THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FAIRY TALES
edited by Mike Ashley
It's hard, given the wealth of material in the field, to make a bad selection of fairy tales, and Ashley's, while not startling, does offer a nice mix of the usual (including such authors as George MacDonald, Edith Nesbit, L. Frank Baum, Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Oscar Wilde, Hans Christian Andersen, Jane Aiken, and Jane Yolen) and the less familiar (Liugi Capuani, Lawrence Schimel, and H.E. Bates, among others). Aficionados of the form will likely be familiar with most of these authors and pieces (versions of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.) and won't need the book. Those unfamiliar with the genre, or shopping for a gift for a younger reader, however, will find it a handy introduction to a rich, delightful form. (illustrations, not seen)