The Pink Fairy Book

As with the other Color Fairy books I've read so far, the stories are a hit and miss, and some of them are repetitive, but then there are tropes you see in classic myth and fairy tales for a reason. Overall a fun collection.

Reviews below are for stories that did not have their own entry here on GR. Complete list of stories at the bottom of the review.

Peter Bull *** A weird story where the cheater actually comes out ahead with a lie. Pretty hard to root for the guy.

Catherine and Her Destiny ** pretty meh. The moral of this story is clear, but Destiny still comes across as a massive bitch.

"The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue ** Okay.... wtf. In the beginning of the story, it's said that the old man and his wife were well-matched, but as it show more turns out, the wife is a real bitch. Thank goodness the old man's good spirit reaped him good, while the wife's evil got her in the end.

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"The Cat's Elopement"
"How the Dragon Was Tricked"
"The Goblin and the Grocer"
"The House in the Wood"
"Urashimataro and the Turtle"
"The Slaying of the Tanuki"
"The Flying Trunk"
"The Snow Man"
"The Shirt-Collar"
"The Princess in the Chest"
"The Three Brothers"
"The Snow-queen"
"The Fir-Tree"
"Hans, the Mermaid's Son"
"Peter Bull"
"The Bird 'Grip'"
"Snowflake"
"I Know What I Have Learned"
"The Cunning Shoemaker"
"The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife"
"Catherine and Her Destiny"
"How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter"
"The Water of Life"
"The Wounded Lion"
"The Man Without a Heart"
"The Two Brothers"
"Master and Pupil"
"The Golden Lion"
"The Sprig of Rosemary"
"The White Dove"
"The Troll's Daughter"
"Esben and the Witch"
"Princess Minon-Minette"
"Maiden Bright-eye"
"The Merry Wives"
"King Lindworm"
"The Jackal, the Dove, and the Panther"
"The Little Hare"
"The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue"
"The Story of Ciccu"
"Don Giovanni de la Fortuna" show less

All new stories to me and nothing familiar. Not bad but not my favorite of the colored books so far. I do not have a top favorite story, but was disappointed with Hans, the Mermaid's Son. Thought it would be interesting but it became disjointed with wasted potential. The Pink book doesn't focus as heavily on the ultimate goal always being kings and marriage (although that's in there a few times too), but it does emphasize the money climb and trials/journeys, which was a nice change since I was getting suffocated by too many king/queen tales.

A collection of fairy stories and folktales from around the world.

This installment of the coloured fairy books does include stories from Japan, Italy, Africa and Spain, but there's a real emphasis on Scandinavian stories. Several of Hans Christian Anderson's less morbid stories help open the volume, and a large number of the remaining stories hale from Sweden and Denmark, in particular. The tales themselves are a combination of prince and princess stories, (with differing levels of fairy involvement), brother stories and animal fables, with the occasional story about simple folk who make good.

As is usually the case with Lang's collections, the writing is clear and enjoyable, but highly colonial. It's virtually impossible to tell where show more each of these stories originated based on the writing style. Lang has purged them of all local colour and regional feel. Many of the animal stories are easily identifiable for obvious reasons, (ie, leopards are not native to northern Europe), and sometimes the climate helps determine the location, but in most cases I wouldn't have recognized the source country from the story itself.

If you're looking for careful ethnography, these collections probably aren't the way to go. If you're just interested in entertaining stories, however, or are looking for a bit of a nostalgia trip, they can be a good resource. The illustrations are another high point. show less

Another one of Andrew Lang’s colorful collections of fairy stories and folk tales, this time diverting from a mostly European collection to include a heavily animal-based collection of Scandinavian and Japanese stories. Artist H.J. Ford returns with another gorgeous set of plates and illustrations, his princesses unmatched in intricate detail. The stories feature classic tales of princes, princesses, and assorted magical folk and creatures.The collection loses half a star because, as another reviewer noted, “as is usually the case with Lang's collections, the writing is clear and enjoyable, but highly colonial.” The English versions are all completed from previous European translations, making for a supremely unreliable editor who show more has purged much of the local flavor from some of the tales, making even some of the exotic folk tales seem traditionally European. For those looking for a classic source of obscure or unusual fairy tales not found in Disney’s repertoire, however, Andrew Lang’s extensive collection is a wonderful, if slightly repetitious addition to any school or public library. show less

An impressive collection of stories. A lot of them had the same features but very different than the usual Grimm Bothers Fairy Tales. I'm planning on going back to some of the stories to have a read again - they were that interesting. A lot of youngest sons and poor girls being the heroes.

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 1897 edition.

Contents: "The Cat's Elopement", "How the Dragon Was Tricked", "The Goblin and the Grocer",
"The House in the Wood", "Urashimataro and the Turtle", "The Slaying of the Tanuki", "The Flying Trunk", "The Snow Man", "The Shirt-Collar", "The Princess in the Chest", "The Three Brothers", "The Snow-queen", "The Fir-Tree", "Hans, the Mermaid's Son", "Peter Bull", "The Bird 'Grip'", "Snowflake", "I Know What I Have Learned", "The Cunning Shoemaker", "The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife", "Catherine and Her Destiny", "How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's show more Daughter", "The Water of Life", "The Wounded Lion", "The Man Without a Heart", "The Two Brothers", "Master and Pupil", "The Golden Lion", "The Sprig of Rosemary",
"The White Dove", "The Troll's Daughter", "Esben and the Witch", "Princess Minon-Minette",
"Maiden Bright-eye", "The Merry Wives", "King Lindworm", "The Jackal, the Dove, and the Panther", "The Little Hare", "The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue", "The Story of Ciccu", "Don Giovanni de la Fortuna" show less

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