FAIRY TALES.
There are certain fairy tales that are absolute classics, and a knowledge of which is absolutely necessary to understand common allusions. The grandmothers have ceased to tell them, and the little chap-books are no more, so that it has happened to me to pause on a mention of ‘Cinderella’ or ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and find no one understand it, and I have kept a whole school interested while waiting for an entertainment by telling one of these. Therefore, a small list is here given, for fairy tales should be regarded as treats, and only the superior ones put forth freely. It will generally be found that in the first stage of education they are despised, but that children of any imagination enjoy them. One or two imaginative classics are added.
576. The Fairy Book. Selected by the Author of ‘John Halifax.’ (Macmillan) 4s. 6d.
These are the genuine old fairy tales, that ought to be known to everyone, simply told.
577. Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Mrs. Paull’s Selection. (Warne) 3s. 6d. or 2s. 6d. Globe edition (Macmillan) 2s.
These two sets make up the real folk-lore tales—remnants of old myths, of more modern ones.
578. Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Mrs. Paull’s Selection. (Warne) 3s. 6d.
These have, by their merits, become almost as classical as their predecessors, and quite as proverbial. The ‘Ugly Duckling’ and the ‘Daisy’ ought to be known to all.
579. The Hope of the Katzekopfs. By the Rev. F. Paget. (Masters) 2s.
Deserves to be classical for its fun and its moral.
580. Old-fashioned Fairy Tales. By Mrs. Ewing. (S.P.C.K.) 3s. 6d.
Modern, but according to the ancient rules of fairy tales.
581. The Arabian Nights. By the Rev. G. F. Townsend. (Routledge) 3s. 6d.
These are almost necessary for the understanding of allusions, besides the fascination of such tales as ‘Aladdin’s Lamp,’ ‘The Forty Thieves,’ or ‘Sindbad.’ It is remarkable that Hannah More thought even the old uncastigated tradition translated from the French more wholesome reading for young people than contemporary tales of character, perhaps because less tending to introspection.
582. Alice in Wonderland. By Lewis Carroll. (Macmillan) 6s.
583. Through the Looking-Glass. By Lewis Carroll. (Macmillan) 6s.
It takes some cultivation to enjoy these wondrously droll compositions.
584. The Water Babies. By C. Kingsley. (Macmillan) 6s.
The same may be said of this. These are literature, though we are not sure whether ordinary school children would care for them.
585. Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland. By Croker. (Swan Sonnenschein) 5s.
These are some of the most delightful fairy tales in existence, told with an Irish humour that adds infinitely to their zest.
586. The Light Princess. By G. Macdonald. (Daldy) 2s. 6d.
Worthy to be old fairy tales.
587. The Little Lame Prince. By the Author of ‘John Halifax.’ (Macmillan) 4s. 6d.
Too beautiful and earnest not to be well worth reading.
588. Four Winds Farm. By Mrs. Molesworth. (Macmillan)
One of the best of Mrs. Molesworth’s dream-like tales.
589. Down the Snow Stairs. By Alice Corkran. (Blackie) 6s.
Of the same type.
