The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales

In spite of what some other reviews say, these are not all the original versions, as mentioned in the annotations. Maria Tatar did however often go for the best known versions from the authors she chose. I was disappointed to find that most of these stories are the exact same ones from her other annotated books with the same versions and the same annotations. Already owning most of them didn't stop me from enjoying them, however and as usual for this series the books are well illustrated and fun to explore. I'd love to see more annotated books in the future, including more from the Oz series and the Narnia series.

Having purchased and read

The book has interesting annotations and a very interesting and informative introduction. I was happy with the sellers, too.

It has a little less stories than I'd prefer, but still plenty and with good side information as well. Personally I still feel these stories are much better than anything meant for kids now-a-days.

Beautiful illustrations. This was an assigned textbook for a course I took. I love this book. I read it from cover to cover. Excellent history and commentary from an expert in the field.

I bought this book a few years ago for a college class and this is one of the books I held on to. I didn’t hold on to many of my college books but this one is in my library. A lot of cute little nursery rhymes in there

Great book for study of fairytales. I recommend not reading them all to kids. Some are good to go for kids.

This is a beautiful book on the magical, scary, enchanting and wonderful world of the fairy tale! Marie Tatar a Harvard German professor has done a superb job in putting this book together! The stories range from the classics of the borthers Grimm, Perrault and Hans Christen Anderson. Fairy tales from several cultures are included from Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia and Denmark. The volume is beautifully illustrated with the illustrations from such giants as Cruikshank, Rackham, Parrish and several others. This work is a beautiful way to share story time with one's children or grandchildren. If you are going to buy one book of fairy tales appealing to both children and adults then this is the lavish lifetime volume for you! Excellent!

Ordered for a class in Fairytales and Mythology as a requires textbook. I was amazed at the price and the stories are AMAZING. Maria Tatar' s annotations are well written, logical, and easy to understand. I really enjoyed this book!

I am always fascinated by annotations of classic works because of the insights I gain from them. The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales is especially interesting because the works Maria Tatar includes are familiar (at least most of them are) but, her notes reveal, have a much deeper and sometimes darker history than we thought. The book includes some universal favorites like The Emperor's New Clothes and Cinderella and some less known but interesting stories like Molly Whuppie and The Juniper Tree. Each story has a great variety of classic illustrations from masters like Cruikshank and Dore. Another nice touch are the biographies of some of the authors and illustrators included at the end. Whether you are a child, have a child, or are a child at heart, you will love this collection.

In spite of what some other reviews say, these are not all the original versions, as mentioned in the annotations. Maria Tatar did however often go for the best known versions from the authors she chose. I was disappointed to find that most of these stories are the exact same ones from her other annotated books with the same versions and the same annotations. Already owning most of them didn't stop me from enjoying them, however and as usual for this series the books are well illustrated and fun to explore. I'd love to see more annotated books in the future, including more from the Oz series and the Narnia series.

Having purchased and read

The book has interesting annotations and a very interesting and informative introduction. I was happy with the sellers, too.

It has a little less stories than I'd prefer, but still plenty and with good side information as well. Personally I still feel these stories are much better than anything meant for kids now-a-days.

Beautiful illustrations. This was an assigned textbook for a course I took. I love this book. I read it from cover to cover. Excellent history and commentary from an expert in the field.

I bought this book a few years ago for a college class and this is one of the books I held on to. I didn’t hold on to many of my college books but this one is in my library. A lot of cute little nursery rhymes in there

Great book for study of fairytales. I recommend not reading them all to kids. Some are good to go for kids.

This is a beautiful book on the magical, scary, enchanting and wonderful world of the fairy tale! Marie Tatar a Harvard German professor has done a superb job in putting this book together! The stories range from the classics of the borthers Grimm, Perrault and Hans Christen Anderson. Fairy tales from several cultures are included from Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia and Denmark. The volume is beautifully illustrated with the illustrations from such giants as Cruikshank, Rackham, Parrish and several others. This work is a beautiful way to share story time with one's children or grandchildren. If you are going to buy one book of fairy tales appealing to both children and adults then this is the lavish lifetime volume for you! Excellent!

Ordered for a class in Fairytales and Mythology as a requires textbook. I was amazed at the price and the stories are AMAZING. Maria Tatar' s annotations are well written, logical, and easy to understand. I really enjoyed this book!

