Andrew Lang was famous for his ‘Rainbow Fairy Books’ and generations of children including our introducer, the novelist A. S. Byatt, grew up reading these enchanting, and occasionally disturbing, stories. For The Pink Fairy Book, Lang drew upon a range of cultures and traditions, bringing together 41 stories from Japan, Scandinavia, Africa, Sicily and Catalonia, as well as enduring favourites including ‘The Snow Queen’ by Hans Christian Andersen and ‘The House in the Wood’ by the Brothers Grimm. Many had never appeared in any English collection before and Lang had them translated and sympathetically retold. Here, gruesome stories (a princess possessed by a demon devours her guards) have their place alongside unashamedly comic ones (three merry wives play tricks on their husbands to determine which is the most stupid) and an occasional tragic tale (the little, much-loved snow child melts away in the fire’s heat).
Classic stories included in this collection:
The Cats’ Elopement How the Dragon Was Tricked The Goblin and the Grocer The House in the Wood Uraschimataro 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 Lindorm 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 |