“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.“ Albert Einstein.
“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.” Albert Einstein.
“Children already know about dragons. What fairy tales tell children is that dragons can be slain.” G.K. Chesterton
Once upon a time…
The phrase is so evocative and you know what will happen next. There will be quests and adventure, love and loss, humour and pathos and, occasionally, there may be a fairy or magic.
Where did the stories come from? What, exactly, is a fairytale?
Once these tales were for the whole community, tales of warning, socialisation or even satire, but they became tales for children and it has taken years for them to be reclaimed by adults. They may have originated out of folktales, or were newly created literary works. References to such tales can be a verbal – or written – shorthand. We know what a fairy godmother can do for us. We hope – and fear – finding that battered old lamp. The fairytale stepmother has a lot to answer for for her modern – and real – counterpart.
Such tales are at the heart of many other stories – think of the movie Pretty woman and the “Cinderella” tale. They reach back into our childhood. Their power has inspired many a critical/psychological/sociological study. Changes in our culture have led to changes in the tellings - feminist and politically correct tales, for example. (Don’t bet on the prince: contemporary feminist fairy tales in North America and England; the series of Politically correct stories).
The following books are only some of those available on the enchantment of fairytales. Some have only one copy in the Children’s literature research collection, others also have lending copies.
By JRR Tolkien
Tree and leaf, originally published in 1964, contains Tolkien’s essay “On fairytales”. This essay was one of the first academic exploration into fairytales, and claimed them back for adults. Tolkien also makes the distinction between stories containing fairies, and stories about Faerie – the realm of magic, the Perilous Realm. We have one copy of this collection, kept in the basement of the Central Library.
By Max Lüthi, translated by Jon Erickson
German edition published in 1975, English edition in 1984. Lüthi discusses how examining fairytales can illuminate the study of human existence. A dense, scholarly book.
More accessible to the general public – and readable – is Lüthi’s
By Max Lüthi, translated by Lee Chadeayne and Paul Gottwald, introduction by Francis Lee Utley
German edition published in 1970, English edition in 1976. A discussion of fairytales as symbolic poetry.
By Bruno Bettelheim
First published in 1976, Dr Bettelheim looked beneath the surface and explored what fairytales mean to children – and adults – and how they can be used for ‘emotional and moral sustenance.’ Bettelheim comes at his subject from a different slant to many fairytale experts. He is a child psychologist who uses fairytales to give meaning to children’s lives, or to help them find their own meanings in the stories. Although somewhat superceded, and challenged, this is a class and must-read for those interested in the power of fairytales.
If this idea intrigues you, try the following catalogue searches to find more books on the topic:
Edited by Nicholas Tucker
Published in 1976 this is a collection of essays exploring various aspects of children’s literature. The first section deals specifically with fairy stories, for example Catherine Storr’s essay “Why folk tales and fairy stories live forever”.
By Marion Lochhead
Published in 1977. An exploration of the growth of the literary fairytale in England, beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, with George MacDonald. Lochhead then looks at MacDonald’s successors, for example E. Nesbit, Rudyard Kipling, C. S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien.
By Roger Sale
Published 1978. Sale, an author, discusses how stories impacted on him – making this a personal exploration of the power of story.
By Jack Zipes
Published in 1983. An exploration in to how fairytales instil social morals and beliefs in children, including the use of fairy and folktales in Nazi Germany.
Fairy tale as myth/myth as fairy tale
By Jack Zipes
First presented as a lecture series in 1993, Zipes explores the rise of the literary fairytale in the late seventeenth century and their influence on our collective psyche. One chapter discusses “Breaking the Disney spell” – how Disney’s films changed the fairytales used, and the deeper meaning of them.
Zipes has also edited The Oxford companion to fairy tales. We have lending copies of this indispensable work.
For more books on this topic, try this catalogue search: Fairy tales -- History and criticism
For versions of many fairy tales, try:
Edited with an introduction and notes by Maria Tatar; translations by Maria Tatar
This volume is lavishly illustrated and contains many tales including “Beauty and the Beast”, “Cinderella”, “The Ugly Duckling” and “Donkeyskin”.
There are many collections and individual tales to be found in both of the children’s literature collections.
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