Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde, Vol. 1: The Selfish Giant & The Star Child

I'd never read any Oscar Wilde fairy tales, and I was surprised at the religious message in the first and how strong the morals were presented all around. I found the stories as delightful as pretty much everyone in the universe does. I could hardly believe how easily and well they had been converted to the comic format, though. Glad I checked it out of the library.

I like graphic adaptations of literature and The Boys got this for me for Xmas. (Hopefully we didn't already have it). Russell's art work is gorgeous and the Art Nouveau/Symbolist aspects of his style are very appropriate. I find Wilde's tales very complex and including some imagery -- such as the Xt. child in the Selfish Giant -- that I just wouldn't expect. The Star Child ruling for only 3 years and being followed by someone very evil, however, was an ending that I thought entirely Wildean.

The fairy tale, The Selfish Giant, was an okay story. I thought the story used the seasons in an interesting way. Spring was described as a fun time where the children would play. The giant was selfish, and when he kept the garden to himself, he paid a price for his selfishness. Because of his act, Spring and Summer would never visit his garden again. I was glad that the story showed the giant apologetic, because big people (adults) make mistakes and should own up to these mistakes. It was a great lesson, and for this it would be considered a tellable tale. The book using the Wilde's original text but formats it as a comic. Because I love the illustrations so much, I think children would enjoy this story being told more with the book. show more Although I liked the story okay, it is not a favorite of mine. Some storytellers may find this story to be particularly interesting, but it just did not maintain my interest.

I found this book at the Wayne County Library, Dewey number 823.8. show less

audio (1.5+ hours), short stories/fairy tales

I'm not crazy about the narration (a bit stilted?) but I did want to read some more OW stories and this was available for free on hoopla. These are not happy stories, but I did occasionally snicker.

recommended instead : The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde.