A classic fiction book written by British author Edmund Dulac. This enchanting collection brings together fairy tales from various nations, weaving a tapestry of narratives that are both historical and magical. A delightful read for those who enjoy fairy tales and historical narratives.

In the 19thC there were at least three master compilers and publishers of children’s Fairy Tales – Edmund Dulac, Andrew Lang and the Grimm Bothers. This is a collection of folk and fairy tales from Belgium, France, England, Japan, Italy, Russia and Serbia compiled by Edmund Dulac. Herein you will finds the stories of: SNEGOROTCHKA – Russian, THE BURIED MOON – English, WHITE CAROLINE AND BLACK CAROLINE – Flemish, THE SEVEN CONQUERORS OF THE QUEEN OF THE MISSISSIPPI – Belgian, THE SERPENT PRINCE – Italian, THE HIND OF THE WOOD – French, IVAN AND THE CHESTNUT HORSE – Russian, THE QUEEN OF THE MANY-COLOURED BEDCHAMBER – Irish, THE BLUE BIRD – French, BASHTCHELIK (OR, REAL STEEL), Serbian, THE FRIAR AND THE BOY- English, THE GREEN SERPENT – French, URASHIMA TARO – Japanese, THE FIRE BIRD – Russian, THE STORY OF THE BIRD FENG – Chinese. In every country there is a place where good wishes come true: where the poor and the lonely are rich in castles and friends: and where sorrowful folk are happy. Here you will hear the birds singing and children laughing, all day long. The trees are full of blossoms and fruit. The sky is always blue, the grass green and soft. Under the trees dwell the fairies, and against the blue sky you will sometimes see the sheen of angels’ wings as the flit by. It is from this place that these children’s stories originate. So, we invite you to curl up with this unique sliver of Fairy culture not seen in print for over a century; and immerse yourself in the tales and fables of yesteryear. ---------------------------- KEYWORDS/TAGS: fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, children’s stories, bygone era, fairydom, fairy land, classic stories, children’s bedtime stories, snegorotchka, russian, buried moon, english, white caroline, black caroline, flemish, seven conquerors, queen, Mississippi, belgian, serpent prince, italian, hind of the wood, french, ivan, chestnut horse, russian, many-coloured bedchamber, irish, blue bird, bashtchelik, real steel, serbian, friar and the boy, green serpent, urashima taro, japanese, fire bird, story of the bird feng, chinese

A collection of fairy tales from around the world adapted for an English-speaking audience.

The old wife sang merrily as she sat in the inglenook stirring the soup, for she had never felt so sad. Many, many years had come and gone, leaving the weight of their winters on her shoulders and the touch of snow on her hair without ever bringing her a little child. This made her and her dear old husband very sad, for there were many children outside, playing in the snow. It seemed hard that not even one among them was their very own. But alas! there was no hope for such a blessing now. Never would they see a little fur cap hanging on the corner of the mantelpiece, nor two little shoes drying by the fire. The old husband brought in a bundle of wood and set it down. Then, as he heard the children laughing and clapping their hands outside, he looked out at the window. There they were, dancing with glee round a snow man they had made. He smiled as he saw that it was evidently meant to look like the Mayor of the village, it was so fat and pompous. 'Look, Marusha!' he cried to the old wife. 'Come and see the snow man they've made.' As they stood together at the window, they laughed to see what fun the children got out of it. Suddenly the old man turned to her with a bright idea. 'Let's go out and see if we can't make a little snow man.' But Marusha laughed at him. 'What would the neighbours say? They would poke fun at us; it'd be the joke of the village. Besides, we're too old to play like children.' 'But only a little one, Marusha; only a teeny-weeny little snow man,—and I'll manage it that nobody sees us.' 'Well, well,' she said, laughing; 'have your own way, as you always did, Youshko.' With this she took the pot from the fire, put on her bonnet, and they went out together. As they passed the children, they stopped to play with them a while, for they now felt almost like children themselves. Then they trudged on through the snow till they came to a clump of trees, and, behind this, where the snow was nice and white, and nobody could see them, they set to work to make their little man. The old husband insisted that it must be very small, and the old wife agreed that it should be almost as small as a new-born babe. Kneeling down in the snow, they fashioned the little body in next to no time. Now there remained only the head to finish. Two fat handfuls of snow for the cheeks and face, and a big one on top for the head. Then they put on a wee dab for the nose and poked two holes, one on each side, for the eyes.

These 55 masterworks by one of the most influential illustrators of children's books include exquisite images for "The Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "The Snow Queen," "The Real Princess," and other beguiling tales.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.