The Gray Fairy Book: Complete and Unabridged
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- Create Date：2022-03-21 04:21:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Andrew Lang
- ISBN：B07ZZGLP4F
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Summary
We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection。 Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades， and therefore have not been accessible to the general public。 The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature， and our view is that this is a significant literary work， which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades in its original form。 The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works。 To ensure a high quality product， each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff。 Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work。 We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work， and that for you it becomes an enriching experience。
Reviews
Sharon Zink
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Some of the stories were foolish。 One story that resembled the Arabian Nights I just plodded through。 But many of them were fascinating and amusing。
A。R。 Collins
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This is a collection of stories that were， for me， almost all readable but not striking， and perfectly described by the two-star description: 'It was okay'！ It's too bad a large portion of the book is taken up with 'The Story of the Three Sons of Hali' and 'The Story of the Fair Circassians'， which turned out to be two parts of the same excessively long and nonsensical yarn。 Apart from that， it was an easy and not unpleasant read， and I found two favourites in this one: 'The Bear'， which is an i This is a collection of stories that were， for me， almost all readable but not striking， and perfectly described by the two-star description: 'It was okay'！ It's too bad a large portion of the book is taken up with 'The Story of the Three Sons of Hali' and 'The Story of the Fair Circassians'， which turned out to be two parts of the same excessively long and nonsensical yarn。 Apart from that， it was an easy and not unpleasant read， and I found two favourites in this one: 'The Bear'， which is an interesting variation on the 'Cinderella' theme， and 'Prunella'， which is a version of the 'Baba Yaga' story with a focus on the romance between the girl and the witch's son， whom I thought a very welcome addition to the cast of characters。 。。。more
Sarah Morgan Sandquist
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Not as good as others in the seriesUnfortunately this collection was tainted by extreme violence， racism and misogyny。 I appreciate the attempt to represent a variety of cultures and stories but the end result is that the pleasure of reading is diminished。
Hazel
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2。5 starsHalfway through this "series" at last。 It's taken me a long time but I enjoy seeing stories from different cultures and finding inspiration from stories I think have the potential for retellings。 I do have to say that many of the stories rely on similar tropes so they seem like the same story over and over again， just with small variations， but there are some unique ones as well。 I didn't like this one as much as some of the other books， because many of the stories were just okay for me 2。5 starsHalfway through this "series" at last。 It's taken me a long time but I enjoy seeing stories from different cultures and finding inspiration from stories I think have the potential for retellings。 I do have to say that many of the stories rely on similar tropes so they seem like the same story over and over again， just with small variations， but there are some unique ones as well。 I didn't like this one as much as some of the other books， because many of the stories were just okay for me。 They didn't wow me， and there were quite a few that disappointed me。 There were also some that I really disliked， mostly because there was so much unnecessary killing and violence against innocent people and creatures。 I don't mind if the people were bad or deserved it， but I think some of the deaths were uncalled for within the stories because these characters didn't do anything wrong， and it made me dislike the protagonists。 In my edition at least two of the stories were not listed in the table of contents and it appears that one story， The Bear， is missing altogether， unless it also wasn't listed and I just missed it somehow。 From what I saw online this is supposed to have 35 stories and mine only had 34。 I found no new favorites in this book， so I'll just skip to the ones I thought were good。Good:An Impossible EnchantmentCannetellaLong， Broad， and QuickeyePrunellaThe Goat-faced GirlThe Magician's HorseThe Story of BensurdatuThe Story of Dschemil and DschemilaThe Story of the Queen of the Flowery IslesThe Street MusiciansThe SunchildThe Unlooked for PrinceThe White WolfWhat Came of Picking FlowersOkay:A Fairy's BlunderBobinoDonkey SkinFortunatus and His PurseHerr Lazarus and the DrakenJanni and the DrakenThe Daughter of Buk EttemsuchThe Dog and the SparrowThe Jackal and the SpringThe Little Gray ManThe OgreThe Partnership of the Thief and the LiarThe SimpletonThe Story of the Fair Circassians- This one was a bit long and I didn't really understand it because I got completely lost in the middle。 I did like the beginning though。The Story of the Three Sons of Hali- This one was far too long for me and I didn't end up finishing it。 I got a bit confused and bored and wanted to move on。 I think it also connects to the previous story and they might have been in the wrong order in my edition because this one just randomly ends。 I think The Story of the Fair Circassians was meant to be after this one but it was listed before。The Twin BrothersUdea and her Seven BrothersDidn't like:Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye， or the Limping Fox- This one irked me in particular because it uses a plot device that I can't stand， which is the character doing exactly what they are specifically told not to do multiple times， repeatedly making the same mistake even though bad things happen as a result。 I've seen it a few other times and I'm just tired of it， but the ending to this one was rushed and I didn't enjoy it at all。Mohammed with the Magic Finger- This I think takes the cake for the worst story I've read from one of these books。 There is so much unnecessary killing and all the characters are pretty horrible， including the protagonist。 He is incredibly dishonest and unlikeable。 It also felt like the story dragged on for too long， which did not help my mood。 I don't plan on ever rereading this particular story。The Goblin Pony- This was another horrible one， and then it just randomly ended and I didn't see the point of it other than as a moral story to tell children to listen to their elders but there was nothing enjoyable about it。 。。。more
