Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

Here are the stories that have haunted and healed generations of children. Collected in 1915 but told for centuries before, these are the original fairy tales: raw, moral, and utterly spellbinding. From Cinderella's glass slipper to Jack's magic beans, from Ali Baba's forty thieves to the Sleeping Beauty's century-long sleep, each tale pits goodness against cruelty, cleverness against brute force, and rewards the kind heart and the brave spirit. The introduction argues that fairy tales are 'the poetic record of the facts of life' - imaginative attempts to make sense of a harsh world. These aren't the softened Disney versions. Two Eyes is starved by her jealous sisters. Blue Beard leaves a trail of dead wives. The Twelve Brothers face real danger. Yet within darkness, light always wins. This is the collection that taught millions of children how to imagine, how to hope, and how to recognize evil wearing a kind face. For young readers ready for stories that don't flinch, and for adults who remember what these tales meant to them.