Folk Tales and Fables of the World

by Barbara Hayes, Robert Ingpen

Minimal shelf wear to protective jacket. Never read, perfect condition. Ships within 2 business days.

Genres: Fiction, Mythology, Folklore, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Childrens

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of those Paper Tiger books which some how does not appear on their publication list - what is more the cover (another wonderful Robert Ingpen piece) does not appear on the versions listed here on GR hmm.

Anyway what you have here is a tour of the world through its folk tales and fables - pretty straight forward and to be honest rather common. Right well there is a surprise here, now I am no expert not even close to folk tales and fables but I have heard and read many of them and see references and derivations of many more.

However this book still manages to catch me out with stories I have never heard of before which is wonderful. I think there are too many of these stories being lost to the world or worse merged and converted in to soulless hybrids that lose their original importance and power.

I think one of the reasons is that who ever selected these stories intentionally went for stories which symbolised the country they were focusing on not just what we perceive them to be.

the second and I think more evocative aspect (and I think why it appears as a Papertiger book) is the artwork done by the subtle and sublime artist Robert Ingpen - I love his work which for me symbolises the 80s where to me reading and exploring books was at its more intense and magical.

This book is a rare find in this format and one I am ever grateful for finding - if ever there is a chance for someone else to read it I highly recommend it.

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice and diverse selection of stories from all over the world, accompanied by great illustrations.

[SBC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this beautiful book for a steal at a local charity sale and look forward to working my way through it. It oddly doesn't have a main contents page - instead, sets of folk tales and fables are divided into geographical regions, and there is a contents page for each geographical region: Europe, The Middle East and Asia, Africa, Australasia, and The Americas.

EUROPE
The Grey Palfrey
Beowulf
Aesop's Fables
The Pedlar of Swaffham
How Arthur Pulled the Sword from the Stone
The Lambton Worm
etc.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the story of The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs and the message was about greed which is an intriguing theme and I enjoyed it. I also read The Best Teacher which is a folk tale from Rumania and the story was humorous and left a good message about doing things yourself. Lastly, I read an English folk tale entitled Lazy Jack. This folk tale is about a not-so-bright boy and how good luck finds him also in a humorous way. I enjoyed all three stories and this particular book has a large collection of folk tales from all over the world.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great collection of myths and legends.

[C.R. Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. There are wonderful stories from all over the world. Very well done.

[Jade Cropley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book very interesting stories

[N.A. Fedorak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Deeply inaccurate, especially in regard to Russian and Mesopotamian mythology and folk lore. Karen? Really? How about Vasilisa? Also, get Enkidu's name right damn it.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely book to read aloud to my three boys. The tales were interesting and engaging and the illustrations by Robert Ingpen were AMAZING!!