the annotated classic fairy tales by maria tatar

she said to her daughter: “take this loaf of hot bread and this bottle of milk over to granny’s.”

”there was once a woman who had made some bread. I don’t know why I was the one who survived Some song about old acquaintances forgotten.īurned matches in her limp, small fingers This book inspired the following poem based on 'The Little Match Girl' It is dark, but such is the way with fairy tales I have learned. Interesting to learn the various versions and history of fairy tales.a far cry from disney. If you want to dive into the more academic side of fairy tales, or just want some weird reads that aren't in any of the larger collections like the Grimm's, Perrault's, or Andrew Lang's, then you should definitely give this a try there are plenty of cheap online versions out there too, but the introductions to all the popular tale types included here (Bluebeard, Cinderella, Tricksters, etc.) really enhance the experience, so double win! With the explanatory essays to help, it's super interesting to see how everything ties together. For instance, there's 'little red riding hood,' but there's also 'Tsélane and the Marimo' and 'The Tiger Woman' and all these other diverse versions of the narratives. Maria Tatar has also included a wide variety of cultures for each collection, so you really get the experience of how these tales are totally independent of each other and in different locations and times with different characters, and yet are so similar in composition. Like, beyond bizarre, which is explained by how the OG fairy tales weren't meant as morals or lessons for kids, they were created to entertain adults during busy workdays (or just noble aristocrats for the readers of Charles Perrault). Plus, all the earlier versions of the tales shared are totally bonkers. I haven't read the first edition, so I don't know how they compare, but the essays in this are so informative and interesting and really show how fairy tales and folk tales are such ubiquitous features of our culture, while also managing to deeply exploring the subtle undertones they have psychologically. This book is so entertaining and revolutionary in how educational it is too.

The annotated classic fairy tales by maria tatar