The Yellow Fairy Book

by Andrew Lang, Danuta Mayer (Illustrator)

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books (Rainbow Fairy Books — 6)

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Description

The Fairy Books, or "Coloured" Fairy Books is a collection of fairy tales divided into twelve books, each associated with a different colour. Collected together by Andrew Land they are sourced from a number of different countries and were translated by Lang's wife and other translators who also retold many of the tales. The collection has been incalculably important and, although he did not source the stories himself direct from the oral tradition he can make claim to the first English show more translation of many.

First published in 1894, The Yellow Fairy Bookis the 4th volume in this series.

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Member Reviews

9 reviews
My 1920s Grosset & Dunlap is not the rare find of their edition of this book and has no color plates. It does have a funny preface by Andrew Lang re persons who do not like him publishing 'another' fairy tale book, --- the Red, Green and Blue already in print. There are 48 fairy tales, some familiar and others not so.
Reviews for the stories in this book can be found on their own individual book pages (such reviews state which fairy book they come from) but some of these short stories don't have their own entries so I am putting them here. Complete list of stories at the bottom of my review.

The Seven-headed Serpent *** A Prince saves a country from a evil serpent.

The Crow *** A good-hearted princess saves a prince from a spell that keeps him in crow's form.

How Six Men Travelled Through the Wide World **** Six men with different talents work together to help the hero. Funny how they joined a stranger so quickly, but it's an entertaining tale nonetheless.

The Glass Mountain *** The hero gets a bunch of neat stuff from well-wishers and saves a princess show more on a glass mountain.

The Three Brothers *** Two brothers leave the third for dead after he leads them all to a valuable treasure (such gratitude! /s) but fortunately he had a suspicion they were going to betray him so he took measures. He comes back but instead of kicking his brother's asses like they deserved, he forgives them and shares the treasure with them. Bah. Forgiveness is nice, but we're talking about people who tried to (and believed they did murder their brother.

In the Land of Souls **** Sad but sweet tale of a man who seeks his dead bride.

The Flower Queen's Daughter *** A prince saves the titular maiden from a dragon and they live happily ever after.

Flying Ship *** Simpleton is a simple lad, but he has enough of a kind heart and good spirit that his luck perseveres and he ends up with a princess as wife.

The Snow-daughter and the Fire-son **** A quite weird tale but it's different than the others in this collection. Personally would like to see this turned into a movie or miniseries or something.

The Death of the Sun-hero *** Fate is inescapable.

The Witch *** Another story with a evil stepmom. Kindness to animals comes back as good karma. Evil is overcome, yay. At least in the end the children's father learns his lessons and takes care of his kids.

The Hazel-nut Child **** A teeny little man makes his way in the world, reminded me a bit of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina.

Prince Ring ** Two princes share the same name. But other than that, meh.

How to tell a True Princess * This is the story of the Princess and the Pea. This story has always bothered me because really, is being so sensitive to a pea such a good quality?

The Witch in the Stone Boat *** A good-hearted queen is forced to switch places with aforesaid witch but her husband manages to save the day. A bit simplistic as far as this kind of tale goes, but eh.

The Nightingale **** Nothing beats the real thing. The Emperor thinks he can replace the nightingale with an artificial bird, but in the end it's the real thing that's best.

_____

"Cat and Mouse in Partnership"
"The Six Swans"
"The Dragon of the North"
"Story of the Emperor's New Clothes"
"The Golden Crab"
"The Iron Stove"
"The Dragon and his Grandmother"
"The Donkey Cabbage"
"The Little Green Frog"
"The Seven-headed Serpent"
"The Grateful Beasts"
"The Giants and the Herd-boy"
"The Invisible Prince"
"The Crow"
"How Six Men Travelled Through the Wide World"
"The Wizard King"
"The Nixy"
"The Glass Mountain"
"Alphege, or the Green Monkey"
"Fairer-than-a-Fairy"
"The Three Brothers"
"The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise"
"The Glass Axe"
"The Dead Wife"
"In the Land of Souls"
"The White Duck"
"The Witch and Her Servants"
"The Magic Ring"
"The Flower Queen's Daughter"
"Flying Ship"
"The Snow-daughter and the Fire-son"
"The Story of King Frost"
"The Death of the Sun-hero"
"The Witch"
"The Hazel-nut Child"
"The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus"
"Prince Ring"
"The Swineherd"
"How to tell a True Princess"
"The Blue Mountains"
"The Tinder-box"
"The Witch in the Stone Boat"
"Thumbelina"
"The Nightingale"
"Hermod and Hadvor"
"The Steadfast Tin-soldier"
"Blockhead Hans"
"A Story about a Darning-needle"
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To avoid overabundance of information re persons responsible for translations and/or adaptation, please refer to Lang's Preface. Unabridged Replication of Longman & Green's 1894 edition.

