Fairy Tales & Fables - Exodus Books

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The striking thing about fairy tales is not their dissimilarity to reality, but their resemblance to life as we know it. We don't fight dragons on our way to work (though we might when we're there) or find magic lamps when we need them, but existence has its ups and downs the same as any story about witches and Princes Charming, even if they're typically less magical. But the people we see in fairy tales are very much like the people we encounter every day, people we can relate to because they experience the same victories and defeats we do.

G.K. Chesterton says in Orthodoxy that a good story used to be about a hero among dragons, while in our modern age what is considered a good story is one about a dragon among dragons. It's true—today, most serious fiction is about lonely people struggling against existential angst in a dark world of cement and automobiles, a world devoid of beauty. Perhaps the great pull of fairy tales is that they aren't serious fiction, that their characters inhabit worlds of magic and wonder, that bad guys are identified by their pointy eyebrows and wicked grins, that eggs are made of gold and princesses have hair long as a castle tower.

But, some will object, this isn't consistent with what we know. Okay, we could respond, what of it? Why must our literature reflect exactly the world we live in, with its prosaic drudgery and numbing ambiguity? Why can't we have heroes who go to the moon on horseback and rescue fair damsels with a well-placed kiss and kill ogres in epic battles beneath enchanted trees? Why shouldn't we read about gnomes and pixies and mushrooms that hold the secrets of the universe? Why do we all have to be boring old people wallowing in ennui?

Or maybe we could put it another way— how do you know there isn't gold in that huge fish too big for fishermen to catch? Are you certain your ugly and mean coworker isn't under a curse....or an evil sorcerer himself? Who's to say all those good things that happened to you last week weren't the result of finding that lucky penny on the sidewalk? Did you really just misplace your socks, or are there brownies under the couch? And when you married the love of your life, wasn't it a bit like climbing a secluded tower, Love's First Kiss, and riding off into the sunset all rolled into one?

It's interesting to note that it was scholars who preserved the old fairy tales in writing. Charles Perrault began the trend in the 17th century, and the Brothers Grimm followed in the 19th, recording what for centuries past had existed only in the minds and speech of the people. Fables (shorter fairy tales with morals blatantly attached at the end) had always been written, but fairy tales themselves were, until these chroniclers appeared, purely oral tradition.

The reason is plain—stories of the common people, they offered clearly defined morality, hopefulness, and entertainment beyond the merely mundane, all set in the context of violence, oppression and injustice they knew so well. This isn't the kind of thing that gets written down, because then it would lose its power and its capacity for refuge from the horrors of actual existence.

Fortunately for us, however, they were written down before they dropped forever into the black hole of the Past. Our lives aren't typically as fraught with danger as those of peasants in Medieval Europe or Bushmen in deepest Africa, but they are just as in need of light and even frivolity. We lose sight of the joy of the magical at the risk of losing sight of the joy of life itself. Fairy tales are nothing if they aren't magical, and less than nothing if they aren't sources of the kind of profound joy their protagonists often seem to enjoy.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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Parent Categories

Fiction & Literature

Literature & Adult Fiction

Literature by Genre

Mythology & Folklore

Fairy Tales & Fables

Subcategories

Andersen's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Related Links

Literary Life Podcast
Episode 70: Why Read Fairy Tales?

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1st grade (Ages 6-7)

