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85th out of 298 books
—
27 voters
English Fairy Tales
This book contains over forty of the best-loved fairy stories, beautifully illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Favourites such as Jack the Giant-killer, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, The Three Little Pigs and The Babes in the Wood are all here among many others, but stories from different traditions also make their appearance, including The Three Bears and Little Re...more
Favourites such as Jack the Giant-killer, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, The Three Little Pigs and The Babes in the Wood are all here among many others, but stories from different traditions also make their appearance, including The Three Bears and Little Re...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
March 5th 1999
by Wordsworth Classics
(first published 1890)
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Jacobs mentions at the beginning that the tales in this book should be read out loud but I think parents should probably read the tales before they go and blab it to their kids. Not to say that their are a whole bunch of brutal killings but its not all sunshine and daisies all the time neither. I know that fairy tales are really not as sugary sweet as they are in Disney or any of the retellings that I love.
There is a repetivness to the tales. There were more Giants than I expected and can recal...more
There is a repetivness to the tales. There were more Giants than I expected and can recal...more
I love fairy tales, I really do, but there were just some in this collection that left a serious o_O look on my face. While some of the tales in this book were quite interesting, there were others that were pretty dreary and difficult to get through. Some of the tales are very similar stories to other fairy tales that you're probably familiar with, but I think that overlapping occurred a lot back in the day.
A lot of these tales deal with giants, which was a bit daunting after the first story or...more
A lot of these tales deal with giants, which was a bit daunting after the first story or...more
Some things must be viewed by young eyes and grasped by childish minds. Fairy tales fall in this category and English fairy tales in particularly. English Fairy Tales compiled by Joseph Jacobs is a beautifully illustrated book but I really can’t say that I was positively impressed with the accompanying text. The book is a collection of forty English tales, many dating from the 16th Century. Most of the tales were new to me and possibly little known generally. Jack the Giant Killer, Jack and the...more
This late 19th century collection is utterly charming. Though Jacobs put the stories together for children (with, in some cases, fairly extensive rewriting), his chats and asides to adults are worth reading to the last word—even (and especially) the footnotes.
The tales read, for the most part, like quiet evening retellings that your favorite aunt might unroll. Despite the Victorian times when we was working, they are little toned down. He trusts kids to be able to handle the random brutality tha...more
The tales read, for the most part, like quiet evening retellings that your favorite aunt might unroll. Despite the Victorian times when we was working, they are little toned down. He trusts kids to be able to handle the random brutality tha...more
The notes in the back of this book explain why these versions of fairytales are not well known. "The superior elegance and clearness of the French tales replaced the rude vigour of the English ones." After reading these, I can see why most people preferred the French versions. The English stories have less atmosphere, unclear motives, unsatisfying conclusions, gritty and violent descriptions, and more adult themes. They come closer to real life and are missing the magical element I most enjoy in...more
Feb 28, 2013
Savanna
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2013,
childrens-lit,
classic,
wish-list,
oldbooks,
midevil-lit,
fairy-tales,
myth-leg,
magic
Summary: I read the entire book, 43 tales, but my favorites were Nix Naught Nothing, The Magpie’s Nest, and The Ass, the Table, and the Stick. Nix Naught Nothing was a prince whose father accidently gave him away to a monster who raised Nix Naught Nothing until he was grown. Nix fell in love with the monster’s daughter and eventually they got away, Nix was restored to his family/kingdom, and the two got married. The Magpie’s Nest was about a magpie who taught all of the birds to build nests but...more
This is one of the best collections. Jacobs combed the folklore collections for this set of tales. Strong and memorable tellings of old favorites, in ways you won't remember hearing as from the picturebooks. Three Pigs, Three Bears, Johnny Cake (aka Gingerbread Boy), Tom Tit Tot (Rumpelstiltskin). Then a lot more not in the popular set, but still riveting: Three Heads of the Well, Childe Rowland, Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh. My favorite in the bunch for telling is Molly Whuppie! A strong gi...more
I read this as part of a children's lit class. I didn't like them as much as I liked the Tales of Grimm.
The Rose Tree - I didn't like - evil stepmother kills daughter then daughter comes back and leaves her father & brother gifts.
The Three Heads of the Well - in search of a new life a king’s daughter realizes that kindness really does pay off.
Princess of Canterbury - the test of staying awake for a fair maidens hand is placed before a shepherd.
Molly Whuppie - A very smart girl outwits a gian...more
The Rose Tree - I didn't like - evil stepmother kills daughter then daughter comes back and leaves her father & brother gifts.
The Three Heads of the Well - in search of a new life a king’s daughter realizes that kindness really does pay off.
