Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault

Perrault was a Frenchman who took old folk tales and added wit and satire to create a new literary genre, the fairy tale. Born on January 12, 1628, in Paris, France, to a Parliamentary lawyer and his wife, Perrault later attended school and excelled in his studies. After a disagreement with a teacher, Perrault began independent study overseen by his parents and a friend. During this time, his brother, Claude, the mentoring friend, and Perrault took part of Virgil's Aeneid and turned it into comic verse. This was the beginning of Perrault's writing.

From writing, Perrault turned to the study of law, taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer like his father. However, law didn't suit him, so he went to work for Claude in local government service. Continuing with his writing, Perrault penned poetry and saw some of it published and some translated into Italian. Perrault involved himself in matters of the arts, helping establish the Academy of Sciences and worked for the restoration of the Academy of Painting. Then came a significant appointment for Perrault.

Perrault was chosen by the minister of finance to become secretary of the council overseeing the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, which was later known as the French Academy. Perrault advanced to chief clerk of royal buildings, helping Claude get approval of his design for part of the Louvre Museum. After gaining formal admittance to the French Academy, Perrault became chancellor and then director.

Perrault found the woman he would marry while he was older in years, and over time, the young bride gave him four children. Distraught by his wife's death after the birth of their last child, Perrault took a great interest in his children's welfare and education. He provided them with a tutor but oversaw much of their learning himself. Fathering his children and still a writer, Perrault penned the poem "Le Siecle de Louis XIV" which promoted the superiority of modern writers to the classic authors. Reading this aloud to the French Academy sparked three years of intense debate among the literary community and ultimately helped lead to the Age of Enlightenment in Europe.

Toward the end of his life, Perrault tinkered with popular folk tales and published his results under his son's name, Pierre d'Armancour. Perhaps he was attempting to avoid criticism or perhaps he and his son collaborated on the writings. However Perrault found his inspiration, the end result has been the overwhelmingly famous Mother Goose Tales. Many authors later re-adapted his works, such as Little Red Riding Hood or Puss in Boots. His fairy tales have been made into operas, ballets, plays, musicals, and films. Many people would recognize Walt Disney's version of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Perrault isn't often remembered for any of his tales, and at his death on May 16, 1703, he probably couldn't realize how significant his contribution to literature would become.

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15 Items found
Cinderella
by Marcia Brown (translator)
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1955 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Cinderella
by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-8th grade
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Cinderella
by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Shirley Hughes
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Cinderella
by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Diane Goode
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cinderella
by Charles Perrault, retold by Amy Ehrlich, illustrated by Susan Jeffers
from Dial Books for Young Readers
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault
by Charles Perrault
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Little Red Riding Hood
by Charles Perrault, illustrated by W. Heath Robinson and translated by A. E. Johnson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
$15.95
Perrault's Fairy Tales
by Charles Perrault, Gustave Dore
from Dover Publications
for 5th-10th grade
$12.95
Perrault's Mother Goose Fairy Tales
for Preschool-3rd grade
Puss In Boots
by Charles Perrault & Fred Marcelino
from Square Fish Publishing
for Nursery-2nd grade
1991 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.75
Puss in Boots
by Charles Perrault, retold by Lincoln Kirstein and illustrated by Alain Vaes
from Little, Brown & Company
Picture-only Books for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Puss in Boots
by Charles Perrault, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
1953 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Random House Book of Fairy Tales
by Various Authors
from Random House
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-6th grade
in Picture Book Treasuries (Location: PIC-TRE)
$22.99
Sleeping Beauty
by Charles Perrault & Madame d'Aulnoy, illustrated by Edmund Dulac, Gustaf Tenggren and William Robinson
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 1st-6th grade
Sleeping Beauty
by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, illustrated by Edmund Dulac
from Hodder & Stoughton
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)