The Crimson Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang and Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang

Book Overview

It is almost impossible to envision what childhood would be like without the enchanting world of fairyland. Princes and princesses, kings and queens, giants and dwarfs, monsters and magicians, fairies and ogres -- these are the companions who thrill young boys and girls of all lands and all times, as Andrew Lang's phenomenally successful collections of stories have proved. From the day that they were first printed, the Lang fairy books of many colors have entertained thousands of boys and girls, as they have also brought pleasure to the many parents who have read these unforgettable classics to their children.
The Crimson Fairy Book contains a fascinating collection of tales from many countries: Hungary, Russia, Rumania, Finland, Iceland, Japan, and Sicily are only some of them. Filled with imagination, excitement, and adventure, these tales will delight children with their illogical yet strangely reasonable events, and will offer parents a pleasant change from the well-worn favorites. One story -- "The Cottager and His Cat" -- tells of how cats were introduced into Iceland; another Japanese tale -- "The Crab and the Monkey" -- tells how a crab gets the best of a roguish monkey; and a remarkable tale -- "Little Wildrose" -- from Rumania tells how a beautiful child was reared in an eagle's nest.
All in all, the collection contains 36 stories, all narrated in the clear, lively prose for which Lang was famous. Not only are Lang's generally conceded to be the best English versions of standard stories, his collections are the richest and widest in range. His position as one of England's foremost folklorists as well as his first-rate literary abilities make his collections unmatchable in the English language.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 048621799X
• ISBN13: 9780486217994
• Release Date: June 1967
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 8 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 9

Customer Reviews

No child should grow up without Lang and Ford!

Andrew Lang is the most famous and best compiler of fairy tales from around the world in English. His whole color series is worth every penny. This volume contains many largely unknown stories for a nice change of pace from the old stand bys. There are 43 black and white pen and ink illustrations by the famous illustrator H. J. Ford. The pictures make the stories truly come alive. Dover's copies of colored pictures are not great, but they do very well with black and white pictures. Start the series with the Blue Fairy Book and keep reading. These books were treasures from my childhood; I used to just thumb through the pictures and daydream. Happy reading and looking!

Beautiful woodcut pictures and beautiful written prose.

Start with the Yellow fairy book and work your way through. Good for ages 12 and up.

Fascinating collection

What I loved most about this book was the variety of the tales told. Lang's outreach was impressive in what he scooped together for this--once again the more "little-known" tales of the universe in a broad aray of stories arranged from the more traditional type to those that are clearly fables and even a few that I would consider highly original and fantastical. Lang also hits a global impact here as these stories bounce throughout the countries. The stories are lovely as well as the pictures. An excellent addition to any collection.

impressive

The Crimson Fairy book is just another superb fairy tale book edited by Andrew Lang. Unlike most of the Fairy books edited by Lang this one has color illustrations as well as black and white. This book contains 45 black and white, and 8 color illustrations. Along with the illustrations are the stories, ranging in length from a couple pages to almost twenty. There are 36 stories including: The Story of the Seven Simons, The Boy Who Could Keep a Secret, Tiidu the Piper,Paperarello, The Cottager and his Cat, Eisenkopf, The Three Robes, Shepherd Paul, The Magic Kettle, and more.