Library Essentials Month: A Companion to the Fairy Tale edited by Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna Chaudhri

A Companion to the Fairy Tale edited by Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna Chaudhri. This is another favorite of mine. I have benefited from many of the articles found within but my favorite is "Unknown Cinderella: The Contribution of Marian Roalfe Cox to the Study of Fairy Tale." Overall, an interesting collection of essays about fairy tales, better than other collections of similar ilk actually. A lot of the essentials of fairy tale scholarship are addressed within with an interesting diversity that doesn't feel like it is overreaching itself. In other words, I like this one and recommend it. See the table of contents below to get a feel for it...

Book description from the publisher:

Introduction by Derek Brewer. This book discusses the characteristics of the traditional fairy tale in Europe and North America, and various theories of its development and interpretation. The book deals with the main collections - the Grimm brothers, Hans Andersen, Perrault and Afanes'ev - and with the development of tales in various regions of Europe, including Ireland, Wales, Scandinavia, Germany and Russia, as well as India, where it was once claimed that they originated. The subject of the fairy tale is a controversial one: problems discussed here include the relationship between tales recorded from story-tellers and literary works, the importance of printed works for the spread of the tales, the growth of recent examples with a feminine approach, the spread of popular tales like Cinderella, special types like the cumulative tales, possible effects of TV, and the nature of traditional plots and characters. Above all, the collection is concerned with the distribution and long survival of these tales, and the nature of their appeal.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATHARINE BRIGGS FOLKLORE AWARD 2004.

Contributors: GRAHAM ANDERSON, DAVID BLAMIRES, RUTH BOTTIGHEIMER, DEREK BREWER, MARY BROCKINGTON, ANNA CHAUDHRI, HILDA ELLIS DAVIDSON, ROBIN GWYNDAF, BENGT HOLBEK, DAVID HUNT, REIMUND KVIDELAND, PATRICIA LYSAGHT, NEIL PHILIP, JAMES RIORDAN, PAT SCHAEFER, TOM SHIPPEY, JOYCE THOMAS.

Table of Contents:

Abbreviations
Introduction
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales
Creativity and Tradition in the Fairy Tale
The Ultimate Fairy Tale: Oral Transmission in a Literate World
A Workshop of Editorial Practice: The Grimms' Kinder- und Hausmarchen
Old Tales for New: Finding the First Fairy Tales
Helpers and Adversaries in Fairy Tales
'Catch if you can': The Cumulative Tale
Unknown Cinderella: The Contribution of Marian Roalfe Cox to the Study of Fairy Tale
Hans Christian Andersen's Use of Folktales
The Collecting and Study of Tales in Scandinavia
The Wonder Tale in Ireland
Welsh Folk Narrative and the Fairy Tale
The Ossetic Oral Narrative Tradition: Fairy Tales in the Context of Other Forms of Traditional Literature
Russian Fairy Tales and Their Collectors
Fairy-Tale Motifs from the Caucasus
The Fairy Tale in South Asia: The Same Only Different
Rewriting the Core: Transformations of the Fairy Tale in Contemporary Writing
General Index
Index of main tales and tale-types

Library Essentials: A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language (Part A: Folk Narratives) edited by Katherine Briggs

A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language (Part A: Folk Narratives) edited by Katherine Briggs is an amazing book, one of the largest collections of folklore from one region in print. If every country had a collection like this in print, the world of folklore would be a happier place. Briggs was an impressive scholar and this is only one of her important contributions to folklore studies. It is impressive. And heavy. Truly. Don't drop this one on your foot.

Book description from the publisher:

First published in 1970 to a chorus of critical acclaim, the Dictionary of British Folk-Tales is now regarded as a classic in folklore scholarship.

Arranged in two parts, the first, Folk Narratives, contains those tales told for edification or delight, but not thought to be factually true. The second, Folk Legends, presents tales believed by the tellers to be records of things that actually happened.

Part one is divided into five groups: Fables and Exempla, Fairy Tales, Jocular Tales, Novelle, and Nursery Tales. The Fables are animal stories after the manner of Aesop, that point to a moral or satarize human frailties, and the Exempla too are tales used for moral illustration. The Fairy Tales are narratives containing or hinging upon supernatural happenings, while the Jocular Tales form a great body of drolls, noodle stories, and bawdy tales. The Novelle are narratives in which there is no explicitly supernatural element, and the Nursery Tales include both tales obviously invented for small children, and tales of horror.

Folk Legends are much commoner in Britain than Folk Narratives, and the second part of the Dictionary gives a representative collection of them. They are arranged mainly under subjects treated: Black Dogs, Bogies, Devils, Dragons, Fairies, Ghosts, Giants, Historical Legends, Local Legends, Origin Myths, Saints, the Supernatural and Witches. Many of the tales are given in full, some are slightly shortened and many others are summarized. The sources are given in each case - whether medieval, from nineteenth-century collectors, or from current oral traditions.

Each part of the Dictionary includes a bibliography, a tale-type or classified index, and an index of story titles.

The entire set, all parts, is also available from the Folio Society. I don't own the set, but I would love to. It is on the wishlist! Here's a video from the Folio Society, too. It's actually two sets of three volumes each. What is in the first three is essentially what appears in the copy I featured at the top of this post.

Library Essentials Month: The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales

The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales edited by Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson is the other library essential with a poetry theme today. This is a great collection--unfortunately out of print. I admit I am sentimentally attached to it since the editors used SurLaLune to help recruit and find poetry while they were compiling their manuscript. The result was excellent thanks to the editors' hard work and I was happy to have helped it along just a little.

Book description from the publisher:

Writers and readers have long been inspired by the haunting wisdom and sheer imaginative power to be found in the fairy tales of the immortal Brothers Grimm. The editors have collected more than a hundred poems inspired by Grimm tales and written by our finest living poets. A brilliant and informative anthology, a teachable text.

