Review of 'Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang Illustrated' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
People who know me know that I love children's books. And fairytales are a particular love of mine. I don't know why I hadn't read The Blue Fairy Book when I was a kid, but here I am.
This collection included many stories with which I am familiar, but the very nature of fairytales is that they're part of a rich oral library passed among different families and different traditions, so there are huge numbers of variations within each story! The amount of consistency is actually surprising!
There are actually a few stories with which I was unfamiliar, but they were kind of the exception. This particular collection is entertaining, and the sources are quite a variety – from the Arabian Nights to Gulliver's Travels to King Arthur's stories to Grimm and various obscure places. It seems to be a somewhat comprehensive collection.