The Olive Fairy Book (1907)

This collection of fairy tales is similar to the first that I read, The Yellow Fairy Book, in that it amasses a wide range of fairy and folk tales from various countries in Europe and Asia (with occasional forays into other continents). The two differences I noticed were 1) that a lot more of these tales came from countries not previously covered, like India, and 2) although the book is the same size as the Yellow Fairy Book, the print is much larger, so that the content is about half as much as the previous. It seems that Lang was ranging farther afield to find new stories for his series, and finding less material. I didn't mind, though, because the tales were just as much fun as before, and if you read the entire collection then you still have quite a treasure trove of fairy tale lore.

Actually, I really appreciated the fairy tales that came from India and Africa. You start to become accustomed to the tropes and themes of European fairy tales, and while I love them (that's why I read them!), it's nice to read stories from other cultures that have different emphasis, values, and stock characters. For a girl born and raised on fairy tales, it's funny how little of them I actually remember reading, and I enjoy adding to my knowledge by reading through this series. ( )

This was a really good collection. Whoever Major Campbell was, he did a wonderful job listening and collection stories from the Punjab people. A Long-Bow Story is a classic tale of a poor man outwitting the rich man, and I thought it was hilarious. I'm not much of a "laugh out loud" person when I read, but that story had me giggling. Grasp All, Lose All a moral story about the bad effects of greed, was also a lot of fun to read and would be highly entertaining to tell. Clever Weaver and The Boy Who Found Fear At Last were atypical of the "traditional" European fairy tale, and I really liked them for it. ( )