Jeanne Marie Beaumont first book of poetry, Placebo Effects, was selected by William Matthews for the National Poetry Series in 1997. She teaches at Rutgers University. Claudia Carlson works at Oxford University Press in New York. Her poems have appeared in Heliotrope, Coracle, Space and Time, Fantastic Stories and NYCBigCityLit.comm

From the Introduction:

These poems reveal the complex relationship that exists between contemporary poets and a received body of myth or lore. The Grimm tales are subject to a significant amount of skepticism, of refutation or "talking back," and of fracturing or breaking down. Yet an abiding, if irreverent, affection and appreciation for the tales, an acknowledgment of their continuing pull and metaphoric power also can be discerned. There is a mutual enrichment when poets become tale (re)tellers: the poets keep the stories current and fresh and give them back their original vivacity, rigor, and immediacy, while the stories enable the poets to tap into a vast and resonant source of symbol and cultural history. The tales become again "full of mystery like all living things," released from the confines of the nursery, rescued from ossification or sentimentalization, able again to fill us with wonder, dread, and delight.

Table of Contents (sorry no poets names are listed, but you can see the breadth and length of what is offered):

Introduction Landscape: In the Forest
Voices from the Forest
Afraid to Look Afraid to Look Away
Asleep in the Forest
Gretel
Black Fairy Tale
Further Adventures
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Sleeping Kingdom
Briar Rose
Instructions
Hotel Grimm
Lost in the Forest
Fairy Tales
Fairy Tale
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Maiden Without Hands
The White Snake
The Sister of the Swans
An Embroidery (I)
Cinderella's Story
The Frog Prince
The Stepmother Arrives
Babe in the Woods
The Robber Bridegroom
What Bugs Bunny Said to Red Riding Hood
The Wolf's Postscript to "Little Red Riding Hood"
Grandmother
Gretel, Lost
Hansel Tells Gretel of the Witch
Gretel, from a sudden clearing
Witch Words
The Witch
The Fisherman's Wife
The Sleeper 1 and 2
The Gift
Sleeping Beauty Has Words
The Bear
Snow White and Rose Red
Rapunzel
Rapunzel Shorn
The Prince
Ashputtel
Straw Into Gold
Her Shadow
Snow White in Exile
Dwarves
Fervor
A Spell for Sleeping
from The Sleeping Beauty
The Glass Coffin
Sleeping Beauty's Dreams
The Frog Prince
Fractured Fairy Tale
The Sleeping Princess
Sleeping Beauty
Beauty Sleeping Now
Jealousy
Fable
Immortality
The Objects in Fairy Tales
Snow White: The Mirror
Snow White Turns 39
The Poisoned Apple
Rampion
Rapunzel's Clock
The Glass Slipper
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Masquerade
Cinderella's Life at the Castle
Little Red-Cap
Rapunzel
The Skeptical Prince
Rumplestiltskin Keeps Mum
Kissing the Toad
How to Change a Frog Into a Prince
Where's Wolf?
Hans My Hedgehog
Cinderella
The Robber Bridegroom
The Goosegirl
Rapunzel
The Fisherman's Wife
Sex and Politics in Fairyland
Fairy Tale
Rapunzel
Song for Rapunzel
Cinderella Dream at Ten
Cinderella
The Two Gretels
One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes
Brother and Sister
Cinderella
Gretel
Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale
Rose Red
The Stepsister's Story
Girl Without Hands
Rampion
To the Nixie of the Mill-Pond
Little Red Riding Hood
Lessons from a Mirror
The Wicked Witch
Against Cinderella
The Sleeping Beauty: Variation of the Prince
The True Story of Snow White
Anaconda Mining Makes the Seven Dwarfs an Offer
HM Customs & Excise
Juvenile Court
The Social Worker Finds Hansel and Gretel Difficult to Place
On a Nineteenth Century Color Lithograph of Red Riding Hood by the Artist J. H.
The Peasant Girl
The Ugly Stepsister
Grave Fairytale
Rapunzel: A Modern Tale
Scorched Cinderella
The Girl With No Hands
Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins
Snow White and the Man Sent to Fetch Her Heart
Snow White
Hazel Tells LaVerne
Sleeping Beauty
Achtung, My Princess, Good Night
Ever After
Kissing the Frog
Cinderella
Cinderella and Lazarus, Part II
Twenty Years After
Gretel in Darkness
Hansel's Game
Snow White Over & Over
Snow White: The Prince
From the Journals of the Frog Prince
The Prince Who Woke Briar Rose
Queen Charming Writes Again
Gretel
An Interview with Red Riding Hood, Now No Longer Little
The Archaeology of a Marriage
Two Lines from the Brothers Grimm
The Old Story
Daughters with Toad
Dock
A Fairy Tale
Fundevogel
A Happy Ending for the Lost Children
Nocturne with Witch, Oven and Two Little Figures
Snow White
Conversation with My Father
Transfiguration Begins at Home
Castrato
Poem About Straw
The Wolf in the Bed
The Sleeping Beauty
This Is a Convalescent Home, Not the Fairy Tale Cottage and Always the Good Father
Like Gretel
Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny
Kinder-und Hausmarchen
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography
Index of Poems by Tale
Index of Authors and Titles
About the Editors

And an old review I wrote for it:

While this collection might appear gimmicky to some, a quick persusal of the table of contents will show that many respected poets have used fairy tale motifs in their work. Beaumont and Carlson have gathered numerous poems from a wide range of poets that reflect the enduring themes and characters we inherited through the work of the Brothers Grimm. The usual suspects, such as Anne Sexton, are here but so are some lesser known poets. The anthology is strong and represents many well-known fairy tales along with a few that are lesser known by the general public. The book is recommended for libraries and classrooms in which poetry and/or fairy tales are taught. It also makes great armchair reading for anyone interested in new interpretations of familiar stories.

