history and criticism

If I was teaching a course on fairy tales, this book would be the course's primary text. Editor Jack Zipes compiled the book with such a purpose in mind and it's a job well done. The largest section, The Texts of the Great Fairy Tale Tradition, is comprised of fairy tale texts grouped into over 35 themes. Examples of themes include: Love Conquers All, Abandoned Children, Shrewd Cats, and Envious Sisters. Each theme has a minimum of two tales--usually more--with an introduction explaining the history of the theme and its tales. Zipes' introduction includes a definition of the literary fairy tale and its history as a genre. Critical essays by respected scholars are included in the Criticism section. Short biographies of the authors, black and white illustrations, and a selected bibliography add to the resources found inside. My only wish is that an index to aid with finding and cross-referencing tales had been included. This book makes a great reference book or textbook for the armchair scholar at an affordable price.