I am always fascinated by annotations of classic works because of the insights I gain from them. The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales is especially interesting because the works Maria Tatar includes are familiar (at least most of them are) but, her notes reveal, have a much deeper and sometimes darker history than we thought. The book includes some universal favorites like The Emperor's New Clothes and Cinderella and some less known but interesting stories like Molly Whuppie and The Juniper Tree. Each story has a great variety of classic illustrations from masters like Cruikshank and Dore. Another nice touch are the biographies of some of the authors and illustrators included at the end. Whether you are a child, have a child, or are a child at heart, you will love this collection.

great book

Wonderful condition. I can't wait for my class. I'm surprised I couldn't rent the book, but it was cheap enough that it didn't matter.

Arrived very quickly, and it's in general in very good shape. Just looks really nice overall. Great product.

This text was perfect for my needs. I have a class exploring the connections between the fairy tales we know and love and the fairy tales of other cultures Our topic was "Does Every Culture have a Cinderella and what are the common connections?" This text explored the depth and purpose of fairy tales in a way my students could understand

1st year college student learning about annotating. Great book!

Love fairy tales---the historic facts are great before reading.

Its for school so what do you expect from a text book?

I had to buy this for a class, but I'm keeping it I love it so much! Great cover and quality, and of course great content!!!

Great condition

This book is not for kids. There are very inappropriate including sexual versions of classic fairytales

I use this at a textbook but I will be reading it with my OLDER kids forever.

Had to order for a Class.

Great book. Great to read to school kid great to read to your kids and just great to read. Of all the collections out there this one is by far the best.

very nice.

Great addition to any collection.

Thankful I had thus book for class. So much easier to do homework with .

I was so impressed with how beautiful this edition was, this book exceeded my expectations.

This book has everything that I wanted and more, it is a great edition and I recommend it to everyone!

This is by far the best childrens book I have seen. It is a must have for any collection. I was so impressed I donated it to a local emergency homeless shelter where children reside. [...] This book is helping to provide be it brief from the stress out of being homeless.

Terrific like all the volumes in this series by Maria Tatar, but I was disappointed by the quality of binding. This is a hardcover, and the binding is "perfect" bound, which means it's just a big paperback with a hard binding, It doesn't have a sewn binding, Any book for your permanent library should be sewn, and the other volumes in this series are. A wonderful book, with great historical illustrations, but not gift quality. OK, so call me crabby.

Well done.. a good addition to my library

This is a comprehensive compilation of fairy tales with interesting analyses and background information. I also love the addition of various illustrations for each story along with additional information on each and how it relates to tge story. The reason I gave this a 4 is the quality of paper used. Some of the beauty of the illustrations gets lost because of the rough paper. I think a glossy paper, especially for the artwork, would have made the color and details stand out more.

Oh my gosh!!! This book is so beautiful. I've been looking for something like this for so long!!! It has so many fairy tales... GREAT!!!

The book has arrived in great conditions and on time and actually increased my expectations. It is wonderfully illustrated and it is definitely a good collection book for those interested on fairy tales.

I would suggest anyone who loves the classics to buy this wonderfully illustrated book, a book worth buying for sure

Great Reads!!!

Beautifully illustrated & detailed work, enjoying reading the historical notes, as well as, the 'real' tales to my grandchildren. Well done.

Fast and awesome :)

This book has much fewer annotations compared to the author's Andersen book. You will not get as much insight into the stories compared to the Andersen book. If you are buying it to get a better insight into the stories, you will be disappointed. This book needs a second edition with three times as many annotations.

The first one we read was very disturbing. Be ready.

I have been getting annotated books each year for my step-daughter Lacey. She loves em and I'm a hero. These are terrific books!

still reading the book, I don't always agree with the notes on the annotated remarkes.

It's a little damaged but still in good condition

This is one of my favorite books. It was a gift from my mother and I've kept it with ,e through every travel and big life event. It is insightful, beautiful and the perfect escape. I do agree with other reviewers that stated Tatar's personal opinions are distracting ( and sometimes downright wrong) . The work that went into this was obviously exhausting and should be appreciated. The illustrations include many classics of unparalleled beauty. If you are a fairy tale lover, linguist , historian or need an escape fairy tales might be your magic key.