Library Essentials Month: Disenchantments: An Anthology of Modern Fairy Tale Poetry by Wolfgang Mieder

Disenchantments: An Anthology of Modern Fairy Tale Poetry edited by Wolfgang Mieder is one of two of today's library essentials. Today's theme is poetry if you were wondering. This book is the first collection of fairy tale poetry by various poets published in English to my knowledge. It is a wonderful collection, too, and pretty impressive considering it was compiled before the internet made researching poetry somewhat easier. All of the poetry is thought provoking, but Mieder's introduction is the wonderful resource also. I haven't seen too many articles about poetry and fairy tales like this one and it is a great overview to the genre even 25+ years later.

List of Contents (not in order):

Pantomime Diseases by Dannie Abse
Cinderella by Feroz Ahmed-ud-din
The Princess Addresses The Frog Prince by Elizabeth Brewster
Cinderella by Olga Broumas
Little Red Riding Hood by Olga Broumas
Rapunzel by Olga Broumas
Snow White by Olga Broumas
Dornoschen by Hayden Carruth
Red Riding Hood by Guy Wetmore Carryl
Ripening by Noelle Caskey
Mythics by Helen Chasin
Snow White by Robert M. Chute
The Sleeping Beauty by Leonard Cohen
Rose Red To Snow White by Joan Colby
Dreambooks by Alfred Dewitt Corn
Little Red Riding Hood And The Wolf by Roald Dahl
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs by Roald Dahl
The Princess In The Ivory Tower by Joy Davidman
The Sleeping Beauty by Walter John De La Mare
The Dolls Play At Hansel And Gretel by William Dickey
Epithalamium by John Ditsky
Coach by Eleanor Farjeon
Cinderella Grass by Aileen Fisher
Fairy Tales by Jane Flanders
The Sleeping Beauty by Sara De Ford
Beauty, Sleeping by Arthur Freeman
Ella Of The Cinders by Mary Blake French
Snow White by Robert Gillespie
Gretel In Darkness by Louise Gluck
The Frog And The Golden Ball by Robert Ranke Graves
Mirror by Donald Hall
Antistrophe by William Hathaway
The Gold Factory by William Hathaway
In Dead Air, Under Furious Sun by William Hathaway
Liar Rumplestiltskin Loves by William Hathaway
Rumplestiltskin's Plan by William Hathaway
The Benefactors by Sara Henderson Hay
Interview by Sara Henderson Hay
Juvenile Court by Sara Henderson Hay
The Marriage by Sara Henderson Hay
The Name by Sara Henderson Hay
One Of The Seven Has Something To Say by Sara Henderson Hay
The Princess by Sara Henderson Hay
Rapunzel by Sara Henderson Hay
The Sleeper by Sara Henderson Hay
Rebels From Fairy Tales by Hyacinthe Hill
And When The Prince Came by Robert Silliman Hillyer
Coup De Grace by Anthony D. Hope
Cinderella Liberated by Anne Hussey
The Sleeping Beauty by Mary Hutton
Cinderella by Randall Jarrell
The Marchen (grimm's Tales) by Randall Jarrell
The Sleeping Beauty: Variation Of The Prince by Randall Jarrell
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Johnson
Becoming A Frog by Paul R. Jones
Tellers Of Tales by Chester Simon Kallman
Kissing The Toad by Galway Kinnell
Sleeping Beauty: August by Douglas Knight
The Archaeology Of A Marriage by Maxine W. Kumin
An Embroidery by Denise Levertov
The Dwarf by Gerald Locklin
Rapunzel by Eli W. Mandel
The Sleeping Beauty by Edward Leslie Mayo
Rapunzel Song by Gerard Previn Meyer
Prince Charming by John R. Miller
Cinderella by Roger Mitchell
From The Journals Of The Frog Prince by Susan Mitchell
The Two Gretels by Robin Morgan
Reading The Brothers Grimm To Jenny by Lisel Mueller
Sleeping Beauty by Howard Nemerov
To A Child by Norreys Jephson O'conor
The Sleeping Beauty by Wilfred Owen
The Gingerbread House by John Ower
The Frog Prince by Robert Pack
Frog Prince by Phoebe Pettingell
Cinderella by Cynthia Pickard
Cinderella by Sylvia Plath
Coach Into Pumpkin by Dorothy E. Reid
Modern Grimm by Dorothy Lee Richardson
Maymie's Story Of Red Riding-hood by James Whitcomb Riley
A Sleeping Beauty by James Whitcomb Riley
Cinderella's Song by Elizabeth Madox Roberts
The Frog Prince by Anne Sexton
Little Red Riding Hood by Anne Sexton
Rapunzel by Anne Sexton
Rumpelstiltskin by Anne Sexton
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs by Anne Sexton
Sleeping Beauty by Laurie Sheck
Sleeping Beauty by Jane Shore
Red Riding Hood At The Acropolis by Myra Sklarew
The Frog Prince by Florence Margaret Smith
Vancouver Island by Joan Swift
A Fairy Tale by Phyllis Hoge Thompson
Breasts by Barbara Unger
Rapunzel by Louis Untermeyer
A Sleeping Beauty by Evelyn M. Watson
Lost Cinderella by Edith Weaver
Happy Endings by Gail White
Sleeping Beauty by Elinor Wylie
A Fairy Tale by Vitomil Zupan

Library Essentials: Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature by William Hansen

Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature (Myth and Poetics) by William Hansen is a recent addition to my own library. It offers pretty much exactly what the titles states. And the publisher sums it up better than me so I will offer their words and then apologize for not having a table of contents. The best way to view one is through the Look Inside feature on Amazon. This book is a great resource and uses the Aarne Thompson system. No, most of the tales discussed are not the most commonly known fairy tales, but some of the biggest hits are present.

