Fairy Tales and Fables Hardcover – Picture Book, February 5, 2008

I bought this book when my daughter was first born, but have never brought it off the shelf. I thought perhaps the stories would be too long, or that it might be overwhelming to have them all in one book. She's 4 now, and I just brought it down and started reading her stories out of it. Why did I wait so long?! She LOVES it and so do her parents. Gyo Fujikawa's illustrations are charming, as always. And the stories are a great length for bedtime. I just have her pick 3 stories from the book, she enjoys them, and it doesn't take all night. It's also a GREAT WAY to familiarize kids with fairy tales and fables in the general literary consciousness, without having to buy individual versions of every story. For example, while we have individual versions of Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Little Red Riding Hood, it's also great to be able to read "Rumplestiltskin" without having to buy a separate book for it. It also includes very approachable, easy, well illustrated versions of fables from other parts of the world. For example, my daughter loved hearing "The Moon Maiden" (a Japanese folktale) the other night. This is a perfect addition to any child's library! (We also have loved other Gyo Fujikawa books. Younger parents check out her wonderful board books, now back in print. We bought and loved them all! The Night Before Christmas is also precious.)

But I knew the cover especially that of the large orange toned dragon. I took a chance entering that bit into the Google search bar seeking kids Searched off & on for this marvelous book for decades. I had the original, purchased in 1972 by my Mother, when I was nearly 3 yo. & we were all stationed in Germany. I'd not laid eyes on it since 1979 or 80. It had been lost somehow. Aside from my huge collection of classic, original Golden Books, also gone :( , this one remained close to my heart and memory. My mom and one of my older sisters read to me every day or night from it. A precious memory know now how few children are read to these days.Anyways, I could not recall the exact title of the book nor the name of the magnificent illustrator whose work in the book my eyes would linger over. book cover images... and there it was and guided me to Amazon.com . I was overjoyed to the point of genuine tears. I'd found my 'long lost friend'.Thank you Google and Amazon for reuniting us! It sits at my bedside where I can read it at my leisure; never out of my sight.

An excellent collection of fairytales and fables with beautiful illustrations!

My daughter loves this book and can leaf through it for a very long time enjoying the illustrations. She loves anything to do with princesses so it’s right up her alley. I like that the stories are short and there is a good variety of common and lesser known fairy tales. She also has Japanese heritage so I love introducing her to a great Japanese American illustrator.

Unfortunately I never actually saw the book. I mailed it direct out of state to my brother and his wife who have a few young grandchildren. They told me it was wonderful though. They told me the stories were great and not so long as to lose the interest of little children. I remembered my grandma reading to me and saw that some of these were the same tales that I remember so fondly. It was stories like these that caught my imagination and caused me to love reading on my own as I grew older.There was nothing like cuddling up with Grandma and listening to her read stories from long ago. I listened to them time and time again and never got tired of them.Christmas money was tight this year and so I sent them a gift they could use with all their grandchildren for years to come.All in all a great bargain and gift of love because reading and spending time with children one on one is still the best gift of all!

This book has both familiar and unfamiliar stories. The illustrations are lovely. I suggest that the stories be screened before reading to little ones. Some may be scary or have a difficult-to-understand message.

Beautiful book with magical and delightful illustrations. The stories are in chanting and will become your children’s favorites! Gyo Fujikawa books are the best!

This is an amazing book...the best fairy tale book ever! I read it as a young child and always remembered the illustrations and stories. I was looking for the same book for my 4 year old daughter and found it on Amazon. It's a treat to read the stories to my child...I relive my own childhood and I hope she cherishes these moments and tales as well.

Excellent book! The tales are short enough to be understood by my toddler, the designs are attractive and overall I'm satisfied with this choice.

I had this fairy tale book growing up so naturally when I came across it at the library with my own children I wanted to have a copy for them to keep. I looked it up on Amamzon and of course they had it. I like this book because it has a range of stories, many of them are short. My boys aren't ready for lenghty fairy tales just yet so it works out nicely. Some of the stories are a bit strange which I welcome because they aren't run of the mill! You will find some popular well known fairy tales weaved in among the unusual and lots of wonderful illustrations.

Wow just opening the book the end pages double spread is a real work of art, of red riding hood walking in woods, full of delightful pictures. Great for kids and parents to both enjoy!

Beautiful book, refreshingly different from todays modern tales

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, so it feels strange to give this anything other than five stars...but the stories are soooo bizarrely sanitised. Like, beyond recognizability. I understand making things a little less rough around the edges for young audiences, but in her version of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf doesn't even eat the grandma. She's just hiding in the closet. WHAT? All of the fire and spunk is gone from the stories. Only worth keeping for the vibrant art.