Princess of Canterbury - the test of staying awake for a fair maidens hand is placed before a shepherd.
Molly Whuppie - A very smart girl outwits a gian...more
Beautifully written set of the most classic recognizable stories. They loose their more gory aspect, although they are more blunt. For example in the story of Tom-Tit-Tot (one of my favorite) She finds his name in a very practical way - in a conversation with her husband the king. And it's not her baby the "little black thing" is betting if she cannot find his name as in the American version. Along with a slightly different and, in my opinion, gentler view, the stories often teach good lessons a...more
Sep 03, 2012
Hannah Woods
added it
I read the fairy tale called "The Three Sillies" in this book. It made me laugh! A gentleman meets a farmer's daughter who he wants to marry, but finds the daughter, mother and father to be totally silly. So, he goes on a journey to find three people even more silly than they, and if he can, he will come back to marry the farmer's daughter. He manages to find three people way more silly than the family, so he returns to marry the daughter.
I give the books four stars because it's a children's book. My interest in it, however, comes from my curiosity to learn more about English fairy tales and how different they are from ours. To my surprise, however, I found that many of the stories in the book are the same ones which grandma used to tell us when we were children, including stories which I thought were our family's alone.
Also, it's clear Joseph Jacobs did some serious effort to collect these stories and put them all in this fine b...more
Also, it's clear Joseph Jacobs did some serious effort to collect these stories and put them all in this fine b...more
A very good collection of folk tales from Britain. The author tried hard to make sure that the stories were commonly from Britain though they may have spread elsewhere or a variation came from elsewhere. Some very English folk tales? Henny Penny, Jack and the Beanstalk, there are many Jack tales, and The Three Bears. Most have humourous endings and seem to be stories to amuse everyone. Jacobs, the author said he used fairy tales in the title because no kid ever asks for a folk tale.
Read it to see where some English ideals differ and are the same as English society today and my Canadian society today. Also read it to find some of the old classics I heard as a kid. This book is defiantly intended for the youth and ppl who want to remember their youth.
I'm not sure if this is the actual edition of English Fairy Tales that I just read, because mine was a free Kindle version without the author's name. Classical fairy tales are horrifying. If you like reading about rape, murder, thievery, and treacheries of all sorts, then these are the stories for you.
I was required to read this book for my Children's Lit University class. I found it a quick read with some enjoyable stories from my childhood. It was interesting how so many of the stories have similarities to each other!
Not for the fainted heart of children. Pretty gruesome, but some tales that you don't generally get to hear of. This was my mom's college book for a literature class. My favorite tales were "Cap o' Rushes" and "The Three Heads of the Well." Know that I'm a sucker for the genre.
Oct 24, 2011
Amy
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommended to Amy by:
Amblesideonline
Shelves:
2011,
in-our-homeschool
We did not read every tale in this read aloud book. I recommend reading them first as they are not all fluffy, easy tales. My oldest really enjoyed the stories much more then I did.
It was very interesting, and fun to read. A lot of the tales involve deaths....a lot of peoples heads get bashed against rocks and so on. lol.
yeah, i liked this book a lot. all of the 'non-watered-down' fairy tales and stories kinda made me think a lot.
I read three of the fairy tales...
Tom Tit Tot
The three sillies
The Rose-Tree
Tom Tit Tot
The three sillies
The Rose-Tree
Many of the tales I already knew but there were many that I didn't know. The ones that I knew were often slightly different to the versions that I know. I read this book in-between reading other books.
Creepy yet wonderful!
Really funny and classic my favorite is chapter when the daughter was crying because it was a mallet in the roof and she pondered if she got married to the gardner and they had a child and he went down to the seller to draw beer and the mallet hit him then she became to cry. i also like the one when with nimmy nimmy nim my name is tip top tim!
Great to see the origins of our current fairy tales. Interesting how they change with telling.
Dec 29, 2010
Amanda
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
trivia-answered,
reviewed
A collection of fairy tales. Some tales I really enjoyed, while others I found dull.
The flow of the stories made it hard to get lost in the tales.
The flow of the stories made it hard to get lost in the tales.
Oct 21, 2010
Rebecca (everyday reader)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kindle-books
A good collection of well loved fairy tales. They were not nice to children as a general rule. Good read!!
Feb 23, 2013
MiChAeLPaUl
marked it as fini
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
e-books,
childrens-fiction
Early English folklore of many popular fairy tales ever told.
Like the Grimm brothers and Has Christian Anderson better.
Entah kenapa lagi tertarik sama fairy tales :)
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Sep 16, 2012 11:52am