Book description from publisher:

From Cinderella to The Boy Who Cried Wolf to The Dragon Slayer to the Judgment of Solomon, certain legends, myths, and folktales are part of the oral tradition in countries around the world. In addition to their pervasiveness, these stories show an astonishing longevity; many such tales are found in classical antiquity.

Ariadne's Thread is a mini-encyclopedia of more than a hundred such international oral tales, all present in the literature of ancient Greece and Rome. It takes into account writings, including early Jewish and Christian literature, recorded in or translated into Greek or Latin by writers of any nationality. As a result, it will be invaluable not only to classicists and folklorists but also to a wide range of other readers who are interested in stories and storytelling.

William Hansen presents the familiar form of each tale and discusses the similar ancient story or stories, examining how each corresponds with and differs from that form. He then gives principal sources and, where appropriate, comments on the cultural factors affecting the shape and content of the ancient story, the context of transmission, and issues raised in the secondary literature. Finally, he provides a bibliography of scholarly studies and the pertinent reference in the standard folk-narrative index, The Types of the Folktale by Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson.

Again and again, Hansen demonstrates how ancient narratives are often best understood in the context of the larger tradition. He forces us to rethink the nature of Greek mythology by encouraging an appreciation of the extent to which Greek myths and legends parallel international stories. By virtue of their durability, he says, these orally transmitted stories rank among the world's most successful artistic creations.

Library Essentials: The Interpretation of Fairy Tales by Marie-Louise Von Franz

The Interpretation of Fairy Tales by Marie-Louise Von Franz is today's library essential. Von Franz is who you need to read if you want Jungian interpretations of fairy tales. This is one of her more famous books, but she has many for various fairy tales so it is worthwhile to explore her works and see what may intersect with your personal interests the most. This volume is a great start and overview of Jungian fairy tale theory.

Book description from the publisher:

Of the various types of mythological literature, fairy tales are the simplest and purest expressions of the collective unconscious and thus offer the clearest understanding of the basic patterns of the human psyche. Every people or nation has its own way of experiencing this psychic reality, and so a study of the world's fairy tales yields a wealth of insights into the archetypal experiences of humankind.

Perhaps the foremost authority on the psychological interpretation of fairy tales is Marie-Louise von Franz. In this book—originally published as An Introduction to the Interpretation of Fairy Tales —she describes the steps involved in analyzing and illustrates them with a variety of European tales, from "Beauty and the Beast" to "The Robber Bridegroom."

Dr. von Franz begins with a history of the study of fairy tales and the various theories of interpretation. By way of illustration she presents a detailed examination of a simple Grimm's tale, "The Three Feathers," followed by a comprehensive discussion of motifs related to Jung's concept of the shadow, the anima, and the animus. This revised edition has been corrected and updated by the author.

Marie-Louise von Franz (1915–1998) was the foremost student of C. G. Jung, with whom she worked closely from 1934 until his death in 1961. A founder of the C. G. Jung Institute of Zurich, she published widely on subjects including alchemy, dreams, fairy tales, personality types, and psychotherapy.

Table of Contents:

Preface
Acknowledgments
Theories of Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales, Myths, and Other Archetypal Stories
A Method of Psychological Interpretation
A Tale Interpreted: "The Three Feathers"
"The Three Feathers" Continued
"The Three Feathers" Completed
Shadow, Anima, and Animus in Fairy Tales
Notes
Index

Library Essentials: Once Upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales by Max Lüthi

Once Upon a Time: On the Nature of Fairy Tales by Max Lüthi is today's library essential.

Description from the publisher:

This first paperback edition of the seminal work by the Swiss scholar Max Lüthi will be welcomed by folklorists for its informative survey of the various ways in which fairytales and related genres (local legends and saints’ lives) may be read.

“Lüthi’s lucid and intelligent book is refreshingly welcome.” —Sewanee Review

Table of Contents:

Introduction

1 Sleeping Beauty
The Meaning and Form of Fairy Tales

2 The Seven Sleepers
Saint’s Legend-Local Legend-Fairy Tale

3 The Dragon Slayer
The Style of the Fairy Tale

4 The Uses of Fairy Tales
Cinderella-Hansel and Gretel-The White Snake

5 The Little Earth-Cow
Symbolism in the Fairy Tale

6 The Living Doll
Local Legend and Fairy Tale

7 Animal Stories
A Glimpse of the Tales of Primitive Peoples

8 Rapunzel
The Fairy Tale as Representation of a Maturation Process

9 The Riddle Princess
Cunning, Jest and Sagacity

10 The Fairy-Tale Hero
The Image of Man in the Fairy Tale

11 The Miracle in Literature

Reference Notes
Index

Library Essentials: Best-Loved Folktales of the World edited by Joanna Cole

Today will have two library essentials, two of the best anthologies of world folklore and fairy tales. The second is Best-Loved Folktales of the World (The Anchor folktale library) edited by Joanna Cole. This one is helpful not just because it has so many tales, but because it has sources for all the tales. I've included the entire table of contents below which really says more than I can about this collection that has stayed in print since 1983 for good reason. One really should be familiar with most of the tales presented here.

