--are here, but "Ant and Grasshopper," "Mice, Cat, and Bell," "The Sun and the North Wind," and "The Two Pots" are not.

The icing on the cake is the inclusion of L'Estrange's LIFE of Aesop, a feature absent from other current editions. The LIFE is largely a legend (as L'Estrange admits), but it's nice to have the legend available.

The Rainbow Fairies are very colorful, but Jack Frost has sent them away and without them Fairyland will be grey forever. Rachel and Kirsty have found Fern and my daughter can't wait to find out what happens in the next book, Sky the Blue Fairy!

My daughter loves this series of books - the biggest problem we have is that she won't stop after one chapter. She's 5, so we do most of the reading, she'll read a paragraph or two, but we do that's it for now. It won't be long before she'll be re-reading them herself. She and her sister love playing fairies now, it's been great for her developing her imagination and her creative play has flourished lately.

We started with book 1 of the Rainbow Fairies and are now on the Weather Fairies Series. I highly recommend these books.

Fern the Green Fairy is book #4 in a terrific read-to-me chapter book series. I think 4- to 6-year-old girls are the target audience. In the series, two girls vacationing on "Rainspell Island" discover a black pot at the end of a rainbow. Through each book, they find a "rainbow fairy" and return her to the pot. Once all 7 are found, color will return to "Fairyland." A wonderful mix of two girls' determination and imagination.

These books are just right for my 6-year old girl. She loves the magic (the 2 human girls can turn into fairies and fly!), the puzzle of finding the color feathers, and also the friendship of the girls and fairies working together. I enjoy reading them too, that's important, they aren't boring to me!

My 12 year old granddaughter has really taken an interest in reading during the last few months and I was looking for a fanciful and fun series after she had read all the Limney Snickets books she could get her hands on.
This fills the bill and today we just ordered 2 more for collection.

Jessie is back in Fairy Realm #2: The Flower Fairies! In this wonderful book,Jessie faces griffins,huge,powerful,and deadly creautures who guard the queen's important items.She also has to deal with flower fairies,who love to dance and play.Read this book to find out more!

This book is the 2nd in the "Fairy Realm" series (the first being 'The Charm Bracelet'). I read this to my girls who are 5 and 7 and they both loved it! It's easy to follow, but has elements that really challenge kids' imaginations. Even my five-year-old spent time contemplating the goings-on in this book inbetween chapters.

In the first book, the heroine, "Jesse" must save the realm from a bad person. But in this book and the subsequent ones, the challenges are in Jesse having to rise to a particular challenge rather than defeat a "bad guy". In this story, it turns out, the folks in the realm are having problems because the Queen's pet Griffins are overzealous in their guard-dog responsibilities while the Queen is away travelling and Jesse must find a way to get them back on task, while simultaneously also working through one of her own problems (she can't dance, but has to do it in a school play).

The book is about 10 chapters long, each one will only take 10 minutes or less to read. It's probably written at a 3rd or 4th grade level so a young reader could read it themselves if they are up to grinding through 100 pages or so.

I personally don't think boys beyond 6 or 7 would be thrilled with this story, but this whole series is perfect for providing a young-girl hero/role-model for the young girl readers. And also, these stories do a very good-job of introducing fairy-tale and mythic elements that kids are going to encounter all through their lives in books and movies.

Overall, a great story and well worth reading for young girls.

Young Jessie is now known as a hero in the Fairy Realm, thanks to her wonderful plan which saved the beautiful Realm from destruction by evil. In fact, she's so loved, and such a hero in Fairy Realm, that the young Flower Fairies want to dance with her. But Jessie can't dance, and that fact is beginning to worry her, as she's supposed to dance in her school play, in front of everyone. However, right now that's the least of her worries, for in the Fairy Realm, the pack of griffins who guard the Queen's treasure house are completely out of control, and destroying the Fairy Realm as she knows it. It's up to Jessie to try to save Fairy Realm before irreparable damage is done. But the worst has yet to come, for the young Flower Fairies have now followed Jessie out of the Realm and into her own world, and it's up to her to protect them from danger.

In this second installment in the FAIRY REALM series, Emily Rodda has brought back the heroic young Jessie, and placed her in a new situation and adventure that will have fans of the previous book in the series THE CHARM BRACELET, jumping for joy. THE FLOWER FAIRIES contains wonderful descriptions of the beautiful young flower fairies, and holds new magical dialogue that is an absolute pleasure to read. The black and white illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are also quite marvelous, and will add faces to each of the characters throughout the story. A must-have for anyone looking to read a delightful fantasy.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Myself and my brother read this book when we were young and enjoyed it tremendously. He recently bought it for his daughter and also gifted me a copy, which I am going to treasure.

