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In this version of this Sleeping Beauty tale based on Charles Perrault’s tale, the princess is awakened by just the presence of the prince. Also, in this tale the prince's mother, the queen, is "of the race of Ogres", which like to eat little children. The prince hides his marriage and children from his mother because he is scared she will eat them. The queen tries to eat the children and the princess but the cook feeds her goats instead. In the end, the queen ends up taking her own life by jumping into a pit of toads, vipers and snakes of all sorts that devour her. There are three black and white illustrations depicting: the newborn princess in her cradle as the old woman curses her; the prince making his way though the hedge; and Little Day, Sleeping Beauty’s son, fencing with a monkey.
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Cruikshank created six full-page etchings to accompany the tale of Hop O’ My Thumb that depict nine scenes from the story. Not only does Hop O’ My Thumb leave a trail of white pebbles so he and his brothers can find their way out of the woods, he also marks trees with his knife, a practice Cruikshank says in a note is typical of Native Americans: “This is what Indians do—they notch trees and so find their way through the largest forests” (p. 9). Cruikshank includes comical asides. For example, Hop knows how seven-league boots work because he read about them in a book acquired from London printer and bookseller, Mr David Brogue of 86 Fleet Street.
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This book contains a preface that introduces a framing narrative, however, the narrative is never addressed again throughout the book. Each story is told one after another, with its own separate beginning and ending, and there are no further references to the frame tale after the first tale. Through the preface, in which a young girl named Sunflower speaks with her mother, we discover that the tales contained within this book are targeted towards children as they are retold by the mother. Sunflower praises her mother’s story telling because she “leave(s) out all the not interesting bits you know and make me understand what the story is all about.” This Sleeping Beauty Tale is concise, easy to read, contains little character development, and is very clean (no gruesomeness). As these stories are retold again, the preface addresses two individuals, Mary de Morgan who was an English writer, as well as the publisher Messers. Macmillian, who both “lent” some of these stories to the author.
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Edited specifically for children with five black and white illustrations that depict the following scenes: Beauty’s father departing, her father picking the rose when the Beast appears, Beauty’s dream of the handsome prince, Beauty in the room with exotic birds, and Beauty finding the Beast on the ground in the garden.
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This collections of tales is not intended for children, but is instead an attempt to gather tales that the editor feels are disappearing from circulation. There are small variations in the details of the story, but these don’t distract the reader from the moral of the story: Jack becomes an obedient and loving child. At the beginning of the tale, the character of Jack is lazy and unmotivated and there is an addition to the story which involves a fairy character.
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The illustrator for this version depicts four moments Cinderella’s story: being oppressed by her step stepsisters and stepmother, meeting her godmother, escaping from the ball, and embracing her stepsisters after they asked to be forgiven and were made noble by marrying lords. The realistic black and white illustrations are easily comprehended even without captions.
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The three black and white illustrations of this version reinforce the depressing emotions expressed in the story. Certain instances of the story are chosen to be depicted instead of others and they all point to Cinderella’s way of escape from the oppression of her stepmother and stepsisters: Cinderella in the kitchen with the white dove, Cinderella receiving the dress from the birds, and the prince holding her shoe. Loving and kind Cinderella never prevents her stepsisters from attending the festivities for her wedding. However, karma catches up with her stepsisters in the end.
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This persecuted maiden tale in Straparola’s book of tales is the first fairy tale presented in his collection. This story can be identified by the use of magic liquor that keeps the princess alive during her time hidden in a chest. This story of Tebaldo and Doralice is narrated by a woman and concludes with justice served to the antagonistic man and a happily ever after for the princess. In this ending , we see evidence of the book’s dedication to women.
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This tale is a translation from the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale that is about nameless characters including a maiden whose hands get cut off by her own father, a miller, in order to follow through with a promise he had made to an old man who promised him riches. This version has a heavy emphasis on prayer and religion, highlighted in a black and white illustration of an angel that assists and ultimately leads the maiden to a happy ending of being reunited with the king (her husband). There is also a strong emphasis on an old man deceiving the main characters and driving forward the plot.
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This is a simplified version of Charles Perrault’s tale intended for young readers. For every full page of text there is a full-page, black and white illustration. On the cover of the book, we see Cinderella and her fairy godmother, with a mouse trap and rat trap depicted on the right side of the image. This book is part of a Mother Goose series published by Routledge that included Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes, Mother Goose’s Melodies, Mother Goose’s Jingles, Mother Goose at Home, and Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales.
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The maiden in this tale triumphs over her oppressor with her brothers’ help and lives a long happy life. Although this is a children’s book, the author has included the gory scene in which Fatima, Bluebeard’s wife, discovers the severed heads of her husband’s former wives when she unlocks the room he has forbidden her to visit. There is one color illustration that depicts Fatima calling to her sister Anne to ask if their brothers are on the way to save her.
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A sparsely illustrated edition of a Dragon Slayer tale poses a question at the end pointed at the reader asking what they would do if they were in the Prince’s shoes. In the three illustrations for this tale, the illustrator chose to show the scenes when the Youth encounters the evil characters (i.e. the witch and dragon). Though this book is written in prose with more difficult language than other books of fairy tales in the collection, the Preface says this book is written for children.
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This is a beautifully illustrated and simply written version of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale. The inclusion of Beauty’s dreams drives the plot forward in a unique twist to this tale. This version also begins with explanations of her character versus her sisters’, spending the first pages proving that Beauty is selfless and kind. Beauty willingly stays in the Beast’s castle in place of her father and in the midst of the tale, Beauty is allowed to return home for a brief visit, only to return by choice to the Beast after a terrible dream. The tale concludes with the classic transformation.
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In this edition of the Grimm’s fairy tales, there are two detailed, black and white illustrations of giants depicted as very large, normal humans, not monstrous beings. However, they act like monstrous giants by eating sheep and living in a cave. There is also an illustration of the tailor catching a unicorn.
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In some versions of the tale there are different numbers of children, the Beast gives the merchant the gifts for the other children beside Beauty, or magical helpers like fairies try to nudge Beauty toward the Beast. In this version, there are three daughters, the merchant buys gifts for his children while on his journey elsewhere, and the Beauty, named Bella, falls in love with the beast of her own accord. The servants in some versions are animals that are enchanted in some way, but this version only has invisible servants. Perhaps the most striking difference is that the Beast in this version is kinder than in other versions and allows the father to visit weekly, while in other versions the Beast allows Beauty to visit her family only once. In the end of the story, some versions have Bella discovering her noble background, but this version does not touch on that aspect.
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Two twin knights who originated from an apathetic, talking fish set out on an adventure. The first knight finds a dragon, slays it to save the princess, and then marries her. He seeks out a mysterious enchanted castle with echoing spirits and is tricked into falling into a cavern by an old witch. The second knight, his twin brother, stumbles upon the city where his brother was crowned king and is curious as to why the people think they recognize him. He deciphers that his brother set off to the enchanted castle after talking to the princess and then tricks the old witch who resides there into saving his brother, all the knights who came upon the castle before him, and all the beautiful women who were sacrificed to the dragon.
This tale is different because it is almost two tales in one, as well as because the previously slain men and the women who were sacrificed come back to life at the end. There is one color illustration for this tale.
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A heavily-illustrated edition of Little Red Riding Hood with a shortened and rhyming version of the tale that has clearly been adapted to appeal to children. In this version, the wolf eats the grandmother and nearly eats Little Red Riding Hood, but a hunter kills the wolf at that exact moment. There is no mention of the grandmother again, so the wolf must have killed her when he ate her.