The Random House Book of Fairy Tales

by Diane Goode (Illustrator), Amy Ehrlich (Adapter)

A lush treasury of 19 fairy tales that generations of children have grown up on, lushly illustrated by Diane Goode.

Genres: Classics, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Fantasy, Picture Books, Fiction, Short Stories

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Caldecott Honor children's book author/illustrator of over 55 picture books.

Reviews

[Set · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the illustrations are gorgeous like: The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Princes and the pea and Rumplestiltskin while others are simply dreadful like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Snow Queen. I don't care much for the black and white pencil drawings and would have preferred all the drawings to have been in color. I like the selection and the fairy tales are nicely written.

[Dayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice review of the tales themselves. I wasn't too impressed with the illustrations, though. And in my opinion, a good book of fairy tales ought to have some pretty spectacular illustrations!

[Becki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favorite book of fairy tales. They are very well written, the pictures are wonderful (Diane Goode is just the best). None of the stories are overly long or at all painful to read. I would recommend this collection to anyone looking.

[Heather Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sweet to become reaquainted with actual fairy tales of old. Some I read and thought, how abrupt an ending. Some I wondered how brutal to read this story to children. Some had profound deeper meaning wresting with good and evil.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I owned this book as a child and recently re-discovered it through our library system. I still love it!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Random House Book of Fairy Tales is a collection of 19 fairy tale stories from notable authors such the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault & Hans Christian Andersen. Adapted by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Diane Goode are the following tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, The Valiant Little Tailor, Hansel & Gretel, Rapunzel, The Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Pea, Rumpelstiltskin, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, Cinderella, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Snow Queen, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Puss in Boots, Elves and the Shoemaker, and The Frog Prince.

I recall reading selected tales from this book before as a kid, and rereading the entirety of this collection felt like a real nostalgia trip. Adapted from the authors of famous works, mentioned above; almost all of the fairy tales featured in here are almost, if not, faithful to the original text. I can concur, having read The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault already, the ones from him have the text very much word-for-word in his versions. The illustrations are done in soft, pencil stylings that gives these stories a very dreamy quality to them, while being also very vibrant and detailed. One issue with the illustrations is that I noticed how most of the human figures have almost the same facial model done for both the male and female characters. That's only a slight critique. These fairy tales are classics for a reason, and many of them show wittiness, ingenuity and good triumphing over evil. Thus, making them appropriate for all ages to read as well as symbolizing the positive qualities in a person that they can earn their own happy endings.

[Chelsea Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: This particular book has all of the classic fairy tales combined into one larger book. Stories like Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and many others. This story book has only a few pictures for each story, but the stories all have a little bit of a twist in comparison to the movies most children have seen. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book as a child and would definitely reccomend it.

Content: Even though this book is about different fairy tales, I would actually consider this book to be at a higher reading level. I would use it for students who are moving on to reading larger paragraphs and expanding their vocabulary. More so as a tool to practice reading more than just a few sentences at a time and transitioning to reading chapter books.

Comprehension:
Q: In the story Rapunzel, what was two major differences you noticed in comparison to the movie?
A: Well, when the prince came to rescue Rapunzel the witch caused him to jump down from the tower making him peirce his eyes on thorns and become blind. But, many years later Rapunzel and the Prince found each other and she healed his eyes with her tears. Both of these events didn't happen in the movie.
Q: What was your favorite story out of the book, and why?
A: I very much enjoyed the story Thumbelina. She helps all of the creatures around her, and gets trapped by the mole who wants her hand, but the swallow she helped heal comes back to save her and she meets a person just her size!

Wonder:
1. Why did the cat want the Marquis of Carabas to bath?(Puss in Boots)
2. Why would you wash someones face with wine? (Snow White)
3. Beauty didn't have siblings in the movie, how come she did in the story?(Beauty and the Beast)

[Bethany Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

We bought this fairy tale book to read with my 10 year old. After each story we read she tells me a moral of the story or what happened. These are classic fairy tales with a twist. These are not exactly like “Disney” fairy tales but are based upon the the same concept stories . The morals of the stories are not very good for kids.
Still good stories in my opinion but not for little kids

For instance : (spoilers)
The elves and the shoe maker: moral: if you give back to people for helping you they stop helping.
Jack and the bean stalk: moral : it’s okay to steal if it’s gets your family ahead and when you get caught - bury your problem and pretend it didn’t exist.
Snow White : revenge is best for someone trying to hurt you multiple times
The emperor’s new clothes : moral : Everyone lies
The frog prince ; moral : it’s okay to be mean to people that are ugly in the end good things will still happen for you.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a collection of adapted tales of the original brothers' Grimm fairy tales. I really enjoyed this book because surprisingly I have never read the original fairy tales. These stories are very different from the Walt Disney Productions version. They had the story of Rumpelstiltskin, the Snow Queen, now known as Elsa, and so much more. It included so many different fairy tales and I was even able to use the story of The Princess and The Frog as an example in my research paper. My favorite part of this book was the illustrations, they were beautiful and unique. Overall I would give this book four stars because it's fun to read and I can see myself reading it to my kids in the future. I recommend it to anyone who has young kids, anyone who enjoys fairytales or wants to learn what the original stories were like.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've tried to read this book two different times with three different children, and none of us have enjoyed it.

