Title: Fairy Tales from Around the World
Author: Andrew Lang
Series: Barnes & Noble Leatherbound
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Easy reading, Fairy tales
Dates read: 20th January – 3rd October 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: This old man told him to beware o’ the next beasts that he should meet, for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen.

Fairy Tales from Around the World is a treasure trove of the world’s best-loved fairy and folk tales. It features more than 100 fairy tales representing more than fifty nations, all selected from The Blue Fairy Book and eleven other collections compiled by Andrew Lang. The book also includes more than 100 illustrations by H.J. Ford that bring their magic and marvels vividly to life.

Fairy Tales from Around the World is one of Barnes & Noble’s Collectible Editions classics. Each volume features authoritative texts by the world’s greatest authors in an exquisitely designed bonded-leather binding, with distinctive gilt edging and a silk-ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable, and collectible, these books offer hours of pleasure to readers young and old and are an indispensible cornerstone for any home library.

It took me a long, long, long time to read this. But that’s just because it was one of those slowly enjoyed books. Like a really expensive chocolate. It was delicious to just sit there and savour it. closing my eyes with pleasure at the end of each tale. Or sometimes whooping out loud when a story was particularly familiar and I could place my modern day version quickly…

The illustrations that accompany this beautiful book completely swept me away. They were stunning, and more than a little distracting. But in the best way possible. They bought to life the stories – jumping at you from the page, but did so in a way that still felt timeless and classic – like the tales contained in this giant volume.

I originally bought this book because the cover is just stunning. There is something that brings out my nostalgia as soon as I look at this book… even if I hadn’t had a chanced to read over half of the fairy tales in this collection. Fairy tales + childhood = nostalgia. But the themes were also very adult… these really aren’t the stories you read as a child. They’re something far more fun, intense and dark… perfect for a little late night reading before you head off to bed.

I love that the first story in this is East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I have recently read a modern remake of this (North Child) and I loved that I finally got to sink my teeth into the original. There was also the original Aladdin (or some of it), Beauty and the Beast… so many tales. More than enough to keep me occupied again and again and again in the years to come…

<- Gray’s Anatomy

The Complete Cthulu Mythos Tales ->

Image source: Barnes & Noble