The Pink Fairy Book Large Type Edition By Andrew Lang BiblioLife (2008), 260 pages ISBN: 978-0554222608 Genre: Classics - Children's Fiction

Reviewed by Israel Drazin - November 14, 2010

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) wrote a number of books of fairy tales and differentiated each from the other by color; for example, this one is green, another is pink, another is blue, and others yellow, grey, brown, and lilac. The book contains several dozen tales. They are generally fitting for young children, with one exception. The Danish story The Princess and the Chest should not be read to a nervous child, Lang suggests, because "it rather borders on a ghost story." There are also stories from Sweden, Japan, Sicily, Africa, Germany, and France. Lang makes sure that in his tales the good people always win out at the end and the bad suffer. He urges his readers to be kind, for kindness always brings good in fairy tales. Frequently, everything seems to be going wrong, the hero seems to be about to lose what he or she wants so much, a princess or money. But then the hero encounters an old man or an old woman, usually appearing very poor. The person asks for help, such as food or lodging. The hero gives it and is rewarded with something magic that resolves all of the hero’s problems.

Dr. Israel Drazin is the author of sixteen books, including a series of five volumes on the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, which he co-authors with Dr. Stanley M. Wagner, and a series of four books on the twelfth century philosopher Moses Maimonides, the latest being Maimonides: Reason Above All, published by Gefen Publishing House, www.gefenpublishing.com. The Orthodox Union (OU) publishes Wagner and Drazin's latest book Let's Study Onkelos on www.ou.org/torah.

• The Green Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang.
  Giants, dwarfs, monsters and magicians. 42 stories from China, Russia, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Scotland and England, including "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Half-Chick."
  
  
• The Grey Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang.
  This book contains dozens of fairy tales from Africa, Germany, France, Greece, and other countries.