The Complete Fairy Tales – Charles Perrault
The Complete Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault, translated by Christopher Betts, illustrations by Gustave Dore / 264 pages / ISBN 9780198817970
***
“Oh grandmama, what great big teeth you have!”
Charles Perrault’s versions gave classic status to the humble fairy tale, and it is in his telling that the stories of Little Red Riding-Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and the rest have been passed down from the seventeenth century to the present day. Perrault’s tales were enjoyed in the salons of Louis XIV as much as they were loved in the nursery, and it is their wit, humor, and lively detail that capture the imagination of adult and child alike. They transmute into vivid fantasies the hidden fears and conflicts by which children are affected: fears of abandonment, or worse, conflicts with siblings and parents, and the trials of growing up.
