An anthology of fairy tales from various places around the world. Reading fairy tales is a great way to learn about distant times and places. I was familiar with a lot of the European ones (Grimms) and some Arabian ones (1001 Arabian Nights), but other regions have their own series of folk tales, equally fascinatingly bizarre. ( )

My mother had this book in her book collection when I was little and through it I discovered that there was much more to these tales than what the Disney versions would have you think. They can be much darker and deeper than they are portrayed on screen. This collection can also introduce someone to more than the standard stories. Because of this collection I think my favorites are "The Goose Girl", "East of the Sun, West of the Moon", and "The Six Swans".

I've read reviews here and elsewhere that say that these stories may have still been simplified a bit, but they are still a vast improvement over the Disney versions. I've yet to get a hold of a copy of the original Grimm or Anderson collections, but because of this book I've fallen in love with Fairy Tales and I can't really fault it much because of that. ( )

I have owned this book now for nigh on 40 years. It was gifted to my parents when I was born. I read it and re-read it and re-read many times as a child and I still enjoy the tales, even if they have been modified to make them more palatable. Even so, my favourite tale is "The Goose-Girl" mostly because of the sentence passed on the servant girl; it was gruesome to this child's mind, but I relished it and though she deserved it. The magic in the tale also captured my imagination, as it did in all the tales.

I doubt I will ever release this book and now that it has been retrieved from solitary confinement in storage, I hope to find a bookbinder to repair its sorry, leatherbound spine and restore it somewhat to its glory days. ( )

The Princess And The Pea is 1 out of 33 fairy tales in The World's Best Fairy Tales: A Readers Digest Anthology. The Princess And The Pea was written by Hans Christian Andersen. It was about a Prince who really wanted to marry a Princess who was truly a Princess. He travelled the entire world but still could not find a true Princess. Finally, during a very stormy night with thunder and lightning, a Princess arrived at the Prince's Castle who said that she truly was a Princess. To prove that the Princess was telling the truth, the Queen got the Princess to sleep on top of 20 eiderdown quilts and 20 mattresses that were all placed on top of a pea. If the Princess can feel the pea while sleeping, then she truly is a princess. The Princess did feel the pea while sleeping which proved that she was truly a Princess. The Prince married the Princess at the end of the Fairy Tale.

This is a very good Fairy Tale. It is exciting the whole way through. I did not expect that the feeling of a pea helps to determine if a Princess is truly a princess. I give the Fairy Tale 5 out of 5 stars based on my review. ( )

I read several of the folktales from this collection and wanted to add it because of its dated quality. The tales have been thoroughly Westernized (Japanese Character pray to God, illustrations are littered with cultural stereotypes. For its time I'm sure this anthology was groundbreaking in its inclusion of other cultures, but today a lot of the then-forward ideas seem more backwards than progressive. ( )