Some stories I'd not run into before, here. Utterly charming artwork, too. ( )

Knowing that this collection was formerly titled the Allies' Fariy Tale Book, and published during the Great War, gives the stores within a whole new context. Missing are any Grimms Brothers' tales, arguably the most well knownof hte faerytale storytellers of Europe, due to the fact that their stories are German and therefore anathema. Instead we are treated to rare stories from Serbian, Portugeuse, and Belgian backgrounds - all countries on the Allied side of the war. More surprising are the inclusion of three Japanese stories, even if they are brief and lacking a lot of detail. I wonder whether Rackham himself chose these particular stories, or whether there was any political influence? ( )

I'm not marking this 'read' simply because I did not fully read every story. It's a library book, and so I may try again another time. I checked it out for the artwork, which is as wonderful as I'd hoped it would be. If you only know Rackham from the plates from [b:Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens|2643052|Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens|J.M. Barrie|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266990584s/2643052.jpg|7152165] that have been published as posters, know that he does giants & people & birds & mountains, etc., as enchantingly as he does fairies.

The stories have not been rewritten - they still retain the mystery & enchantment of traditional fables. This does make them a little harder to read, what with the 'thees & thous' and the vocabulary words, etc., but they're worth the effort. Best for scholars, but older children and young-at-heart adults will also appreciate them. ( )

Nice tales which haven't been gentled up to modern sensibilities. Mother's eat their children, lots of ogres and other creatures get disembowelled and other horrors. Of course, the reason I bought it is for the illustrations. The illustrator did not disappoint. ( )

First published in 1916 as The Allies’ Fairy Book.

Fairy tales included are:
English ~ Jack the Giant Killer
Scotch ~ The Battle of the Birds
Welsh ~ Lludd and Llevelys
Irish ~ Guleesh
French ~ The Sleeping Beauty
Italian ~ Cesarino and the Dragon
Portuguese ~ What Came of Picking Flowers
Japanese ~ The Adventures of Little Peachling; The Fox’s Wedding; The Tongue-cut Sparrow
Russian ~ Frost
Serbian ~ The Golden Apple-tree and the nine Peahens
Belgian ~ The Last Adventure of Thyl Ulnespiegel