Title: The Red Fairy Book
Author: Andrew Lang
Illustrator: H. J. Ford
File Under: Fairy tales
Age Group: 3 and up — the older toddler will love the pictures and some of the simpler stories when you read them aloud to his older siblings, and the teen will get the most out of the incredibly rich stories.
I hardly get a chance to talk about illustrations when I post here about books we love.
Most of the time I'm trying to quick! give you a book recommendation and let you know without too, too many words that this book, whatever it may be, is really worth your while, although I try to choose an edition that has the best illustrations.
(That's why I don't usually have more than one book at a time here on the Library Project posts. You can find reliable lists in this post, but sometimes a list is too much — sometimes you just want to know one thing. Also, sometimes a list maker feels like fleshing the list out, and then things make it on there that aren't really the best. I can't tell you how many times I have thrown a list across the room because, along with The Chronicles of Narnia, the list maker has included the Percy books or The Indian in the Cupboard. Not the same. That's not quite fair, because you can't make a list on which Narnia is one of the items, but you get my drift.)
Don't think that you teach your children about beauty by having them take a course (although you yourself could take a course, and we are having a giveaway for a great one online!).
That's not how children learn.
They learn by actually conforming their senses to beautiful things. The worst thing about our present day culture is the sheer number of ugly things our children see and hear. The great thing about our culture is how easy it is to find what is really helpful!
They need good stories (but not ones that “teach goodness”). They need to look at beautiful pictures.
The best pictures for children have proportion, line, and sometimes a little color (but not too much — just as children's taste buds are more lively than ours, their eyes are more sensitive to color), and leave a lot to the imagination.
Yes, there is room for colorful images and for detailed drawings that encourage looking for the minutest detail. There is also room for fun pictures (such as those of Paul Galdone) that are not particularly refined, but convey the energy of the story and make it even more enjoyable to read.
However, to form a child's imagination in beauty, the criteria of proportion, line, and leaving more undrawn than drawn remain the most important, especially when the story is very good.
That brings me to the Lang Fairy books. Illustrated by H. J. Ford, these books are never going to fail to deliver beauty. The princesses are really lovely, with faces full of compassion and strength (when they are not full of haughtiness, rebellion, stupidity, or selfishness!). The princes are handsome and daring (when they are not arrogant, mean, or heedless). The bad creatures are ugly but even their ugliness is fitting. The animals are naturalistic but retain a hint of the mystery with which the child regards them.
There aren't too many pictures in these books, so the child listens to the story to gain the reward of looking at the picture that is just beyond on the next page. My copies are falling apart from being pored over by me and all my children.
I wish someone would reprint the hardbacks, which were truly stunning, but even the quality paperbacks will enhance your library.
When a child grows up with books like these (and of course there are many other favorite illustrators of ours), he gains a high standard for beauty that will protect him from attraction to ugly things.
Mamabearjd(Michelle) says
I just bought a gorgeous reprint of the Blue Fairy Book from Memoria Press. I think they are sourcing them from Barnes and Noble.
Anastasia says
I am so sad because when we were cleaning out all sorts of things stored in my mom’s not-so-weather-and-critter-proof shed, we went through tons of homeschooling supplies and tons of books, and these (The Red Fairy Book, The Emerald Fairy Book and the Topaz Fairy Book) escaped into the donation pile!!! Since I’ve started homeschooling my first kindergartener I keep regretting this very much. I wonder if I could find and buy them back if I went to the thrift store we donated to. It’s been a few months!
priest's wife @byzcathwife says
The Lang fairy books have been favorites for years- the vocabulary is certainly very very rich.
to add to your list of beautiful pictures… 😉 I’d like to recommend my favorite picture book- The Maggie B. – it is available on amazon- just beautiful
Anna says
Your wish is granted! The Folio Society has reprinted the Fairy Books in beautiful, appropriately-coloured hardbacks: http://www.foliosociety.com/category/9319/andrew-lang-s-fairy-books
Leila says
Ah, Anna, you got my hopes up, but those don’t seem to be illustrated by Ford (although the illustrations do look lovely).