This book reveals a lot of information. It contains an informative introduction and 26 classic tales from the bothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and others. There is Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and other classics. The editor includes biographies of authors, collectors, and illustrators. She also adds four appendixes; two contain another version of Little Red Riding Hood and The Story of Three Three Bears; and two have many beautiful illustrations. Beside all of this, there are the many annotations that give the history and psychology behind the tales. For example, does the red in the story of Little Red Riding Hood represent blood, sin, or passion? Did Red Riding Hood bring her grandmother alchohol? Was she a lush? What does this say about the wolf being in her house and bed? What morals are in the tale? Does the story warn children about the dangers of the forest, animals, sinister men? Why was a wolf chosen as the vicious creature? Why not another animal? Why doesn't Red Riding Hood comment upon the wolf's smell, she comments on all the other senses? Does the rescue of Red Riding Hood from the wolf's stomach teach about life after death? Is Sigmund Freud right when he writes that the cutting open of the wolf to rescue Red Riding Hood represents birth? There are 17 color pictures that accompany this tale. They are very thought provoking because the illustrators are communicating ideas to us. The other stories have similar additions. As mentioned previously, the editor placed another version of this story in the appendix. The first is from the bothers Grimm, the second from Charles Perrault. The later is only two pages long. It states the moral of the tale. Young girls shoud not listen to everyone. There are also tame wolves, but these are more dangerous than the wild ones.

This wonderfully illustrated book has 26 classic fairy tales in it to keep both children and adults captivated from the beginning to the end, although it’s geared more towards adults readers due to the somewhat scholarly tone of the book. There’re well-known stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Little Match Girl”, as well as lesser-known ones such as “Vasilisa the Fair” and “The Juniper Tree”. The format of the book and contents are in such a way that reading is made easy, plus the beautiful illustrations, more often than not, liven up the stories in the book. The annotations themselves are insightful enough, and there is just so much to be learnt from the deeper meanings and morals of each fairy tale. I am glad Tatar did not just focused on the “good” side of the fairy tales, but also on the darker history and cultural effects of each story. The book also comes with biographies of authors and illustrators, and the collection of illustrations in the appendix is a nice addition for readers. I wished there were more tales collected in this book though, but generally, this is a very entertaining and enriching book for those interested in learning more about fairy tales, or to share meaningful stories with young children.

This is probably not the edition of fairy tales you want to curl up with while reading to your three-year-old (primarily because of its measurable heft). This was the version I purchased after reading dozens of fairy tales to my sons and began wondering why these tales have been so enduring -- or, endearing -- over the centuries. Tatar's versions, along with her helpful introductions, helped me greatly understand why these stories have been handed down through the generations. She brings in not only the historical context of several French and German fairy tales, but remains as faithful to the "original" version as possible, given the fact that these were primarily oral stories being told. Of primary value within this volume for me were the numerous original-edition illustrations generously sprinkled throughout. These, as much as Tatar's well-written and researched narrative, helps the reader understand what portions of the fairy tales were emphasized over the years.

This is one of the most beautiful books ever printed and a wonderful introduction to the archive of great Victorian and Edwardian illustrated versions of the classic fairy tales. I was a little disappointed with the text, however. Tatar's introduction and annotations are insightful enough, if a little sparing, but her translations of the twenty-six fairy tales represented in this volume are surprisingly flat in comparison with the 300 illustrations, many of which are reprinted in full color. It's a pity Tatar didn't use translations from the same period. I know some of these are excessively bowdlerized, but others, such as Lucy Crane's versions from "Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm," are as engaging as the pictures they accompanied. Still, this book is a "must-buy" for anyone interested in fairy tales or the Golden Age of the illustrated picture book. The sumptuous reproductions of "Little Red Riding Hood" and the seven other fairly tale adaptations from the Walter Crane "Toy Book" series alone are worth the cover price.

This book offers a wonderful look at the fairy tales we've heard as children, but in the glorious splendor of their original forms. We also get a look at the different authors involved, and the evolution of some of the more "favorite" fairy tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood".

We got this book as an impulse purchase from my Dad when we all [my daughter Emily, Dad and I] were waiting for the restaurant buzzer to go off at the Mall. Emily, age 9, could not wait til we got home, and was entranced by the glorious illustrations all through dinner. We've been sharing the stories in read aloud mode for the past four days--Emily likes to read to me a bit too-- and the old tales we all love like Red Riding Hood and Cinderella come to new life in Prof. Tatar's wonderful translations which seem perfectly suited for reading aloud. Emily has really taken the "moral" parts of these stories to heart, especially after 9/11, and she seems able to see in her own developing way how complex and challenging the world can be. This classic selection of tales has just been a wonderful resource. Somewhere in the introduction Prof. Tatar says these stories were orginally created to help children, and adults, 'navigate' the moral and ethical uncertainties of a changing time, and that is so true, especially if you share this book with a child. It is just a wonderfully created book with beautiful illustrations and stories, a book to treasure. I highly recommend this for all parents who want to share stories with their children.