Published in 1889, The Blue Fairy Book is the first book in the series of story collections known as Andrew Lang's “Coloured” Fairy Books, which bring to life the classic fairytales by Grimm, Madame d'Aulnoy and Perrault among other folklore sources. Most captivating is the fact that the collection features the stories in pristine an unaltered conditions, therefore they contain a darker side than the polished versions most are familiar with from childhood memories.
Featuring 37 tales, The Blue Fairy Book includes many well-known childhood classics such as “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Cinderella”, “Hansel and Gretel” and many more enchanting tales with a bit more z...
Jack the Giant-Killer, Tom Thumb, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, Henny Penny, Dick Whittington, The Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood and a host of immortal characters are found in this delightful collection of English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. The book made its first appearance in 1890 and has remained a firm favorite with both young and old ever since.
Fairy tales have traditionally emanated from France and Germany. The famous compilations by La Fontaine and the Brothers Grimm have overshadowed children's literature for centuries. Yet, many of the stories we recount to children today have an English origin, something that we were unaware of.
The author, Jo...
If this is your first encounter with Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) you're certainly in for a treat! One of the most delightful examples of Victorian humor, this book by Jerome K Jerome is all the way a fun cruise down the Thames River with some funny characters for company.
Three Men in a Boat was originally meant to be a serious piece of travel writing, full of local flavors, legends and folklore about England's mighty river. As it turned out, somewhere along the way, the author Jerome found himself catapulted into a madcap adventure. The plot is relatively simple. It describes three friends, namely, the author himself, Jerome, George Wingrav...
Leonard Leslie Brooke was a talented nineteenth/early twentieth century illustrator who also wrote some delightful children's books. He was well-known for his caricatures, portrait and landscape painting and sketches. He illustrated many children's books, especially those written by Andrew Lang. Some of his famous works are The Nursery Rhyme Book, The Golden Goose Book, Johnny Crow's Party and Ring O' Roses. The Story of the Three Little Pigs was published in 1904.
Most readers would be familiar with this children's tale. The Big Bad Wolf was immortalized in Disney animated pictures, but here he is simply a Wolf. The illustrations by Leslie Brooke himself are re...
Compiled by an American missionary, West African Folk Tales by William H Barker is a delightful collection of folk tales from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and other countries along the west coast of Africa. These stories spread in various forms to other countries like the West Indies, Suriname, the Netherland Antilles, etc and can be still heard today among the people of these countries.
West African Folk Tales is a wonderful read for both young people and older readers alike. The stories are charmingly retold. Most of them are about Anansi, the trickster god of the West African people. He is worshiped as the god of all stories and often takes the form of a ...
“You can’t fool old Mother Nature. No, Sir, you can’t fool old Mother Nature, and it’s of no use to try.” The animals of the Green Meadows and Green Forest have little adventures while Grandfather Frog tells stories to Mother West Wind’s children, the Merry Little Breezes.