Having purchased and read The Annotated Brothers Grimm (The Annotated Books) by Maria Tatar, a well-known scholar in the field of folklore and children's literature, I decided to get some of the other annotated fairy tales. I was impressed by the insights afforded by the annotations in The Annotated Brothers Grimm, and this book too was impressive in that aspect.
Here, Tatar provides new translations of familiar and beloved classic fairy tales which are enhanced not only by the thought-provoking and insightful annotations but also the presence of more than 300 illustrations both in color and B&W by renowned artists such as Gustave Dore, George Cruikshank, Arthur Rackham, Walter Crane, and Maxfield Parrish. The fairy tales contained within this book are:
Little Red Riding Hood
Cinderella
Hansel and Gretel
Beauty and the Beast
Snow White
Sleeping Beauty
Rapunzel
The Frog King
Rumpelstiltskin
Jack and the Beanstalk
Bluebeard
The Juniper Tree
Vasilisa the Fair
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Molly Whuppie
The Story of the Three Little Pigs
Donkeyskin
Kate Crackernuts
Puss in Boots
The Story of the Three Bears
Tom Thumb
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Little Match Girl
The Princess and the Pea
The Ugly Duckling
The Little Mermaid
The author's annotations are interesting and thought-provoking. For example, in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the act of cutting open the sleeping wolf's belly is annotated. The author writes, "Freud and others read this scene as an allusion to the birth process. The wolf, as the poet Anne Sexton wryly notes, undergoes "a kind of caesarian section." (p. 26). In the story of Cinderella by Perrault, Tatar provides some thoughts on the emphasis on virtue in the story, i.e. that acts of kindness are rewarded, as Cinderella is rewarded with a "happy ever after" life. Tatar attributes this to Perrault's implied audience for the story, i.e. children, and why this emphasis on kind acts is thus important. In my opinion, it is insights such as these that make this work a must-read.
Tatar also provides brief biographies of authors and collectors as well as biographies of illustrators whose works are portrayed in the book. There is also an extensive bibliography on fairy tales (which merit checking out!), a bibliography of illustrations, and suggested journals for further reading such as Children's Literature Association Quarterly and Folklore and Mythology Studies. I would recommend this to anyone who has a keen interest in exploring the underlying themes and cultures of fairy tales.
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