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lsparrow's review
3.0
I love reading fairy tales - and especially a whole collection - I love seeing the common themes that the different ways the same stories are told. Although I may not agree with all of the messages - i am always interested to see how social norms get played out in these stories. In this collection - I was particularly interested in the themes of forgiveness and justice and the choices that characters make in regards to this. Not my favorite collection of stories but a few new ones I have not heard told in that particular manner.
onespaceymother's review
4.0
Started reading a story or two a night. These fairy books were a staple of my youth, largely because of the illustrations. These are not the friendly children’s fairytales of Disney, but a cultural storytelling review.
kaylaarnold's review against another edition
4.0
I'm glad that I took the time to read some old fairy tales, most of which I've never heard before. The only thing I didn't like was that it was so mentally exhausting to read a whole story in just a few pages.
rosekk's review against another edition
4.0
This isn't my favourite of Lang's fairy books so far - some of the stories failed to capture my interest as well as others. Still, the illustrations in this edition are lovely and I still found plenty to loke about the tales.
iceangel9's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The fourth book in Lang's classic fairy tale collection. A must read collection of classic fairy tales.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
I grew up with a copy of Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book. I loved that hardback edition of fairy tales. I read it and reread it and reread it. At that time, I had no idea that there were a whole set of color fairy tales to be had. But I had such fond memories of it that when I spied a modern edition of The Yellow Fairy Book at our Friends of the Library Book Shop in 2015, I just had to bring it home with me. I have to admit that it wasn't as spellbinding to my adult self as that first fairy tale collection was to my younger self.
There is something very magical about fairy tales for children. The simple phrase "Once upon a time..." sets the stage for all sorts of wonderful adventures. Adventures that feature girls no bigger than your thumb, a boy who can turn into a wolf, and a talking stove as well as the traditional princes, princesses, giants, witches, elves, and giants. In fact I was already familiar with a number of the stories collected here--including "Thumbelina," "The Six Swans," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Glass Mountain," and "The Nightingale." These are also some of the best tales in the book and I did still enjoy the visit to fairy land...with a few reservations.
[pardon me a moment as I step onto one of my soap boxes...]
I didn't realize when I picked up the book that Andrew Lang's collection had been "edited" by Brian Alderson. Edited here means that Brian made whatever alterations he thought necessary to make these more palatable to a modern audience. I'm not going to argue the pros and cons of those decisions--what I will do is give my opinion that if Mr. Alderson wanted to put together a "more acceptable" collection of fairy tales, then he should have done so with his own book. He shouldn't have been given Andrew Lang's collection and then been given free rein to decide whether the versions Lang included were appropriate or the most "readable" or whatever. Part of the charm of the Blue Fairy Book (as I recall) was that I knew (even as a youngster in the late 1970s) that I was stepping into a different time period--an era that believed in fairies and magic and dragons, etc. and a time period that may have thought other things that were no longer true as well. I knew that this time period didn't represent my time period and I didn't expect it to.
But setting aside the rightness of whether he should have made the choices at all, I also have trouble with some of the choices themselves--he tells us that he has gotten rid of some of Lang's selections because they weren't interesting, but then he keeps variations of stories that are virtually the same. For example, we have multiple variations of the simpleton (or the least favored or what-have-you) winning the day through virtue of having made the right friends--gluttons who can eat everything, men who can make things cold or can see great distances; friends who can help him perform the impossible tasks required of him. If the point is to have a better offering of stories all arond, then I would think variety would be a good standard to meet as well.
Overall--still a good selection of fairy tales that should appeal to young readers and I did enjoy them. Just not quite as much as expected.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
There is something very magical about fairy tales for children. The simple phrase "Once upon a time..." sets the stage for all sorts of wonderful adventures. Adventures that feature girls no bigger than your thumb, a boy who can turn into a wolf, and a talking stove as well as the traditional princes, princesses, giants, witches, elves, and giants. In fact I was already familiar with a number of the stories collected here--including "Thumbelina," "The Six Swans," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Glass Mountain," and "The Nightingale." These are also some of the best tales in the book and I did still enjoy the visit to fairy land...with a few reservations.
[pardon me a moment as I step onto one of my soap boxes...]
I didn't realize when I picked up the book that Andrew Lang's collection had been "edited" by Brian Alderson. Edited here means that Brian made whatever alterations he thought necessary to make these more palatable to a modern audience. I'm not going to argue the pros and cons of those decisions--what I will do is give my opinion that if Mr. Alderson wanted to put together a "more acceptable" collection of fairy tales, then he should have done so with his own book. He shouldn't have been given Andrew Lang's collection and then been given free rein to decide whether the versions Lang included were appropriate or the most "readable" or whatever. Part of the charm of the Blue Fairy Book (as I recall) was that I knew (even as a youngster in the late 1970s) that I was stepping into a different time period--an era that believed in fairies and magic and dragons, etc. and a time period that may have thought other things that were no longer true as well. I knew that this time period didn't represent my time period and I didn't expect it to.
But setting aside the rightness of whether he should have made the choices at all, I also have trouble with some of the choices themselves--he tells us that he has gotten rid of some of Lang's selections because they weren't interesting, but then he keeps variations of stories that are virtually the same. For example, we have multiple variations of the simpleton (or the least favored or what-have-you) winning the day through virtue of having made the right friends--gluttons who can eat everything, men who can make things cold or can see great distances; friends who can help him perform the impossible tasks required of him. If the point is to have a better offering of stories all arond, then I would think variety would be a good standard to meet as well.
Overall--still a good selection of fairy tales that should appeal to young readers and I did enjoy them. Just not quite as much as expected.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
toad_maiden's review
3.0
Favourites here: "Six Swans," "The Nixy," "Fairer-than-a-Fairy," "The White Duck," "The Story of King Frost," "The Swineherd," "The Blue Mountains," "Thumbelina," and "The Story of a Darning-Needle."
jennoux's review against another edition
2.0
I feel like I saw pretty much the same thing in all my reviews for these books but it was enjoyable. Some were boring and other were good.
hiba59's review
4.0
Haven't quite enjoyed it as much as the previous tomes, I've considered some stories to be a bit vulgar to be read to kids.