Contents: "Cat and Mouse in Partnership", "The Six Swans", "The Dragon of the North", "Story of the Emperor's New Clothes", "The Golden Crab", "The Iron Stove", "The Dragon and his Grandmother", "The Donkey Cabbage", "The Little Green Frog", "The Seven-headed Serpent",
"The Grateful Beasts", "The Giants and the Herd-boy", "The Invisible Prince", "The Crow", "How Six Men Travelled Through the Wide World", "The Wizard King", "The Nixy", "The Glass Mountain", "Alphege, or the Green Monkey", "Fairer-than-a-Fairy", "The Three Brothers", "The Boy and the show more Wolves, or the Broken Promise", "The Glass Axe", "The Dead Wife", "In the Land of Souls", "The White Duck", "The Witch and Her Servants", "The Magic Ring", "The Flower Queen's Daughter", "Flying Ship", "The Snow-daughter and the Fire-son", "The Story of King Frost", "The Death of the Sun-hero", "The Witch", "The Hazel-nut Child", "The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus". "Prince Ring", "The Swineherd", "How to tell a True Princess", "The Blue Mountains", "The Tinder-box", "The Witch in the Stone Boat", "Thumbelina", "The Nightingale",
"Hermod and Hadvor", "The Steadfast Tin-soldier", "Blockhead Hans", "A Story about a Darning-needle"
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This is Book 5 in the Andrew Lang Color Fairy Tale Series
This is Book 4 of the Andrew Lang Color Fairy Tale Series
Another volume of Lang's comprehensive fairy tale compilation. The book includes: The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership; The Six Swans; The Dragon of the North; Story of the Emperor's New Clothes; The Golden Crab; The Iron Stove; The Dragon and his Grandmother; The Donkey Cabbage; The Little Green Frog; The Seven-headed Serpent; The Grateful Beasts; The Giants and the Herd-boy; The Invisible Prince; The Crow; How Six Men Travelled Through the Wide World; The Wizard King; The Nixy; The Glass Mountain; Alphege, or the Green Monkey; Fairer-than-a-Fairy; The Three Brothers; The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise; The Glass Axe; The Dead Wife; In the Land of Souls; The White Duck; The Witch and Her Servants; The Magic Ring; The Flower show more Queen's Daughter; The Flying Ship; The Snow-daughter and the Fire-son; The Story of King Frost; The Death of the Sun-hero; The Witch; The Hazel-nut Child; The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus; Prince Ring; The Swineherd; How to tell a True Princess; The Blue Mountains; The Tinder-box; The Witch in the Stone Boat; Thumbelina; The Nightingale; Hermod and Hadvor; The Steadfast Tin-soldier; Blockhead Hans; A Story about a Darning-needle. show less

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Author Information

Picture of author.
392+ Works 24,465 Members
Andrew Lang was born at Selkirk in Scotland on March 31, 1844. He was a historian, poet, novelist, journalist, translator, and anthropologist, in connection with his work on literary texts. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, St. Andrews University, and Balliol College, Oxford University, becoming a fellow at Merton College. His poetry includes show more Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), Ballades in Blue China (1880--81), and Grass of Parnassus (1888--92). His anthropology and his defense of the value of folklore as the basis of religion is expressed in his works Custom and Myth (1884), Myth, Ritual and Religion (1887), and The Making of Religion (1898). He also translated Homer and critiqued James G. Frazer's views of mythology as expressed in The Golden Bough. He was considered a good historian, with a readable narrative style and knowledge of the original sources including his works A History of Scotland (1900-7), James VI and the Gowrie Mystery (1902), and Sir George Mackenzie (1909). He was one of the most important collectors of folk and fairy tales. His collections of Fairy books, including The Blue Fairy Book, preserved and handed down many of the better-known folk tales from the time. He died of angina pectoris on July 20, 1912. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Illustrator
2+ Works 1,409 Members

Some Editions

Blegvad, Erik (Illustrator)
Ford, H. J. (Illustrator)
Mayer, Danuta (Illustrator)
Tatar, Maria (Introduction)

Series

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books (Rainbow Fairy Books — 6)

Belongs to Publisher Series

Work Relationships

Contains

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
The Yellow Fairy Book
Original publication date
1894
People/Characters
Prince Ring; Thumbelina
Dedication
To Joan, Toddles, and Tiny.
Books Yellow, Red, and Green, and Blue,
All true, or just as good as true,
and here's the Yellow Book for you!

Hard is the path from A to Z,
and puzzling to a curly head,
Yet ... (show all)leads to Books -- Green, Blue, and Red.

For every child should understand
That letters from the first were planned
To guide us into Fairy Land.

So labour at your Alphabet
For by that learning you shall get
to lands where Fairies may be met.

And going where this pathway goes,
You too, at last, may find, who knows?
The Garden of the Singing Rose.
First words
PREFACE
The Editor thinks that children will readily forgive him for publishing another Fairy Book.
THE CAT AND THE MOUSE IN PARTNERSHIP
A cat had made acquaintance with a mouse, and had spoken so much of the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at last the Mouse consented to live in the same house wit... (show all)h her, and go shares in the housekeeping.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But she did not break, although the wagon wheel went over her; she lay there at full length, and there she may lie.
Original language
English

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Children's Books
DDC/MDS
398.21Social sciencesCustoms, etiquette & folkloreFolkloreFolk literatureTales and lore of paranatural beings of human and semihuman form
LCC
PZ8 .L15 .Y23Language and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

Statistics

Members
1,394
Popularity
16,872
Reviews
8
Rating
(4.05)
Languages
6 — Arabic, English, Spanish, Swedish, Urdu, Portuguese (Portugal)
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
102
UPCs
1
ASINs
47