Book description from the publisher:

A collection of over 200 folk and fairy tales from all over the world, this is the only edition that encompasses all cultures. Arranged geographically by region, this book also includes category index groups that list the stories by plot and character.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Enjoying the World's Folktales
West Europe
Cinderella (France)
Beauty and the Beast (France)
Puss in Boots (France)
Blue Beard (France)
The White Cat (France)
Drakestail (France)
The Doctor and His Pupil (France)
Snow-White (Germany)
The Brave Little Tailor (Germany)
Ashenputtel (Germany)
Rapunzel (Germany)
The Devil's Three Gold Hairs (Germany)
Darling Roland (Germany)
The Fisherman and His Wife (Germany)
The Frog Prince (Germany)
The Goosegirl (Germany)
Tom Thumb (Germany)
The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids (Germany)
Little Red Riding Hood (Germany)
The Juniper Tree (Germany)
The Golden Goose (Germany)
Thousand-Furs (Germany)
Rumpelstiltskin (Germany)
Mother Holle (Germany)
Sleeping Beauty (Germany)
The Queen Bee (Germany)
The Bremen Town Musicians (Germany)
Hansel and Gretel (Germany)
The Merman and the Farmer (Germany)
Crab (Italy)
Bastianelo (Italy)
The Cock and the Mouse (Italy)
The Thoughtless Abbot (Italy)
Don Demonio's Mother-in-law (Spain)
Tonino and the Fairies (Spain)
I Ate the Loaf (Spain)
The Half-Chick (Spain)
A Legend of Saint Nicholas (Holland)
The Hare and the Tortoise (Ancient Greece)
The Fox and the Grapes (Ancient Greece)
The Goose with the Golden Eggs (Ancient Greece)
The Man, the Boy and the Donkey (Ancient Greece)
Eros and Psyche (Ancient Greece)
The Twelve Months (Modern Greece)
British Isles
Jack and the Beanstalk (England)
Jack the Giant-Killer (England)
Tom Tit Tot (England)
The Boggart (England)
Good and Bad News (England)
The Hand of Glory (England)
Lazy Jack (England)
Molly Whuppie (England)
Teeny-Tiny (England)
The Three Wishes (England)
Dick Whittington and His Cat (England)
The Pied Piper (England)
Master of All Masters (England)
Munachar and Manachar (Ireland)
The Field of Boliauns (Ireland)
The Fisherman's Son and the Gruagach of Tricks (Ireland)
The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin (Ireland)
The Birth of Fin MacCoul (Ireland)
Fin MacCoul and the Fenians of Erin in the Castle of Fear Dubh (Ireland)
Black, Brown, and Gray (Ireland)
The Brownie of Blednock (Scotland)
The Midwife (Scotland)
The Wee, Wee Mannie (Scotland)
The Cow on the Roof (Wales)
Scandinavia and Northern Europe
East of the Sun and West of the Moon (Norway)
Boots and the Troll (Norway)
Gudbrand on the Hillside or What the Good Man Does Is Always Right (Norway)
The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body (Norway)
The Lad Who Went to the North Wind (Norway)
The Master Thief (Norway)
The Three Billygoats Gruff (Norway)
The Mastermaid (Norway)
Not a Pin to Choose Between Them (Norway)
Princess on the Glass Hill (Norway)
Why the Bear Is Stumpy-Tailed (Norway)
Why the Sea Is Salt (Norway)
The Tinderbox (Denmark)
Peter Bull (Denmark)
Maid Lena (Denmark)
The Old Woman and the Tramp or Nail Broth (Sweden)
Salt and Bread (Sweden)
The Seal's Skin (Iceland)
The Pig-Headed Wife (Finland)
The Forest Bride (Finland)
God and the Devil Share the Harvest (Latvia)
The Bul-Bul Bird (Latvia)
East Europe
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (Russia)
The Baba Yaga (Russia)
The Firebird, the Horse of Power and the Princess Vasilissa (Russia)
The Story of King Frost (Russia)
Prince Hedgehog (Russia)
Salt (Russia)
The Treasure (Russia)
Woe (Russia)
Clever Manka (Czechoslovakia)
Intelligence and Luck (Czechoslovakia)
Czar Trojan's Ears (Yugoslavia)
A Stroke of Luck (Hungary)
It Could Always Be Worse (Yiddish)
Chelm Justice (Yiddish)
Saint or Horse (Yiddish)
When Hershel Eats- (Yiddish)
Middle East
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (Arabian Nights)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Arabian Nights)
The Fisherman and the Genie (Arabian Nights)
The Donkey Driver and the Thief (Arabia)
The Farmer and His Hired Help (Afghanistan)
Don't Throw Stones from Not-Yours to Yours (Israel)
The Three Hares (Turkey)
Asia
Momotaro or The Peach-Boy (Japan)
The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings (Japan)
The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue (Japan)
The Tale of the Oki Islands (Japan)
The Stonecutter (Japan)
The Wife's Portrait (Japan)
Urashima (Japan)
The Magic Kettle (Japan)
A Taoist Priest (China)
Simple Wang (China)
Faithful Even in Death (China)
The Young Head of the Family (China)
The Most Frugal of Men (China)
The Magic Brocade (China)
Planting a Pear Tree (China)
The Groom's Crimes (China)
A Clever Judge (China)
Money Makes Cares (China)
Drinking Companions (China)
The King's Favorite (China)
The Clever Thief (Korea)
The Tiger's Whisker (Korea)
Hats to Disappear with (Korea)
Why the Parrot Repeats Man's Words (Thailand)
Mister Lazybones (Laos)
The Fisherman and the Gatekeeper (Burma)
The Little Lizard's Sorrow (Vietnam)
The Fly (Vietnam)
The Valiant Chattee-Maker (India)
The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal (India)
How the Raja's Son Won the Princess Labam (India)
How Sun, Moon, and Wind Went Out to Dinner (India)
The Monkey and the Crocodile (India)
Tit for Tat (India)
The Pacific
How Ma-ui Fished Up the Great Island (Hawaii)
Why There Are No Tigers in Borneo (Indonesia)
How Platypuses Came to Australia (Australia)
The Bunyip (Australia)
Africa
Talk (Africa-Ashanti Tribe)
Anansi's Hat-shaking Dance (Africa-Ashanti Tribe)
Anansi and His Visitor, Turtle (Africa-Ashanti Tribe)
How Spider Obtained the Sky-God's Stories (Africa-Ashanti Tribe)
Younde Goes to Town (West Africa)
How Frog Lost His Tail (Africa-Sukuma Tribe)
The Rubber Man (Africa-Hausa Tribe)
The Origin of Death (Africa-Akamba Tribe)
Man Chooses Death (Africa-Madagascar)
The Woman and the Children of the Sycamore Tree (Africa-Masai Tribe)
The Wise Dog (Africa-Yoruba Tribe)
The Hunter and His Magic Flute (Africa-Yoruba Tribe)
The Funeral of the Hyena's Mother (Africa-Yoruba Tribe)
Oni and the Great Bird (Africa-Yoruba Tribe)
The Wooden Spoon and the Whip (Africa-Yoruba Tribe)
Why There Are Cracks in Tortoise's Shell (Africa-Baila Tribe)
The Fire on the Mountain (Ethiopia)
Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky (Africa-Efik-Ibibio)
A Tug-of-War (Africa-Fan Tribe)
North America
People Who Could Fly (Black American)
Baby in the Crib (Black American)
The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story (Uncle Remus)
Paul Bunyan's Cornstalk (Western United States)
The Two Old Women's Bet (Southern United States)
Jack in the Giants' Newground (Southern United States)
Senor Coyote and the Dogs (Mexico)
The Talking Cat (French Canada)
The Indian Cinderella (Canadian Indian)
The Deserted Children (American Indian-Gros Ventre Tribe of Montana)
The Girl Who Married a Ghost (American Indian-The Nisqualli Tribe of Southern Washington)
The Lost Woman (American Indian-Blackfeet Tribe)
The Theft of Fire (American Indian-Chippewa Tribe)
Manabozho and His Toe (American Indian)
The Raven Brings Light (Alaskan Indian)
The Sedna Legend (Eskimo)
Caribbean and West Indies
The Magic Orange Tree (Haiti)
Greedy Mariani (Haiti)
Uncle Bouqui and Little Malice (Haiti)
Bouki Rents a Horse (Haiti)
Anansi Play with Fire, Anansi Get Burned (Jamaica)
How El Bizarron Fooled the Devil (Cuba)
The Story of the Smart Parrot (Puerto Rico)
Central and South America
How the Devil Constructed a Church (Honduras)
Three Magic Oranges (Costa Rica)
The Lucky Table (Costa Rica)
Brer Rabbit, Businessman (Costa Rica)
The Search for the Magic Lake (Ecuador)
The Deer and the Jaguar Share a House (Brazil)
The Five Brothers (Chile)
Index of Categories of Tales
Index of Titles