My sister and I read this book as children,and really enjoyed it. It is the kind of humour and happenings that children love. I have tried for years to get a copy, but now it is finally being reprinted. I can't believe my good fortune!It is also a favourite of my own children. I will definately be buying several copies. Enid Blyton is the best!

I read this book as a child and was enthralled by it. I still enjoy reading it today as an adult. I highly recommend it for any child! Enid Blyton has a gift for wrapping you up in world of the Faraway Tree and all it's adventures!

I cannot encourage teachers, librarians and parents enough to add Enid Blyton and especially this series to their shelves. Great bedtime read-aloud, excellent introduction to listening to chapter books.
Note to owners of older copies, this new version has been altered. I was slightly shocked when my copy arrived. The names of the children were different than in my old used copies of the first two stories! Bessie is Beth, Fannie is Frannie, Dick is Rick and Jo is Joe. It's not a big deal and I just say the old British version as I read aloud, but I wish I'd known that it had been revised. I also suspect that some words were 'updated', but it's not terribly noticable. I'm just glad another Blyton book is back in print!

These stories will give you goose bumps! Very well written. It was even better because I am from this area. It was creepy to read about places you see everyday. I hope to see more from this author.

Mr. Gorman is a Master at bringing out the goosebumps. This book is a MUST read and I hope there are many more books on the way in the very near future.

Bill Gorman is the next Steven King.. I was looking over my shoulder thinking someone was there, making the hairs on my neck stand up... Made it feel so real while reading...

I suppose most of us sometime in our lives has felt a chill, heard a voice, seen a shadow and we look around expecting to see someone but no one is there. If we were to ask ten people if they have ever encountered something like this, more than half would say they have. We are all touched with the supernatural but some have had more intense experiences than others and we are told these stories in this excellent work Ghost Whispers, by author William Gorman.
The setting, north-central Illinois in the midst of small towns and common people is where we begin our journey. The stories, not so common as we are treated to the tales of mysterious ghost like walkers in many different situations, a heartbroken mother singing lullabies to the child of her heart and the tale of a young girl named Ellen saved from certain death by a friend who had just died, and this is only the beginning.
These stories are written in depth, woven with information that brings you fully into the background of the story you are reading. The tales, hair-raising and spine tingling, draw you to read on and leave you with a knowing that we are not alone and the life we live will impact our eternity. Great job and a wonderful reading experience. Recommended.

Returned memories of my childhood which I can now pass to my grandchildren for some fun reading together.

In my language arts class, we started the folklore unit. My teacher read us this book to give us examples of folklore tales, and we had a lot of fun. We took a 3 page test on this book and we also took notes. This book brought loads of laughter to us, especially when my teacher acted out the stories with an accent and all. Thanks so much for putting the Appalachian hertiage in writing!

I have used this book for years in elementary classrooms, and with my own children and grandchildren. A must for any classroom (grades 1-8). Robert B. Cooter, Jr., Asst. Supt., Dallas Reading Plan, Dallas, Texas.

25 oral tradition folktales with their roots in English mummers and mythology. Even the "Lear" story appears under the title 'Like Meat Loves Salt' These are stories written to be read out loud and help to enchant with the wonderful tradition of spoken folktales. There is also a collection of JACK TALES by the same author. This is the same boy of Jack & The Beanstalk fame. He has 17 other tales about him! Fantastic!

I bought this so my daughters could better understand the Chinese zodiac and all the animals. it has a great story that is very understandable to them (ages 2 and 4) and the pictures are great too. highly recommended.

Cute story about the Chinese Zodiac and why the cat is not in the calendar. Fun illustations. My daughter who is 5, enjoys this book.

I purchased this boook for use in a Third grade unit on China. I ended up using it with my Kindergarten and First grade social studies classes as well. It's a little wordy in parts for the very young children but can be easily abridged without losing the context of the story.

The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac is a picturebook retelling of an ancient Chinese legend of how their annual calendar came to be. The Jade Emperor decreed a grand race between the animals to determine the order of the years. Thirteen animals raced, but the rat, eager to be first, tricked the unfortunate cat into missing the finish line completely - as a result, the rat and the cat remain worst enemies to this very day! Playful color illustrations by Anne Wilson add an enthusiastic touch to this adventurous narrative, rounded out with fun facts about the Chinese calendar and Chinese astrology.

A truly wonderful book. I was given this book by my next door neighbour who was a childrens' book reviewer, and I have loved it ever since. I now read it with my six year old son.

The illustrations by Maurice Sendak, which are much finer, more detailed and more intricate than his illustrations in 'Where the Wild Things Are' and 'The Night kitchen', are beautiful and complement the text wonderfully.

Frank Stockton's prose is lovely to read, easily understood by even younger readers but still provides a salient message about tolerance, acceptance of others and sacrifice for our friends and the community.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. It should be on all school reading lists.

Frank Stockton's "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" is much like the creature in the title. In mythology, griffins can be savage yet kind, untamed but dignified, noble and scheming, all at the same time.

