The Classic Fairy Tales

by Iona Opie, Peter Opie, the late Peter Opie

Book Overview

Everyone has at one time been inspired or enchanted by fairy tales, with their evil witches, pure princesses, heroic princes, and happy endings. Yet over the years, most of these popular tales have undergone many transformations, as editors and storytellers have shortened and sentimentalized them, as well as slanted them to suit the demands of the time.
Now reissued, Iona and Peter Opie's magnificent The Classic Fairy Tales, presents twenty-four of the best-known fairy tales in their original written form. Drawing on years of expertise, the editors provide introductions to each fairy tale, tracing the development of each story and noting points of interest. We learn, for example, that in a 17th century version of "Sleeping Beauty", the prince actually raped the princess in her sleep. Goldilocks, it turns out, evolved from the little old woman of the original story into a young girl. Little Red Ridinghood was actually eaten by the wolf, and in an early version of the "Frog Prince," the princess had to sleep with the frog to free him from his spell.
With classic tales from the likes of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen, and the works of such famous illustrators as Gustav Dore, Kate Greenaway, and George Cruikshank, The Classic Fairy Tales brings to life the charm and beauty of these timeless favorites.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192115596
• ISBN13: 9780192115591
• Release Date: June 1974
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.1" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 7 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 2 and higher

Customer Reviews

so many pages torn out

A lot of stories where torn out ! Even snow white very disappointed

One of my favorite books of all time

My mother got this book for me when I was a child, and needless to say, it changed the way I learned fairy tales. Iona Opie presents some classic fairy tales as they were ORIGINALLY written... Dark, lurid, mysterious, and pessimistic. The artwork littered throughout the pages is commendable even if it were its own title. I love this book so much that I have purchased it as a gift for countless friends, including a pen pal from Japan who found it amazing that our Western fairy tales (the stories told to our ancestors as young children) were indeed so graphic. Great, great book -- a classic. Hope this one never goes out of style.

An invaluable reference

Everything the Opies write is fascinating and approachable, and this book is a revelation. All these tales, familiar and no-longer-so-familiar, are great to read in this age of sanitised, bowdlerised, or Disneyfied folktales. But the historical details of how the stories evolved, what and from where the variants are, and the significance of various elements of the stories - all these are of great general interest, and are also invaluable to the storyteller needing to do a bit of research.