Library Essentials: Favorite Folktales from Around the World edited by Jane Yolen

Today will have two library essentials, two of the best anthologies of world folklore and fairy tales. The first is Favorite Folktales from Around the World (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) edited by Jane Yolen. Many of the fairy tales were gleaned from the Pantheon Folklore Library which is a large library and also recommended if you are looking for country collections. This volume provides a strong overview of the Pantheon collection.

Book description from the publisher:

A one volume collection of 160 tales from over 40 cultures and traditions, containing both classics and lesser known tales.

I couldn't find a Table of Contents to post and I wasn't devoted enough to type up 160 titles. However, you can see inside the book on Amazon. It is one of the best options for world folklore collections along with the other book I am featuring today.

Library Essentials: The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar

The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar is today's second library essential. Tatar is nearly as prolific as Jack Zipes so it is hard to choose just one book of hers to feature, thus two for today. This one is particularly helpful in understanding the Grimms and their work.

Book description from the publisher:

Murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide, and incest: the darker side of classic fairy tales figures as the subject matter for this intriguing study of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Nursery and Household Tales. This updated and expanded second edition includes a new preface and an appendix containing new translations of six tales, along with commentary by Maria Tatar. Throughout the book, Tatar skillfully employs the tools not only of a psychoanalyst but also of a folklorist, literary critic, and historian to examine the harsher aspects of these stories. She presents new interpretations of the powerful stories in this worldwide best-selling book. Few studies have been written in English on these tales, and none has probed their allegedly happy endings so thoroughly.

Table of Contents:

List of Illustrations
Preface to the Expanded Second Edition
Preface
Children's Literature?
Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales
Fact and Fantasy: The Art of Reading Fairy Tales
Victims and Seekers: The Family Romance of Fairy Tales

Heroes
Born Yesterday: The Spear Side
Spinning Tales: The Distaff Side

Villains
From Nags to Witches: Stepmothers and Other Ogres
Taming the Beast: Bluebeard and Other Monsters

Epilogue: Getting Even

App. A: Six Fairy Tales from the Nursery and Household Tales, with Commentary
App. B: Selected Tales from the First Edition of the Nursery and Household Tales
App. C: Prefaces to the First and Second Editions of the Nursery and Household Tales
App. D: English Titles, Tale Numbers, and German Titles of Stories Cited
App. E: Bibliographical Note

Notes
General Index
Index of Tales

Library Essentials: The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar

The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton Critical Editions) by Maria Tatar is one of today's library essentials. (I have another Tatar book also appearing in a second post.) This is a great companion to The Great Fairy Tale Tradition--it was actually published first. This, too, is often used as a textbook but I'll just let the description and table of contents speak for themselves.

Book description from the publisher:

Fairy tales shape our cultures and enrich our imaginations; their narrative stability and cultural durability are incontestable.

This Norton Critical Edition collects forty-four fairy tales, from the fifth century to the present. The Classic Fairy Tales focuses on six tale types: "Little Red Riding Hood," "Beauty and the Beast," "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard," and "Hansel and Gretel," and presents multicultural variants and sophisticated literary rescriptings. Also reprinted are tales by Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde.

"Criticism" gathers twelve essays that interpret aspects of fairy tales, including their social origins, historical evolution, psychological drama, gender issues, and national identities.

