Author Description

From the preface with its thumbnail history of the fairy tale to the final happily ever after, this book is as rich a treasury of folklore as any of the other Fairy Books of Many Colors. Edited by Lang, adapted from many languages and cultures by his friends and family, and beautifully illustrated by Mr. H. J. Ford, it is filled with romance, adventure, magic, and humor, with a bit of clever nonsense and a lot of no-nonsense entertainment. The 29 tales in this volume include Turkey, India, Denmark, Armenia, and the Sudan. There is even a condensed version of a story by Anatole France. Some of them have strong similarities to tales found elsewhere in Andrew Lang collections, but all of them have the common ingredients of all great fairy stories: vibrant, exotic imagery to fire the imagination of little readers and hearers. Though the heroes and heroines are not always so colorful, they are instantly recognizable as the naughty child who should be corrected, or the good child whose unjust sufferings will be repaid. Basically, you are the hero or heroine in every one of these tales, and you need only supply a willing suspension of disbelief to enjoy them and to be caught up in their myriad variations of fantasy and fun. Here are the tales in store for you in the Olive Fairy Book...