ralbert89 's review for:

Folk & Fairy Tales: An Introductory Anthology by Martin Hallett, Barbara Karasek

5.0

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This book is an excellent overview of fairy tales and folk tales across a variety of cultures. I especially enjoy how it presents versions of familiar tales from several different countries, making it easy to compare and see how the story evolves depending on who is telling it. There is also a section at the end devoted to literary criticism, as well as introductory sections to each chapter. The fairy tales are grouped by theme, rather than by author, making it really easy to see the similarities between the different versions. I originally read this book as a textbook for a college course, but it is something I would still pick up now and then to re-read or try some of the stories that we never covered.