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The Rainbow Fairy Book
Here are thirty-one enchanting selections drawn from Andrew Lang's famous series of colorfully titled fairy tale anthologies. Scholar, poet, novelist, and literary critic, Lang tirelessly collected magical stories from cultures all over the world—stories, according to Lang, that "have been inherited by our earliest civilised ancestors, who really believed that beasts and trees and stones can talk if they choose, and behave kindly or unkindly."
The best single-volume collection of Lang's fairy tale classics available, The Rainbow Fairy Book includes "Hansel and Gretel," "Rapunzel," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "The Prince and the Dragon," "Rumpelstiltskin," "The Three Little Pigs," "Snow-White and Rose-Red," and other enduring fables of childhood. Lyrical and timeless, these are the stories that have captured the imaginations of children and adults alike for generations.
The best single-volume collection of Lang's fairy tale classics available, The Rainbow Fairy Book includes "Hansel and Gretel," "Rapunzel," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "The Prince and the Dragon," "Rumpelstiltskin," "The Three Little Pigs," "Snow-White and Rose-Red," and other enduring fables of childhood. Lyrical and timeless, these are the stories that have captured the imaginations of children and adults alike for generations.
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2007
8 people are currently reading
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About the author
Andrew Lang
2,904 books555 followersTales of the Scottish writer and anthropologist Andrew Lang include
The Blue Fairy Book
(1889).
Andrew Gabriel Lang, a prolific Scotsman of letters, contributed poetry, novels, literary criticism, and collected now best folklore.
The Young Scholar and Journalist
Andrew Gabriel Lang, the son of the town clerk and the eldest of eight children, lived in Selkirk in the Scottish borderlands. The wild and beautiful landscape of childhood greatly affected the youth and inspired a lifelong love of the outdoors and a fascination with local folklore and history. Charles Edward Stuart and Robert I the Bruce surrounded him in the borders, a rich area in history. He later achieved his literary Short History of Scotland .
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious Saint Andrews University, which now holds a lecture series in his honor every few years, and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He later published Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes about the city in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31 years in 1875 as an already published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, style, and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist quickly for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. Whilst working in London, he met and married Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his wife.
Interest in myths and folklore continued as he and Leonora traveled through France and Italy to hear local legends, from which came the most famous The Rainbow Fairy Books . In the late 19th century, interest in the native stories declined and very few persons recounting them for young readers. In fact, some educationalists attacked harmful magical stories in general to children. To challenge this notion, Lang first began collecting stories for the first of his colored volumes.
Lang gathered already recorded stories, while other folklorists collected stories directly from source. He used his time to collect a much greater breadth over the world from Jacob Grimm, his brother, Madame d'Aulnoy, and other less well sources.
Lang also worked as the editor, often credited as its sole creator for his work despite the essential support of his wife, who transcribed and organised the translation of the text, to the success.
He published to wide acclaim. The beautiful illustrations and magic captivated the minds of children and adults alike. The success first allowed Lang and Leonora to carry on their research and in 1890 to publish a much larger print run of The Red Fairy Book , which drew on even more sources. Between 1889 and 1910, they published twelve collections, which, each with a different colored binding, collected, edited and translated a total of 437 stories. Lang, credited with reviving interest in folklore, more importantly revolutionized the Victorian view and inspired generations of parents to begin reading them to children once more.
Last Works
Lang produced and at the same time continued a wide assortment of novels, literary criticism, articles, and poetry. As Anita Silvey, literary critic, however, noted, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession... he is best recognized for the works he did not write," the folk stories that he collected.
He finished not the last Highways and Byways of the Border but died.
Andrew Gabriel Lang, a prolific Scotsman of letters, contributed poetry, novels, literary criticism, and collected now best folklore.
The Young Scholar and Journalist
Andrew Gabriel Lang, the son of the town clerk and the eldest of eight children, lived in Selkirk in the Scottish borderlands. The wild and beautiful landscape of childhood greatly affected the youth and inspired a lifelong love of the outdoors and a fascination with local folklore and history. Charles Edward Stuart and Robert I the Bruce surrounded him in the borders, a rich area in history. He later achieved his literary Short History of Scotland .