A Selected Bibliography is included.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

The Texts of The Classic Fairy Tales

INTRODUCTION: Little Red Riding Hood
The Story of Grandmother
Charles Perrault, Little Red Riding Hood
Brothers Grimm, Little Red Cap
James Thurber, The Little Girl and the Wolf
Italo Calvino, The False Grandmother
Chiang Mi, Goldflower and the Bear
Roald Dahl, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
Roald Dahl, The Three Little Pigs

INTRODUCTION: Beauty and the Beast
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, Beauty and the Beast
Giovanni Francesco Straparola, The Pig King
Brothers Grimm, The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich
Angela Carter, The Tiger’s Bride
Urashima the Fisherman
Alexander Afanasev, The Frog Princess
The Swan Maiden

INTRODUCTION: Snow White
Giambattista Basile, The Young Slave
Brothers Grimm, Snow White
Lasair Gheug, the King of Ireland’s Daughter
Anne Sexton, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

INTRODUCTION: Cinderella
Yeh-hsien
Charles Perrault, Donkeyskin
Brothers Grimm, Cinderella
Joseph Jacobs, Catskin
The Story of the Black Cow
Lin Lan, Cinderella
The Princess in the Suit of Leather

INTRODUCTION: Bluebeard
Charles Perrault, Bluebeard
Brothers Grimm, Fitcher’s Bird
Brother’s Grimm, The Robber Bridegroom
Joseph Jacobs, Mr. Fox
Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard’s Egg

INTRODUCTION: Hansel and Gretel
Brothers Grimm, Hansel and Gretel
Brothers Grimm, The Juniper Tree
Joseph Jacobs, The Rose-Tree
Charles Perrault, Little Thumbling
Pippety Pew
Joseph Jacobs, Molly Whuppie

INTRODUCTION: Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid
The Little Match Girl
The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf
The Red Shoes

INTRODUCTION: Oscar Wilde
The Selfish Giant
The Happy Prince
The Nightingale and the Rose

Criticism
Bruno Bettelheim, [The Struggle for Meaning]
Bruno Bettelheim, “Hansel and Gretel”
Robert Darnton, Peasants Tell Tales: The Meaning of Mother Goose
Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, [Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother]
Karen E. Rowe, To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tale
Marina Warner, The Old Wives’ Tale
Zohar Shavit, The Concept of Childhood and Children’s Folktales: Test Case―“Little Red Riding Hood”
Jack Zipes, Breaking the Disney Spell
Donald Haase, Yours, Mine, or Ours? Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and the Ownership of Fairy Tales
Maria Tatar, Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales
Antti Aarne and Sith Thompson, From The Types of the Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography
Vladimir Propp, Folklore and Literature
From Morphology of the Folktale
The Method and Material

Thirty-One Functions
Propp’s Dramatis Personae

Selected Bibliography

See? Worth every word and every penny...

Library Essentials Month: Beauties, Beasts and Enchantments: Classic French Fairy Tales edited by Jack Zipes

Beauties, Beasts and Enchantments: Classic French Fairy Tales edited by Jack Zipes is today's library essential. Yes, there seems to be a Beauty and the Beast emphasis this weekend. This is one of the best collections of fairy tales from the French Salon period translated into English. It is the best way to access an English translation of Madame de Villeneuve's entire story of Beauty and the Beast which is actually novella length. Madame Le Prince de Beaumont's derivative of the tale--and the one we are most familiar with--is also in this edition. The small mass market paperback edition, Beauty and the Beast and Other Classic French Fairy Tales, does not have the Villeneuve version. Fortunately, the full version has been reprinted and is much easier to acquire and access.

Zipes's introduction about the salons and the women who dominated them with their fairy tales is also excellent and a great introduction to the topic. Overall, an excellent book and not to be missed if you are interested in the literary history of some of our most popular fairy tales, including those of Charles Perrault which are included in this volume of 36 tales, too.

Description from the publisher:

BEAUTIES, BEASTS AND ENCHANTMENT: CLASSIC FRENCH FAIRY TALES
A new collection of 36 French fairy tales translated by renowned writer and authority on fairy tales, Jack Zipes. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood are some of the classic fairy tales in this amazing book.

Includes illustrations from fairy tale collections.

'Terrific... a succulent array of 17th and 18th century 'salon' fairy tales'

- The New York Times Book Review

'These tales are adventurous, thrilling in a way fairy tales are meant to be... The translation from the French is modern, happily free of archaic and hyperbolic language... a fine and sophisticated collection'

- New York Tribune

'Enjoyable to read... a unique collection of French regional folklore'

- Library Journal

'Charming stories accompanied by attractive pen-and-ink drawings'

- Chattanooga Times

'An excellent collection'

- Booklist.

Library Essentials Month: Beauty by Robin McKinley

This post didn't push live on Saturday, so here it is now on Sunday:

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley is today's library essential and only one of two fiction titles on the list this month. I debated this one and then decided it is certainly one of my library essentials and it is always fun to add some fiction especially on a Saturday when nothing heavy is really wanted anyway.

This is an essential to me because it was a very important book when I first read it decades ago, but still several years after its 1978 original publication date. I discovered it when I was about 13 or 14--I don't remember the time but know it was after I had read McKinley's The Hero and the Crown in one day while very sick (read a chapter, run to the bathroom, rinse, repeat). I was thrilled to have a novel written around my favorite fairy tale by a favorite author--anyone who can make me happy to be home from school while violently sick quickly becomes a favorite. I think an entire generation discovered this book and was inspired to write more retellings several years later because there were virtually no others in the early 80s. Well, I know of one other I bought during that time--Roses by Barbara Cohen, another Beauty and the Beast retelling that was enjoyable, but it was not Beauty. Then Terri Windling's FairyTale Series came along and started to fill in the gap for older readers. But I digress....

