The Blue Fairy Book

The Blue Fairy Book is a part of series by Andrew Lang, (1844 – 1912) a Scotish poet, novelist, and literary critic. Lang contributed to the fields of history, anthropology, and folklore scholarship, and wore a luxurious mustache like a push-broom. But it is for his fairy tales that he is remembered today. This volume is the first in his series of color-coded fairy books, and likely the best. It contains familiar tales such as Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, and so on. That said, this collection was edited (not "written") by Andrew Lang. He didn't even collect them himself from the oral tradition. His masterful feat, however, was to put the hundreds of folk stories into one large collection, packaging them up into a beautiful twelve-book series.

Thus Lang's collection contains the original, non-Disney-fied versions of these famous tales, complete with hints of terror and gore. The language is somewhat "high," as it was compiled in the 19th Century, but don't be deterred. If you're reading to a youngster, you might replace some of the words with more familiar (and sometimes less racy) ones. Rejoice in such a collection of wonderful, unadulterated folk stories that everyone knows, but most haven't read first hand. The Blue Fairy Book contains:

THE BRONZE RING
PRINCE HYACINTH AND THE DEAR LITTLE PRINCESS
EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
THE YELLOW DWARF
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
IN THE WOOD
CINDERELLA; OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER
ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP
THE TALE OF A YOUTH WHO SET OUT TO LEARN WHAT FEAR WAS
RUMPELSTILTZKIN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
THE MASTER-MAID
WHY THE SEA IS SALT
THE MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTS
FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS
THE WHITE CAT
THE WATER-LILY
THE GOLD-SPINNERS
THE TERRIBLE HEAD
THE STORY OF PRETTY GOLDILOCKS
THE HISTORY OF WHITTINGTON
THE WONDERFUL SHEEP
LITTLE THUMB
THE FORTY THIEVES
HANSEL AND GRETTEL
SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED
THE GOOSE-GIRL
TOADS AND DIAMONDS
PRINCE DARLING
BLUE BEARD
TRUSTY JOHN
THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT
THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL
THE STORY OF PRINCE AHMED AND THE FAIRY PARIBANOU
THE HISTORY OF JACK THE GIANT-KILLER
THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY
THE RED ETIN