The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales

by Maria Tatar

Hardcover, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

398.2

Publication

bca (2002), Edition: annotated edition, Hardcover, 445 pages

Description

In this illuminating work, a leading expert in the field of folklore guides readers through 26 fairy tales, exploring their historical origins, their cultural complexities, and their psychological effects on children.

User reviews

LibraryThing member caerulius
I have a passion for fairy tales. This one is a good reference, covering multiple versions of each in the annotations, and providing notable illustrations that have served them over the years. An excellent book for lovers of fairy tales, it addresses not only the universally known standards, but a
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few of the less paraded tales as well.
Tales include:
Little Red Riding Hood
Cinderella, or The Glass Slipper
Hansel and Gretel
Beauty and the Beast
Snow White
Sleeping Beauty
Rapunzel
The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich
Rumpelstiltskin
Jack and the Beanstalk
Bluebeard
The Juniper Tree
Vasilisa the Fair
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Molly Whuppie
The Story of the Three Little Pigs
Donkeyskin
Kate Crackernuts
Master Cat, or Puss in Boots
The Story of the Three Bears
Tom Thumb
The Emporer's New Clothes
The Little Match Girl
The Princess and the Pea
The Ugly Duckling
The Little Mermaid

It also includes biographies of Authors, and artwork by Gustave Dore, George Cruikshank, Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham and Maxfield Parrish, among others.
A beautiful book.
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LibraryThing member DOWTONg
This is a wonderful book with which to truly understand many of these classic fairy-tales. Being both annotated and illustrated provides one with a more honest sense of what was meant and seen in the time that the story was written.
LibraryThing member waltzmn
This book has both the strengths and the weaknesses of the "Annotated" series. Strengths, in that it takes good material and makes it better. Weaknesses, in that it sometimes really misses the (probable) point.

To take an example, the book makes no strong distinction between FOLK tales and COMPOSED
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tales such as the work of Hans Christian Andersen. This is a significant point, because folk tales look backward (they had to appeal to those who transmitted the tales), whereas the modern tales had to look forward (Andersen had to get someone to publish the things). A modern tale will have a modern moral, often making it easier to understand. An old tale may focus more on the methods and motifs of folklore.

Then, too, a folk tale is a cultural study in miniature. This should be brought out, and too often it isn't. The studies of folk motifs are considered some of the most important elements in the field, and they aren't studied here.

Bottom line: If you really want to get your folklore right, this book isn't for you.

On the other hand, if you want a nice mix of familiar fairy tales, with some that are less familiar, and if you want a few hints at tricky points, this is a very good book. And the source notes are helpful if not as full as I would like. The book also shows the way a number of illustrators have handled the tales. I found this distracting -- folktales are oral, not painted! But the variety of illustrations is genuinely interesting.
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LibraryThing member Kayla.Krantz
This book offers a wonderful look at the fairy tales we've heard as children, but in the glorious splendor of their original forms. We also get a look at the different authors involved, and the evolution of some of the more "favorite" fairy tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood".

Subjects

Language

Original publication date

2002

Physical description

445 p.; 10.16 inches

ISBN

0393051633 / 9780393051636

Local notes

Fresh translations of 26 traditional stories (primarily European), accompanied by engrossing annotations on original oral traditions and cultural contexts, and the varied interpretations imposed by critics over time and across philosophical and psychological perspectives.

Hundreds of colour reproductions of period illustrations, biographies and a few variant texts also included.

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