Cabinet des Fées

I am a huge fan of anthologies, and for me, the mark of a good anthology is that every piece should not please every reader. This sounds counter intuitive, but especially when courting the genres of science fiction and fantasy, this method shows that the editor understands that each of these genres have many facets, and each facet has its own set of fans.

The purpose of fairy tales, it can be argued, was to teach lessons to children and communities in order to help them to understand the world and assimilate to a society. Whether or not we agree with the lessons taught by older fairy tales and their interpretations is often up for debate. But it is truly something to read a fairy tale that teaches lessons appropriate for citizens of this century, while still allowing readers to delve into a world far beyond their own.

Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman who had nine sons, but no daughters… This interpretation of the wonderful Finnish folktale The Girl Who Sought Her Nine Brothers is based on the copyrighted version found in Tales from a Finnish Tupa, by James Cloyd Bowman and Margery Bianco, first published in 1936 and now published by the University of Minnesota Press.

The writing is smart and effective–no academicese found here. Wrapping tales within tales within explanations, Warner stylistically imitates her subject while also making it possible for the reader to draw his own connections between these storytelling patterns and other Western literature. Slowly, the literary Berlin-wall between Eastern/Oriental literature and all that came from the west is deconstructed.

Kevin Austin Tseng used to weigh 220 pounds in the 6th grade. This may sound crazy, but he lost that weight because of a fairy tale, one his father told to him at night. Now, he believes that fairy tales can change lives.

This fact- and image-packed book is a must for all who love anything to do with the Fair Folk, their history, and their whereabouts. A comprehensive guidebook and dictionary to the world of the Fae, The Fairy Bible is filled with chapter upon chapter detailing the many different kinds of faeries, how to seek and find them, and how to live in harmony with them.