Something about the pictures reminded me about my own childhood and I really wanted to like this volume, but none of us enjoyed the writing, it wasn't pleasant to read aloud or listen to, and some of the stories felt like something important had been skipped or glossed over.

I pushed through because it was recommended by a curriculum, but there are so many better options out there, so I'm giving up on this one.

[Ashley Hobgood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read this book when I was younger. I enjoyed reading the original fairy tales by the original authors. I loved the various stories and illustrations. I thought the book was pretty good. It is a must read if you have an interest in these fairy tales.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly dark and meaningful.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't care.....I just LOVE fairytales

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd forgotten how brutal old fashion fairy tales are as I read this to my 4 year old grand. But she loved all of them....and we read the whole book over FaceTime in 45 minute increments.

[Charlemagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic fairy tale book that i can find myself rereading and even narrating to. The illustrations are wonderful too.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a multicultural book of traditional fairy tales. I thought I had found it in this book, because the cover shows a black character. But inside the book, the illustrations are NOT multicultural at all. So that is mainly why I give this book only two stars.

The illustrations: They are nothing special. Snow White looks like a greasy haired heroin addict, and they are all sort of drab. I would have preferred a variety of styles because this style gets old fast.

The stories: The stories seem to be very traditional. For example, Snow White forces her stepmother to dance on hot coals until she dies. Rumplestiltskin tears himself apart at the legs and dies. Jack is a thief who steals from the ogre (not retrieving his father's possessions as I've read in other stories). If this is what you are looking for--then this is the book for you. If not, then look elsewhere.

[Johanna Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In UK this is The Walker Book of Fairy Tales.

A nice selection of 19 fairy tales. The stories were well told but the illustrations weren't my favorite.

Included:
The Emperor's New Clothes (Andersen)
The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (Perrault)
The Elves and the Shoemaker (Grimm)
Rapunzel (Grimm)
The Twelve Dancing Princesses (Grimm)
Jack and the Beanstalk
Snow White (Grimm)
Puss in Boots (Perrault)
Beauty and the Beast (de Beaumont)
The Frog Prince (Grimm)
The Valiant Little Tailor (Grimm)
Red Riding Hood (Grimm)
The Real Princess (Andersen)
The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Andersen)
Cinderella (Perrault)
Hansel and Gretel (Grimm)
Rumpelstiltskin (Grimm)
The Snow Queen (Andersen)
Thumbelina (Andersen)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just not a fan of the fairy tale genre. It is difficult for me to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the story. I mean, come on, a talking mirror, sleeping for one hundred years and waking up looking exactly the seem sans the aide of cyrogenics, pumpkins turning into carriages! Get real! Even as a child I was far too much of a cynic to garner pleasure from anything other than realistic fiction, save for a few exceptions. However, if you do have a fondness for fairy tales, check out this version as the stories are more reflective of their original versions and the illustrations are beautiful.

[Roshini R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains 19 beloved classic fairy tales from various authors. The collection includes “Rapunzel,” “Thumbelina,” “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” to list a few. Fairy tales are based upon oral traditions and convey deeper meaning under the guise of enchanting tales. They are still germane since they address themes such as people’s trials, tribulations, fears and hopes, lessons learned, how people face their problems, prove themselves, and come into their own in the process. The beautifully detailed illustrations accompanying the tales are well matched. It is suited for all audiences.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for Book It! back in first grade. I was sure it would count as at least two or three books because it is big. Then the teacher pointed out that it had a lot of pictures . . . and the type was pretty large . . . . I was only slightly bummed because this book ROCKS! Sometimes, to this day, I can hear it calling me from the shelf while I'm working and I'll take it down and read a story. The illustrations are gorgeous and in a very uncommon media: colored pencil with water colors on top. Disney has nothing on this book. Nothing.

[Kristina Bulluck]

This is book is a mixture of the classic fairy tales and I really enjoyed it because it is not the same story that most of the kids are used to because it's not the Disney ones. There are some versions of the story in there that I have never even heard as a child.

LE: we would pick a fairy tale out of the book and compare it to the ones that we have heard before.

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the fairytales themselves, because they were the more traditional verisions, not as sparkled up as in other versions I've read. But the pictures...ugh. They were just so not fairytale-like. Pictures in fairytales are supposed to make you see the beauty and magic in the stories. These pictures just made me want to look away.

[The Dark Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book from my childhood and probably my first exposure to fairy tales off-screen and un-Disneyfied. The drawings are beautiful and has a great selection from the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect book of fairy tales in my opinion! Just enough nice illustrations to keep kids interested but leads nicely into longer reading sessions. The stories are SO well told, without all the goofy add-ons of most published fairy tales today. Excellent!

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific introduction to some of the most popular fairy tales. Goode's illustrations are charming, and the "real" stories are told. I like the variety in this volume, too, because it's not all "princess" stories. Kids of all ages and of both genders will enjoy it.

[Analee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like a lot of the versions in this book better than most I've read, but they're not as good as the originals.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of Hans Christian Anderson, The Grimm Brothers and more. I really love this one.

[Nevada Libert · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love this book!

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book compilation of Fairy Tales!

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice selection of stories. Illustrations are ok. This is a good book to have around for the kids bed time stories or car trips.