Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Czechoslovakia

Favorite Fairy Tales #10

by Virginia Haviland, Anca Hariton (Illustrator)

Five fairy tales from Czechoslovakia, including: The Twelve Months / Kuratko the Terrible / The Wood Fairy / The Shepard's Nosegay / The Three Golden Hairs of Grandfather Know All.

Genres: Childrens, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Short Story Collection

94 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1966

About the author

Virginia Haviland was for many years the Director of the Children's Literature Center at the Library of Congress and was also author of more than two dozen books. She was graduated from Cornell University, and for her dedication to children's literature, she was awarded the Regina Medal in 1976.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with these illustrations.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read with creative new fairy stories!

[Theresa F.]

Because the book was intended for children, the stories are told in a simple, straight-forward manner, to make them easy to understand. But as an adult reader, I found the book less engaging as a result. I more or less breezed through this collection without really feeling invested in the characters or their stories. However, I always appreciate discovering obscure folktales that aren't part of the standard Western canon of fairy tales. Even if a couple of the stories in this book were variations of ones I've heard before.
Did I like it? It was a decent collection.
Would I reread it? No.
Would I recommend it? I personally feel that exposing children to a variety of regional tales, rather than just the standard popular fairy tales, is a good way to highlight the similarities and differences between cultures, and to expose young minds to different schools of thought regarding the roles of gender, age and social class.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the books illustrated by Trina Schart-Hyman, this is one (not particularly outstanding, though I like the images of the prince disguised as a shepherd.) Then again, I'm amused by The Shepard's Nosegay overall.
The Twelve Months I know primarily from a fairytale retelling based on it, and I feel like Haviland could have done better with it. Kuratko the Terrible, an enormous chicken fable, seems tailor-made for Daniel Pinkwater. The Wood Fairy is very slight, but I like the twist of reeling the spindle product without grumbling. The Three Golden Hairs of Grandfather Know All reminds me of an Asian folktale...

[Samra · Rating 4 out of 5]

included stories id never heard of. illustration were unique and had a fairy-tale feel

[Colleen Pugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these fairytale books from different countries. I'm reading some to my daughter from our ethnic background. I've never heard the stories myself so I feel it's good for us both to read them and delve into our family history. I see where mainstream stories have come from. Or vice versa. One of the stories in this book reminds me of Cinderella. Educational but fun to learn stories from other countries, background or not.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. Also contains a possibly queer-friendly tale in "The Wood Fairy."