Anyway, this is a touchstone book for many authors and readers and inspired many future novels. Nowadays it tends to be underappreciated by the YA readers who have an abundance of choices and is now marketed primarily to a middle reader market that can still appreciate it. It's continued success and popularity helped establish a subgenre of fairy tale retellings. No, it wasn't the first to do so--that's been going on for decades--but there was a dearth of options for many years and none that sold like this one did which convinced publishes to buy and print similar titles. Publishing is a business, never forget. Everyone likes to eat.

Book description from the publisher:

A strange imprisonment

Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple: Beauty and the Beast.

Library Essentials Month: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia by Carol Rose

I've been asked a few times recently to recommend some books on faerie lore that go beyond the typical Celtic, Irish, Scottish, English emphasis found in most books. I am not an expert in this realm, but I have a regular need for books of this sort, limited though they are.  So I am doing double duty by making these titles today's library essentials.

For years now, my "go to" faerie reference books have been Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia and Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth
by Carol Rose. They appear in many bibliographies so I am not the only one who has found them the most useful. And while I consult the first one more often, I think of these books as a two volume set in my mind since they fill in the gaps for each other. It's hard to have one without the other.

What really makes these books valuable are their appendices which include groupings by country for easy references as well as other groupings by power, association, type, religion, etc. Each of the books have over 25 appendices each if that gives you an idea of how wonderfully helpful they are. And they are authentically international in scope which is more than can be said for other titles.

Since I acquired these, The Fairy Bible: The Definitive Guide to the World of Fairies by Teresa Moorey has also been released. It looks like a good complement to the Rose books--especially with in the inclusion of more original illustrations. I haven't added it to my own library yet because I haven't had much need for it since my faerie work has not been very demanding in recent years. But it is on my list. Now that I am writing this post I think I need it even more...

The Annotated Fairy Tale Books from Maria Tatar

The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales and the other two books in the series from Maria Tatar are another part of this month's library essentials. These are especially beneficial for the more casual but still enthusiastic fairy tale armchair scholar, filled with annotated versions of the tales and illustrations and other materials. It's rather like the SurLaLune site in book format and through a somewhat different perspective.

Book description from the publisher:

The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales is a remarkable treasure trove, a work that celebrates the best-loved tales of childhood and presents them through the vision of Maria Tatar, a leading authority in the field of folklore and children's literature. Into the woods with Little Red Riding Hood, up the beanstalk with Jack, and down through the depths of the ocean with the Little Mermaid, this volume takes us through many of the familiar paths of our folkloric heritage. Gathering together twenty-five of our most cherished fairy tales, including enduring classics like "Beauty and the Beast," "Jack and the Beanstalk," " ," and "Bluebead," Tatar expertly guides readers through the stories, exploring their historical origins, their cultural complexities, and their psychological effects. Offering new translations of the non-English stories by the likes of Hans Christian Andersen, Brothers Grimm, or Charles Perrault, Tatar captures the rhythms of oral storytelling and, with an extraordinary collection of over 300 often rare, mostly four-color paintings and drawings by celebrated illustrators such as Gustave Doré, George Cruikshank, and Maxfield Parrish, she expands our literary and visual sensibilities. As Tatar shows, few of us are aware of how profoundly fairy tales have influenced our culture. Disseminated across a wide variety of historical and contemporary media ranging from opera and drama to cinema and advertising, they constitute a vital part of our storytelling capital. What has kept them alive over the centuries is exactly what keeps life pulsing with vitality and variety: anxieties, fears, desires, romance, passion, and love. Up close and personal, fairy tales tell us about the quest for romance and riches, for power and privilege, and, most importantly, they show us a way out of the woods back to the safety and security of home. Challenging the notion that fairy tales should be read for their moral values and used to make good citizens of little children, Tatar demonstrates throughout how fairy tales can be seen as models for navigating reality, helping children to develop the wit and courage needed to survive in a world ruled by adults. This volume seeks to reclaim this powerful cultural legacy, presenting the stories that we all think we know while at the same time providing the historical contexts that unlock the mysteries of the tales. The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales is a volume that will rank as one of the finest fairy tale collections in many decades, a provocative and original work to be treasured by students, parents, and children. Over 300 often rare, mostly four-color paintings and drawings by celebrated illustrators.

The Annotated Brothers Grimm (The Annotated Books) description from the publisher:

The Annotated Brothers Grimm celebrates the richness and dramatic power of the legendary fables in the most spectacular and unusual Grimm volume in decades. Containing forty stories in new translations by Maria Tatar—including "Little Red Riding Hood," "Cinderella," "Snow White," and "Rapunzel"—the book also features 150 illustrations, many of them in color, by legendary painters such as George Cruikshank and Arthur Rackham; hundreds of annotations that explore the historical origins, cultural complexities, and psychological effects of these tales; and a biographical essay on the lives of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Perhaps most noteworthy is Tatar's decision to include tales that were previously excised, including a few bawdy stories and others that were removed after the Grimms learned that parents were reading the book to their children—stories about cannibalism in times of famine and stories in which children die at the end. Enchanting and magical, The Annotated Brothers Grimm will cast its spell on children and adults alike for decades to come. 75 color and 75 black-and-white illustrations.

The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen (The Annotated Books) description from the publisher:

In her most ambitious annotated work to date, Maria Tatar celebrates the stories told by Denmark's "perfect wizard" and re-envisions Hans Christian Andersen as a writer who casts his spell on both children and adults. Andersen's most beloved tales, such as "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Little Mermaid," are now joined by "The Shadow" and "Story of a Mother," mature stories that reveal his literary range and depth. Tatar captures the tales' unrivaled dramatic and visual power, showing exactly how Andersen became one of the world's ten most translated authors, along with Shakespeare, Dickens, and Marx. Lushly illustrated with more than one hundred fifty rare images, many in full color, by artists such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen will captivate readers with annotations that explore the rich social and cultural dimensions of the nineteenth century and construct a compelling portrait of a writer whose stories still fascinate us today.