Tula or KathyPotter
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Disclaimer: These are translated stories chosen by a conservative homeschooling organization 。 These stories contain racist ideation and emphasize extreme punishment for disobedience。 That being said I loved and still love fairy tales and fables。 I love reading them out loud to kids but I would not read this version。
Tory Wagner
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A great collection of fairy tales edited by Andrew Lang。 The stories come from several countries including Lithuania， Africa， Germany， France， and Greece。 The collection includes 35 stories。
Jessica Ruetschlin
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Similar stories without acknowledging they are in the same book？ Classic Victorian mess。
Angela
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I was looking for a story from my childhood called long broad and sharp sight。 Loved reading some very bizarre stories。 Very of their time and in the original language， some of which might be offensive in today's times。 I was looking for a story from my childhood called long broad and sharp sight。 Loved reading some very bizarre stories。 Very of their time and in the original language， some of which might be offensive in today's times。 。。。more
Kim Elder
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This collection had many tales of which I was unfamiliar。 There are other collections which I may have enjoyed more， but as Albert Einstein said: "If you want your children to be intelligent， read them fairly tales。 If you want them to be more intelligent， read them more fairy tales。" This collection had many tales of which I was unfamiliar。 There are other collections which I may have enjoyed more， but as Albert Einstein said: "If you want your children to be intelligent， read them fairly tales。 If you want them to be more intelligent， read them more fairy tales。" 。。。more
LobsterQuadrille
，
Yet another installment in Lang's Fairy Books， The Grey Fairy Book didn't have quite as many great stories as some others， but there were enough unusual or engaging ones to keep my interest。 My favorites were: Donkey-Skin The Goblin Pony An Impossible Enchantment The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar The Goat-Faced Girl The Little Gray Man Herr Lazarus and the Draken The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles The Story of the Three Sons of Hali（not my absolute favorite， but Sumi was kind of Yet another installment in Lang's Fairy Books， The Grey Fairy Book didn't have quite as many great stories as some others， but there were enough unusual or engaging ones to keep my interest。 My favorites were: Donkey-Skin The Goblin Pony An Impossible Enchantment The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar The Goat-Faced Girl The Little Gray Man Herr Lazarus and the Draken The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles The Story of the Three Sons of Hali（not my absolute favorite， but Sumi was kind of a neat character） The Story of the Fair Circassians The Sunchild The Street Musicians（a。k。a。 the Musicians of Bremen， one of my favorite fairy tales） The Ogre（having a nice ogre in one of these tales is quite a refreshing change！） 。。。more
Bethany
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2。5 stars。so never mind he saved your life multiple times， he has to go and commit murder for you before you give him a chance？。。。Not my favorite of the books I've read so far。 It's fairly redundant in the stories told and would be totally offensive nowadays。 But I'm not worried about the political correctness of the stories。 I was already familiar with some of them。 Not all of them and I think I really only liked a couple。 Okay maybe not since I can't really remember the names of the ones I thi 2。5 stars。so never mind he saved your life multiple times， he has to go and commit murder for you before you give him a chance？。。。Not my favorite of the books I've read so far。 It's fairly redundant in the stories told and would be totally offensive nowadays。 But I'm not worried about the political correctness of the stories。 I was already familiar with some of them。 Not all of them and I think I really only liked a couple。 Okay maybe not since I can't really remember the names of the ones I think I liked。 Overall it's an okay book， but guys it's copyrighted 1967 or 1900 so I mean even with the reprints you're still going to have the original stories。 So don't get on your high horses about women's rights and racial issues。 They're there in the stories。 Please get over it， just be happy that we're more enlightened now and we have some excellent authors nowadays who rewrite fairy tales and add dept， complexity and brains to our princess's， princes and other characters。 Generally， usually。。。well they try to。 Like I said not the best collection in the series， but it is always interesting to go back and look at older version of fairy tales and see how different the stories were told when compared to today's standard。 And people think the instalove in our YA books are bad，they've got nothing on these characters。 。。。more
Susan
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The thirty-five stories in this book are derived from Portuguese， Italian， French， and German fairy story traditions。 Included are such favorites as “ The Dog and the Sparrow，†“What Came of Picking Flowers，†Prunella，†“Mohammed with the M
Lucy
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Almost unreadable。 Not recommended。
Jason Bunnell