	Aesop's Fables Puffin Classics by Aesop Reprint from Puffin Books Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Kindergarten-4th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.99
	Aesop's Fables by Aesop, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger from NorthSouth for 1st-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Aesop's Fables by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham from Macmillan Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $14.99
	Aesop's Fables by Aesop, illustrated by Michael Hague from Henry Holt and Company Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-5th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Aesop's Fables by Aesop, illustrated by Safaya Salter from Gulliver Books for 1st-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Bremen Town Musicians by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger Tra from Minedition for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Bremen Town Musicians by Ilse Plume retelling Brothers Grimm Tra from Dragonfly Books for Preschool-2nd grade 1981 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.99
	Buckwheat Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Classic Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm, retold by Louise Betts Egan, illustrated by Various from Courage Books for 1st-4th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Clod Hans Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Don't Count Your Chicks by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire from Doubleday & Company for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	ECL: Sleeping Beauty and other Tales and other Classic French Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Wayne Brown from Classic Press for 1st-6th grade in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
	Emperor and the Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Bill Sokol from Pantheon Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Emperor's New Clothes by Virginia Burton, illustrator from Sandpiper Books Fairy Tale/Allegory for 1st-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $6.95
	Fables of Aesop by Aesop, illustrated by Edward J. Detmold from Gramercy Books for Kindergarten-4th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Arthur Rackham from George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. for 1st-6th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Arthur Rackham from Weathervane Books for 1st-6th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Nancy Burkert from Harper & Row for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Fir Tree Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Translated by Hans Henrik Breitenstein, Illustrated by Tiziana Gironi from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Flying Trunk and Other Stories from Hans Christian Andersen Retold by Naomi Lewis by Naomi Lewis retelling Hans Christian Andersen from Simon and Schuster for K-3rd in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Fox & the Cat Animal Tales from Grimm by Kevin Crossley-Holland, Susan Varley (Illustrator) from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books Animal Fables for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Val Biro for 1st-4th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Grimms' Fairy Tales The Classic Edition by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Don Daily from Applesauce Press for 1st-5th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $18.95
	Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Louis Rhead from SeaWolf Press for 1st-5th grade in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
	Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger from Minedition for Preschool-2nd grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Val Biro from Gramercy Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson, illustrated by Jiri Trnka 5th Impression, 1965 from Paul Hamlyn for Preschool-2nd grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Hans in Luck by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone from Parents Magazine Press for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Hansel and Gretel by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Susan Jeffers First Edition from Sun Dial Press for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Hansel and Gretel by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader from Weiser & Weiser for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger from William Morrow & Company for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Kaleidoscope of Fairies & Fables by Hans Andersen, Aesop, Kipling & the Brothers Grimm, retold by Robert Mathias from Hamlyn for Kindergarten-4th grade in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	King Grisly-Beard A Tale From the Brothers Grimm by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Edgar Taylor, illustrated by Maurice Sendak from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Little Claus and Big Claus Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman, retelling Grimm from Holiday House Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade 1984 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.99
	Little Red Riding Hood by Paul Galdone, Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm First Edition Thus from HMH Books for Young Readers for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.99
	Michael Hague's Favourite Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Michael Hague from Henry Holt and Company for Kindergarten-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Demi First Edition from Harcourt, Brace & World for 1st-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Alison Claire Darke from Doubleday & Company for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev, illustrated by Erna Voigt from David R. Godine for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Pigkeeper Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen & Dorothee Duntze from North-South Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $7.95
	Rapunzel by Paul Zelinsky from Puffin Books Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade 1998 Caldecott Medal winner in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $9.99
	She Was Good for Nothing Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Shoemaker and the Elves by The Brothers Grimm, translated by Wayne Andrews, illustrated by Adrienne Adams from Charles Scribner's Sons for Nursery-2nd grade in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Sleeping Beauty by K. Y. Craft from Chronicle Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Sleeping Beauty and other Classic French Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault & Madame d'Aulnoy, illustrated by Edmund Dulac, Gustaf Tenggren and William Robinson from Dilithium Press, Ltd. for 1st-6th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Snow Queen A Retelling of the Fairy Tale By Hans Christian Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen, Retold by Allison Grace MacDonald and Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline from HarperCollins for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $17.99
	Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen from Ten Speed Press for 1st-3rd grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Tasha Pym from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 1st-3rd grade in Everyman's Library Children's Classics (Location: FIC-ELC)
	Snow White by Brothers Grimm & Trina Schart Hyman from Little, Brown & Company Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Snow White by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Charles Santore from Sterling Publishing Co. for Kindergarten-4th grade in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $16.95
	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Bess Livings from Laughing Elephant for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Chihiro Iwasaki from Picture Book Studio for Nursery-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm by Brothers Grimm, translated by Randall Jarrell and illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert Sunburst Edition, 1987 from Square Fish Publishing for Kindergarten-3rd grade 1973 Caldecott Honor Book in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $9.99
	Snowdrop Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by P. J. Lynch from Andersen Press for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Steadfast Tin Soldier by Adrian Mitchell, Hans Christian Andersen from DK Publishing for Preschool-1st grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Anderson, translated by M.R. James, illustrated by Marcia Brown from Atheneum for Kindergarten-3rd grade 1954 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $19.99
	Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by P. J. Lynch from Gulliver Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Swamp King's Daughter Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, compiled by Cooper Edens from Chronicle Books for 1st-6th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Three Gay Tales from Grimm by Wanda Gag from E.M. Hale and Company for 1st-4th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Tomie dePaola's Favorite Nursery Tales by Tomie dePaola from G.P. Putnam's Sons for Kindergarten-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Traveling Companion Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Two Brothers by Eugene Schwarz, illustrated by Gabriel Lisowski, translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood from Harper & Row for 1st-4th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, Jerry Pinkney First edition from HarperCollins for Preschool-2nd grade 2000 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $17.99
	Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen from C. R. Gibson for Nursery-1st grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Ugly Duckling - Retelling by Hans Christian Andersen, Retold by Catherine Lukas, Illustrated by Jill Bauman from Reader's Digest Young Families for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	What the Old Man Does Is Always Right Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Wild Swans Scandinavia Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen from Word Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Susan Jeffers from Dial Press for 1st-3rd grade in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $9.00 (1 in stock)

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