On the surface, the story is a quiet read-aloud tale about the last griffin wishing to see a stone likeness of himself over the doors of an old church. Like the protagonist in Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon," the Griffin is judged solely by his fearsome appearance and humanity's ignorance of a griffin's true nature. The cowardly citizens of the town where the church is located send their young Minor Canon to face the Griffin and find out what he wants. When the Minor Canon assures the populace that the Griffin wishes to see the stone griffin, they turn on him. Even after he leaves the town in an effort to lure the Griffin away, the Griffin's own acts of kindness as a school teacher and a doctor aren't enough to convince the citizens that they have nothing to fear from him.

For older readers, "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" is a brilliant, timeless commentary on society and its faults. Prickly barbs and tart Yankee satire keep poking through what appears to be an old European tale. Mob rule and prejudice displace reason and truth. The Minor Canon can't please the townsfolk, no matter how hard he tries and the Griffin is never appreciated for his efforts.

Maurice Sendak's illustrations are closer in spirit to illuminations found in old manuscripts. They are never intrusive, nor do they demand more attention than the text. The pictures keep pace with the tempo of the story, from gentle and lilting to devastatingly witty. Stockton and Sendak are a duet, perfectly matched though separated in years by the better part of a century.

Children who hear "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" now will cherish it all the more when they're old enough to savor the tangy treat Stockton has hidden inside. Don't let your children miss it.

loved this book as a child - and as an adult - the pictures (black & white sketches) are marvelous and remained with me for years.

Beautifully written tale of the last griffin who visits a town where his image-a statue- has been part of the old church for hundreds of years. The only person with enough courage to speak with the terrifying Griffin is the Minor Canon. The townsfolk are sure that the Griffin will eat their children. Their selfishness and small-mindedness leads them to a life they couldn't have imagined. A great fantasy in a very realistic world!

This is the best book I've ever read.It is great for children as well as for grown ups,who shouldn't forget that they were children once too.

I am a big fan of Oscar Wilde, and this just proves even more how wonderful a writer he is. These stories are for the young and the old. You will laugh and cry. Wilde writes them in such simplicity that they are absolutely wonderful. I personally cried at the end of the story "The Happy Prince" and came very close to doing so for a good number of the other ones. Don't just think that these are sappy kiddy stories though because there is also a great deal of Wilde wit and sarcasm in them. You can't help but smile and laugh. This is really one of those books to share with your friends.

I like this book because there are a few little interesting short stories in it. The fairy tales want to tell us something about social problems. If you read this book it opens your eyes so that you can see that there are these problems in our society too. But the book is also good for little children, because the fairy tales are written in a nice language. They are very pretty,
My favourite story in the book is „The Selfish Giant". Because first the Giant is very selfish and doesn't want the children to play in his garden but afterwards he sees the happiness of the children when they play in his garden and this gives him happiness too. Also the relationship between the little boy and the Giant is great.

I am no expert on Oscar Wilde, but I've been reading fairytales long enough to be able to tell the difference between an enchanting story and a bunch of pap. The nine magically airy yarns in this small collection are definitely in the first category.

"The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant" are perhaps the most famous of the nine. In the first story, the golden statue of a prince weeps for all the suffering people he sees and begs a swallow to strip him of his riches and distribute them to the masses. In the second tale, a giant builds a wall around his beautiful garden to keep out the noisy children, only to find out that he has also locked out the Spring.

"The Young King" is a variation on the theme of "A Happy Prince". When a young monarch learns of the suffering and misery caused by his requirement for a robe, a crown, and a sceptre, he refuses to handle any of these riches and is given a more fitting raiment by a Divine Power. Keeping with the royal theme is "The Star-Child", about a beautiful but horrible young boy whose physical appearance grows to match his ugly spirit. Another little bird appears in "The Nightingale and the Rose", to help a young man win the heart of the woman he loves.

The stories' themes include beauty, tragedy, agony, compassion, innocence, and (Platonic) love. Some characters give their lives, or sell their souls, in the name of love. There are also the same archetypes that appear in dreams: the Divine Child, the Trickster, the Wise Old Man or Woman, the Number 3, and more. Add all this to Wilde's delicate writing and gilded imagination, and you get some of the most original tales ever written.

Though most of these stories end happily, all end tragically. That is to say, even when the endings are happy, someone always dies. Each story manages to associate everything thrilling and exquisite about beauty with the starkness of death. Accordingly, not all of these tales are suitable for children. For example, one scene in "The Fisherman and His Soul" features witches dancing before the devil and the princess in "The Birthday of the Infanta" is a heartless child whose mockery leads to the death of a little dwarf. Though the stories are moral at the core, and often explicitly Christian, they do not always make sense.

Despite the faults, the keening, poignant loveliness shines through, making me want to read each story again and again and again.