Fir-Tree Fairy Book

Fairy tales have always been more than bedtime stories. They are the raw material of imagination, handed down through generations in village hearths and dimly lit nurseries. In this collection, Clifton Johnson gathers the tales that have thrilled children and adults for centuries: stories where animals speak and help the worthy, where fairies dance at the edges of forests, where wizards wield mysterious powers and princesses find their courage. Here are tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, but also rarer stories drawn from folk traditions around the world, the kind that once lived only in oral telling before someone finally wrote them down. Johnson has a particular fondness for animal stories, and some of the finest entries feature clever foxes, faithful dogs, and wise old owls who teach lessons that sting long after the story ends. The magic here is not polished or polite. It is old magic, the kind that understands darkness exists alongside light, that rewards kindness but does not pretend life is always fair. This is a book for anyone who remembers the particular hush that falls over a room when the storyteller begins, 'Once upon a time.'