FAIRY TALES FROM THE BRITISH ISLES

A companion volume to the editor's other collections: The Arabian Nights. imm's Fairy Tales and Round the World Fairy Tales. The 49 tales in this book come from various regions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The editor has sought but some unfamiliar stories and, in her lively retellings, these compare well with such sturdy favorites as ""Jack and the Beanstalk,"" ""The Three Sillies,"" and ""Johnny ake."" Two of particular interest are ""Pengersec and the Witch of Fraddom"" and ""The Giants of Towednack"" -- examples of the tales of West Cornish droll-tellers. Others have their source in medieval ballands. Everything in the collection was ""approved by a jury of children."" The arrangement of the stories goes from simple to more sophisticated. Illustrated with fine line drawings throughout and some full color pages. the notes on sources are very complete and discuss variants on basic story lines.