And — can you say $$$$ !!!!
Sara says
My dad gave me the entire set of the Folio Society editions for Christmas last year! He has been collecting them for years knowing that I was the only child who would appreciate them. He was right—best gift ever.
Melissa Diskin says
I love these books and read them over and over as a child. And I found a set of them at Goodwill! (Sadly only in paperback.)
Beauty at that young age has such lasting impact. My mental self-illustration of various Bible stories is solidly grounded in the big huge book of beautiful Bible stories I read as a child. Whenever I see one, I buy it for friends and family.
And don’t get me started on the folks who put Narnia and the Pullman books together.
Leila says
Oh, Melissa, yes — those Pullman books! The self-avowed ANTI-Narnia! Yet, they make it onto lists…
Jessica says
I grew up with the Golden Book of Fairy Tales, which was illustrated by Adrienne Segur. The pictures are so gorgeous, there’s maybe one per story. My mom has her childhood copy so I was happy they reprinted it not too long ago! (Although has anyone else noticed the diminished paper quality of newer books?) I will check out Lang–looks like a good addition.
Virginia says
Yay! Thanks for the recommendation! We love fairy tales here and I’ve never heard of these books. Adding them to the Christmas list now. 🙂
Lisa G. says
I never heard of them either, till I began working at the library – we have two or three volumes. But as a child I had a fairy tale book; looking back, it was on cheap paper, and the illustrations weren’t color, but how I loved that book! I think it was Grimm’s. The Goose Girl was one. There was one about a princess who sat upon a glass mountain. I loved King Thrushbeard, especially! the pots and pans, oh he was hard on her. My, it’s coming back to me. When I was older and came across the book, I was surprised at how short the stories actually were; they had spoken volumes to me at the time.
Dawn Ogden says
The course looks perfect for a stay-at-home mom looking to keep her intellectual skills sharp. I’d love to take it!
Mrs. B. says
Dear Auntie Leila, do you have a particular reason to recommend the Red book over the other colors, or does it just stand as an example?
I so agree with your conclusion about giving standards of beauty! It goes for any type of art, not just literature: painting, sculpture, architecture, music… and let’s not forget sacred liturgy!
Once you instill a habit of exposure to the excellent, the junk simply stands out as such.
Leila says
Mrs. B — the Red one is the first, but yes, the others are favorites as well.
Leila says
Actually, Mrs. B, the Red one is second — the Blue is first! But since the Red one has no covers or binding over here, it was clearly my favorite and that of my kids — it has The Twelve Dancing Princesses and The Enchanted Pig, probably two of my favorite tales ever. But now that I think of it, my copy of the Blue one must have disintegrated entirely out of memory, because WHERE IS IT??
Elizabeth says
Oh, I loved these growing up! I discovered them by accident when I was around 10 and then snapped them up whenever I found a new color in a bookstore. I’ve been hoarding the ones I have for my own children–my oldest is probably about ready for them, and I certainly never outgrew them. I do wish good hardcover versions were available…maybe someday? Also, not as satisfactory, but in a pinch, I believe some if not all of these are available for free online, but probably sans pictures.
Diana says
How fun to see the exact same edition I have! If you look at the preface, you’ll see Miss Minnie Wright mentioned. She is my great grandmother! She and my great grandfather (Mr. and Mrs. Wesley F. Matthewson) were missionaries to Japan around 1903-1908. Thank you, Leila for all of your great book suggestions!
Leila says
Diana, how thrilling!
Ginger says
I just received mine in the post. We are loving it! Thank you!!
Samantha says
Thank you so much for your Library project! We just started homeschooling with Seton and I was looking for good books for the kids to read for their book reports. I really appreciate you sharing these treasures!