Rating: 
Summary: The most wonderful book of fairy tales
Review: Okay, I'm not exaggerating when I say this is the BEST book of fairy tales you will ever find in the English language. Certainly, there are books out there with more tales or more happily-ever-after endings, but this is the best. Period. I received it as a gift when I was a child and I absolutely adored it. The illustrations are truly gorgeous - most have a pseudo-Renaissance appearance to them and ALL have really amazing detail. They are also quite enormous, taking up an entire page and sometimes 2 entire pages! You can tell a real painter, not a typical kids' book animator, created these works of art. The artwork adds an extra element of classical style to these 28 stories, which have been gathered from all around the world. Some of the stories are familiar, some are not, but all have been translated with great care and love; this is immediately evident when you read even the familiar ones like Sleeping Beauty and realize that the details are a little different from the typical sanguine, Disneyfied versions you commonly see. These tales are probably very much like their original versions; in other words, they are not always happy, and sometimes they are actually quite sad. I remember as a child loving the stories yet fearing to read a few of them too because they were so sad. But this very trait is what makes them so dear to me beyond any other versions of the same tales that you might read ...One last word - this is quite an oversized book - 11' X 20' or so. So if you buy it, be sure you have a large enough bookshelf for it, because this is a book you will keep forever! Five stars all the way!
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful complete volume of fairy tales
Review: This is a lovely book. The fairy tales are from many different countries and include the classics such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast, as well as other, lesser known tales like Tinder Box, The White Deer, and Queen Cat. All are well written, good stories. The ilustrations are beautiful, but not all are in full color and they are not on every page. For children under age 3 or 4, depending on how well the child concentrates on a story, the lack of pictures on each page can make it hard for them to follow the story. I read this book constantly to my 3.5 year old girl and she loves it, but she often wants to know why the picture doesn't match the part of the story we're reading. I'm happy with the book, but I'm writing about this issue with the pictures since many reviewers said that was a strength of the book. Yes, the illustrations are beautiful, but half are full color, the other half are charcoal on pink paper, and there are little sketches throughout such as flowers or a basket of fruits which are mainly space fillers. I highly recommend the book to those who are fine with one illustration per 3-4 page story.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful complete volume of fairy tales
Review: This is a lovely book. The fairy tales are from many different countries and include the classics such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast, as well as other, lesser known tales like Tinder Box, The White Deer, and Queen Cat. All are well written, good stories. The ilustrations are beautiful, but not all are in full color and they are not on every page. For children under age 3 or 4, depending on how well the child concentrates on a story, the lack of pictures on each page can make it hard for them to follow the story. I read this book constantly to my 3.5 year old girl and she loves it, but she often wants to know why the picture doesn't match the part of the story we're reading. I'm happy with the book, but I'm writing about this issue with the pictures since many reviewers said that was a strength of the book. Yes, the illustrations are beautiful, but half are full color, the other half are charcoal on pink paper, and there are little sketches throughout such as flowers or a basket of fruits which are mainly space fillers. I highly recommend the book to those who are fine with one illustration per 3-4 page story.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful pictures - Stories from different cultures
Review: This is as much a book that adults will like as a book for children. It has very beautiful full page illustrations throughout. These are well done with so much detail and delicate color tinting. Notice that the dimensions of the book are huge. This is good for the illustrations, and the bigger font text.
The story selection is interesting in that there are stories here from Russia as well as Europe. I reread this a few weeks ago, while visiting my mother, and the stories were interesting for me as an adult. The writing is simple, but not dumbed down. I think a ten year old could read this on their own, but younger than that could read it with an adult and look at the pictures and remember stories to "read" it on their own. Strangely I don't have clear memories of this book from when I was a child. To a large extent fairy stories blur together in my mind. I vaguely remember the pictures.
The larger size and beautiful illustrations give this book an edge over other fairy tale books. It has something to appeal to children as well as adults, which is always good. It would be a good addition to a family library.
(This review refers to the 1958 edition, but I don't think they changed anything since the dimensions and page numbers are the same.)
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