The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales

This has been my sleep companion for some time - takes longer if you only manage a paragraph a night, but its a good one. I'd never read the Reluctant Dragon (sad, I know). The stories are in 'chronological' order, so in a sense its a history of fairy tales. The oldest is from 1839, and was much sillier than I'd expected. No idea why - it had not occurred to me that people were silly in 1839, I guess. Clearly, something lacking in our approach to history.Some were familiar and comfortable, like [...]

Fairy tales (that often don’t have a single fairy in them) old and new dot the pages of this book. If anyone has read the modern graphic novels in the “Fables” series, they will recognize the character of Feathertop from this story, a patchwork scarecrow made of sticks, ragged finery and a withered pumpkin. This story was created by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he of “The Scarlet Letter” fame, and tells the moral of how the world is filled with stuffed men with no more sense than a pumpkinhead [...]

When I hear the word fairy tale, I envision something like this :And in the end:Maybe because I grew up reading stories like Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk, I think fairy tales should have a happy ending and a MEANING, however simple it may be. Likewise, the words "Modern Fairy Tales" snagged me. Ooh! Some modern stories! Lets cuddle up on my bed and read! Best book ever! NOT. First of all, the word "modern" is ahuge lie. The words were so old-fashioned I couldn't understand what the stor [...]

"The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales" is exactly what it says it is - a book of modern fairy tales.And, what is a modern fairy tale, you ask?It's pretty much the same as a traditional fairy tale. There's one or two with a dragon, one with a nymph, a few with fairies, a lot with princes and princesses, etc.But a modern fairy tale has a modern twist to it. "The Princess Who Stood on Her Own Two Feet" is a fantastic feminist story about a princess who changes everything about herself so a prince [...]

This book has fairy tales of all kinds, written from 1839 to 1989. There are various authors, some of the most famous being Charles Dickens, Carl Sandburg, Jane Yolen, T.H. White, Kenneth Grahame, Oscar Wilde, and E. Nesbit. The stories in this book are often very creative twists on traditional fairy tales, though some are more interesting than others. One of the stories, "The Glass Mountain", made very little sense and was simply confusing, while the last story, "Old Man Potchikoo", was just pl [...]

A wonderful collection of stories, all worth reading and a number truly extraordinary. The New Mother by Lucy Lane Clifford may be the creepiest story I've ever read, the Kith of the Elf Folk by Lord Dunsany is as wild and unpredictable and haunting as its protagonist. The older, Victorian and Edwardian stories are the stranger ones though, the modern ones being more riffs on familiar themes, but those old stories carry the scent of the unexpected and, indeed, of faerie itself.

I absolutely love the authors' sophisticated, contemplative style of writing and the selection of stories with the most unusual flavor of plotlines, while still retaining that wonderful, magical fairytale feeling.

Buy it!! Griffins, faeries, goblins, reluctant dragons and a princess who's lost her gravity. Genius!

When we were younger my mom used to read us stories from this book every time we went to Block Island.

I'm still reading this but I love it so much and keep dipping into it and re-reading stories.It includes my favourite fairy tale ever, "The Princess Who Stood On Her Own Two Feet" by Jeanne Desy.

I wish I could rate each of the stories separately, as some I loved, and some I wasn't so keen on (as always with collections like this).

Worth it just for the horror of 'The New Mother'.

Historically, this is a very interesting collection to read as the values and artistry in each author's work reflected the literary and cultural leanings of the era in which it was written as well as the author's individual style. All of them are well crafted.This is a collection gathered for adults. Some of the stories were written with a young audience in mind but many were simply written as artistry for adults, so this collection will be of more interest to someone interested in the history o [...]

This a great selection of more recent fairy tales written by English and American authors. It is a wide selection, taking fairy tale, in some cases, into new realms -- but is there, truly, a 'new realm' for fairy tale. The more modern fairy tales in this book have exciting twists and surprise endings that make you smile or gasp. It is always a good thing to bring the contemporary world into old, established genres and make them relevant for today. Still, the tradition of fairy tale has always be [...]

I am a woman who will never outgrow fairytales. This collection was published in 1993, and I only wish I had got my hands on it back in the second grade! In any case, I've finally read it through now. Lucky me!With authors including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells, Philip K. Dick, Angela Carter, and Ursula Le Guin, this fairytale collection spans over 150 years and features stories that I had never read, nor even heard of before now. And that is saying something. Ma [...]

OK, I admit it. I never stopped reading Fairy Tales. Never will, either, as long as books like this one come out. A first-rate collectionof some new, some old favorites. All the Victorian gems are there - Dickens' Magic Fishbone,The Light Princess by George MacDonald, some great dragon stories like Stockton's The Griffin and the Minor Canon, and E. Nesbit as well, but there were delightful surprises like Sylvia Townsend Warner's Bluebeard's Daughter. A gem of a book!

An interesting and entertaining selection.

A comprehensive collection of 19th and 20th century fairy tale,; some familiar, others less so. An enjoyable read for fairy tales fans of all ages.

Like a box of chocolates. Some I enjoyed more than others, and I didn't eat them all. I especially loved Sylvia's Townsend Warner's "Bluebeard's Daughter."

Endless enjoyment and insight from these diverse authors drawn to a mythical style of expression. They are teaching me a lot about how to write a good modern fairy tale.

Read it and creep

Some of the stories were amazing and some of them were rather strange. They're perfect for 5 minute breaks.

Fun stories. Not too long but always got their moral across. Easy to follow.

I loved the different stories that make up the book and the lessons it teaches you about things and just life in general.