The
Blue Fairy Book,
The
Red Fairy Book,
The
Green Fairy Book,
The
Yellow Fairy Book,
The
Pink and the Grey and the Crimson and the Violet
and the Brown and the Orange and the Olive and
the Lilac Fairy Books!
Trying to list all of Scotsman Andrew Lang's books is a big order—because these twelve books are just a fraction of all the books he has published! Andrew Lang is credited with writing many articles and books on literary criticism (which means he reviewed books that other people wrote), anthropology, mythology, history, and travel. He also wrote fiction and poetry. But he is most famous for his Fairy Books of Many Colours.
Which,
by the way, he didn't actually write!
Andrew
Lang, born on this date in 1844, is primarily known as a collector of
fairy tales and editor of the Fairy Book series. He cultivated
many different sources, people who traveled about, discovering and
writing down oral stories from all over the world. Lang edited the
stories so that they were suitable for children, hired illustrators
to depict the stories, and published them in volumes.
One
of Lang's brilliant ideas was publishing the books with colored
bindings that matched their titles. In this simple way Lang created a
brand that people could recognize and collect, back in a time when
there was very little product branding. If a family already owned two
or three of his fairy books, it was quite likely that they would go
on collecting each as it was published.
Andrew
Lang's illustrated fairy books were hugely popular and just as hugely
influential on children's literature! Many other people jumped on the
bandwagon and published collections of fairy tales.
Celebrate
Lang by reading fairy tales, of course.
- Here is a website with links to many of Lang's books, including the Fairy Books.
- Here is a website that displays many of H.J. Ford's illlustrations for the Lang Fairy Books. Click the pictures that you want to see in larger format!
- At the bottom of this post are two fairy crafts.
Or...Create your own collection!
You
could choose your own favorite fairy tales (from anywhere and
everywhere), print them out, illustrate them, and thereby create your
own Fairy Book.
Also
on this date:
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