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious Saint Andrews University, which now holds a lecture series in his honor every few years, and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He later published Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes about the city in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31 years in 1875 as an already published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, style, and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist quickly for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. Whilst working in London, he met and married Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his wife.
Interest in myths and folklore continued as he and Leonora traveled through France and Italy to hear local legends, from which came the most famous The Rainbow Fairy Books . In the late 19th century, interest in the native stories declined and very few persons recounting them for young readers. In fact, some educationalists attacked harmful magical stories in general to children. To challenge this notion, Lang first began collecting stories for the first of his colored volumes.
Lang gathered already recorded stories, while other folklorists collected stories directly from source. He used his time to collect a much greater breadth over the world from Jacob Grimm, his brother, Madame d'Aulnoy, and other less well sources.
Lang also worked as the editor, often credited as its sole creator for his work despite the essential support of his wife, who transcribed and organised the translation of the text, to the success.
He published to wide acclaim. The beautiful illustrations and magic captivated the minds of children and adults alike. The success first allowed Lang and Leonora to carry on their research and in 1890 to publish a much larger print run of The Red Fairy Book , which drew on even more sources. Between 1889 and 1910, they published twelve collections, which, each with a different colored binding, collected, edited and translated a total of 437 stories. Lang, credited with reviving interest in folklore, more importantly revolutionized the Victorian view and inspired generations of parents to begin reading them to children once more.
Last Works
Lang produced and at the same time continued a wide assortment of novels, literary criticism, articles, and poetry. As Anita Silvey, literary critic, however, noted, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession... he is best recognized for the works he did not write," the folk stories that he collected.
He finished not the last Highways and Byways of the Border but died.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 1, 2012
A collection of the best of the fairy tales from Lang's colour coded collections. There are some very familiar stories, and some not so familiar ones. Nice, bite sized, perfect for reading aloud to the children in your life. Also good for the fledgling fantasy author looking for inspiration.
January 18, 2018
For whatever reason that I can’t pinpoint right now, I didn’t fall in love with this edition of fairy tales. The illustrations were sparse and just personally not up my alley. It was fine but there are better collections, IMO.
January 21, 2022
About 60/40 stories I knew. Though I did have a fun time guessing the origin countries of the tales.
January 14, 2018
Andrew Lang is the best tale teller, at least for me. He lived over 100 years ago, gathered a huge collection of fairy tales in their earliest form and translated them into English. This book reflects some of the best in his collection.
There's no perfection in these early tales, no details enhanced or eliminated by Disney writers. There are loose ends, stories told for the joy of a story, and the feel of the ages as you read. I grew up reading Andrew Lang's colored volumes of fairy tales, and now my daughter has read some of the same stories I did at her age and loved them just as much.
There's no perfection in these early tales, no details enhanced or eliminated by Disney writers. There are loose ends, stories told for the joy of a story, and the feel of the ages as you read. I grew up reading Andrew Lang's colored volumes of fairy tales, and now my daughter has read some of the same stories I did at her age and loved them just as much.
September 17, 2016
These stories were originally published in one of the Colored Fairy Books, like The Blue Fairy Book.
These stories include some versions of traditional fairy tales that vary from what we are normally familiar with, like in Jack and the Beanstalk. When Jack climbed the beanstalk he found that the giant's castle and property were once his before the giant killed his father and forced he and his mother to hide and to move to a different area to be safe. Scattered black line drawings and colored paintings complete this edition.
These stories include some versions of traditional fairy tales that vary from what we are normally familiar with, like in Jack and the Beanstalk. When Jack climbed the beanstalk he found that the giant's castle and property were once his before the giant killed his father and forced he and his mother to hide and to move to a different area to be safe. Scattered black line drawings and colored paintings complete this edition.
March 6, 2008
Absolutely opt for this edition illustrated by Michael Hague; illustrations add immensely to the book. Classic fairy tales that all children should be familiar with as part of the canon of Western literature.
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February 11, 2016I've always loved fairy tales and this was a good collection my husband gave me for Christmas. There were several stories from other countries that I'd never read before.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews