
The Yellow Fairy Book (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. 48 Short Stories & Tales of Fantasy and MagicBy Andrew LangLength12h 22m
About this audiobook
The Yellow Fairy Book (1894), the fourth of Andrew Lang's celebrated "coloured" fairy books, gathers tales from a wide range of European and Asian traditions, including stories from Hungary, Russia, Germany, France, Iceland, and India. Its prose is elegant, lucid, and deliberately shaped for young readers while preserving the strangeness, moral force, and symbolic density of oral folklore. In the context of late Victorian literary culture, the volume reflects both a fascination with comparative mythology and an imperial-era appetite for global storytelling, presenting wonder, enchantment, peril, and transformation as universal narrative currencies. Andrew Lang was a Scottish poet, critic, classicist, folklorist, and tireless man of letters whose intellectual interests ranged from Homeric studies to anthropology and psychical research. Although many tales were translated and adapted with the assistance of his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his editorial vision gave the series coherence. His scholarly curiosity about myth, ritual, and popular tradition strongly shaped the collection's breadth and tone. This book is recommended for readers who value fairy tales not merely as children's entertainment but as enduring cultural documents. It offers pleasure, historical interest, and insight into the imaginative structures shared across nations and generations.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- An Introduction draws the threads together, discussing why these diverse authors and texts belong in one collection.
- Historical Context explores the cultural and intellectual currents that shaped these works, offering insight into the shared (or contrasting) eras that influenced each writer.
- A combined Synopsis (Selection) briefly outlines the key plots or arguments of the included pieces, helping readers grasp the anthology's overall scope without giving away essential twists.
- A collective Analysis highlights common themes, stylistic variations, and significant crossovers in tone and technique, tying together writers from different backgrounds.
- Reflection questions encourage readers to compare the different voices and perspectives within the collection, fostering a richer understanding of the overarching conversation.
Audiobook details
GenreChildren's Literature
Length12 hrs 22 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJun 10, 2020
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Wind in the Willows (Annotated)
26Fairer-than-a-Fairy
2Introduction
27The Three Brothers
3Historical Context
28The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise
4Synopsis (Selection)
29The Glass Axe
5The Yellow Fairy Book
30The Dead Wife
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6Preface
31In the Land of Souls
7The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership
32The White Duck
8The Six Swans
33The Witch and Her Servants
9The Dragon of the North
34The Magic Ring
10Story of the Emperor's New Clothes
35The Flower Queen's Daughter
11The Golden Crab
36The Flying Ship
12The Iron Stove
37The Snow-Daughter and the Fire-Son
13The Dragon and His Grandmother
38The Story of King Frost
14The Donkey Cabbage
39The Death of the Sun-Hero
15The Little Green Frog
40The Witch
16The Seven-Headed Serpent
41The Hazel-Nut Child
17The Grateful Beasts
42The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus
18The Giants and the Herd-Boy
43Prince Ring
19The Invisible Prince
44The Swineherd
20The Crow
45How to Tell a True Princess
21How Six Men Travelled Through the Wide World
46The Blue Mountains
22The Wizard King
47The Tinder-Box
23The Nixy
48The Witch in the Stone Boat
24The Glass Mountain
49Thumbelina
25Alphege, or the Green Monkey
50The Nightingale