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The Grey Fairy Book is part of a 12 book series that was a big part of my childhood and pivotal to my joy of reading。 Very similar to Grimm's Fairy Tales。 Or Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia， but maybe for a slightly younger age。 The series starts with the Blue Fairy Book which has some of the more recognizable stories like Beauty and the Beast， Little Red Riding-Hood， The Little Glass Slipper， and Rumpelstiltzkin。 The Grey has less known but still great stories。 They are the perfect bed The Grey Fairy Book is part of a 12 book series that was a big part of my childhood and pivotal to my joy of reading。 Very similar to Grimm's Fairy Tales。 Or Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia， but maybe for a slightly younger age。 The series starts with the Blue Fairy Book which has some of the more recognizable stories like Beauty and the Beast， Little Red Riding-Hood， The Little Glass Slipper， and Rumpelstiltzkin。 The Grey has less known but still great stories。 They are the perfect bedtime story when your kids outgrow Where The Wild Things Are but maybe still too young for a whole novel。 The length of each story varies but most can be read in less than 10 minutes。 。。。more
Jennifer Girard
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1。5It's my least favorite so far。。。 so much racism in this one！ 1。5It's my least favorite so far。。。 so much racism in this one！ 。。。more
saeedeh
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از کتاب صورتیش،کمتر دوسش داشتم。。。
Christine Roberts
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Did not like this one at all。 Hopefully the next one is better。
Rain Blackmoore
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This was my "waiting-room" book， so I read it over the course of a few months。 Although I can't remember all the tales， I know I enjoyed most of them。 Some are a bit light on plot。 Three obstacles and a wedding is the most common structure; the predictability is comforting。 The emphasis on beauty=good person=instant love really struck me as。。。 I wouldn't say odd， because I sort of expected it。。。 as naive？ Although this was turned on its head quite spectacularly in one of the tales （view spoiler） This was my "waiting-room" book， so I read it over the course of a few months。 Although I can't remember all the tales， I know I enjoyed most of them。 Some are a bit light on plot。 Three obstacles and a wedding is the most common structure; the predictability is comforting。 The emphasis on beauty=good person=instant love really struck me as。。。 I wouldn't say odd， because I sort of expected it。。。 as naive？ Although this was turned on its head quite spectacularly in one of the tales （view spoiler）[where the prince falls in love with a beautiful princess （who's not allowed to talk）; she turns out to be a horrible woman （hide spoiler）]。Long， Broad and Quickeye stands out as being a story about superheroes （think The Fantastic Four）， which was really cool。The last story， Prunella， is also quite sweet。Overall， it was interesting to read mostly-forgotten fairy tales， even if some of the tales were a bit clumsy。 。。。more
Jennifer
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This was not my favorite fairy tale book ever。 Some of the fairy tales were really weird。。。like mixtures of several of the more popular ones from the Grimm brothers。 Some of them were really good。 I probably won't read it again though。 This was not my favorite fairy tale book ever。 Some of the fairy tales were really weird。。。like mixtures of several of the more popular ones from the Grimm brothers。 Some of them were really good。 I probably won't read it again though。 。。。more
Rebecca
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This was all right。 I didn't find as many interesting in this one as I have in some of the others。 There are fewer stories I am familiar with， though， so it's interesting in that way。 This was all right。 I didn't find as many interesting in this one as I have in some of the others。 There are fewer stories I am familiar with， though， so it's interesting in that way。 。。。more
Erik
，
I got this a year ago along with The Olive Fairy Book。 Unfortunately for me， my copy doesn't include illustrations and on some of the pages the quotation marks are messed-up。 （It probably came from a cheapo publishing house。） Despite that， I still enjoyed the book quite a bit。 There's a wide variety of sources included， which I like too。My favorite stories:- An Impossible Enchantment （the best one in the collection IMO）- Fortunatus and his Purse- The Goat-Faced Girl- The Story of the Queen of th I got this a year ago along with The Olive Fairy Book。 Unfortunately for me， my copy doesn't include illustrations and on some of the pages the quotation marks are messed-up。 （It probably came from a cheapo publishing house。） Despite that， I still enjoyed the book quite a bit。 There's a wide variety of sources included， which I like too。My favorite stories:- An Impossible Enchantment （the best one in the collection IMO）- Fortunatus and his Purse- The Goat-Faced Girl- The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles- Udea and her Seven Brothers- The Sunchild- The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch （also really love this one）- Cannetella- A Fairy's BlunderThere were a few stories that were a too confusing （like The Three Sons of Hali and The Story of the Fair Circassians - which are actually two parts of one story） or that I flat-out disliked （like Mohammed with the Magic Finger）。 But all in all， a good collection。 。。。more
Janet Eshenroder
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These follow all the usual format of fairy tales but I was delighted to find so many unknown variations。 These stories are longer than the Grimm fairy tales but still short enough to make it easy read one， two， or several each time you pick up the book。
Tammy
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Waiting for it's arrival。。。。。 Waiting for it's arrival。。。。。 。。。more
Michael Fierce （Gandalf the Red）
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Would love to have the original Hardcover edition with this same cover used for the Kindle But， this one's a real hoot， too！ Would love to have the original Hardcover edition with this same cover used for the Kindle But， this one's a real hoot， too！ 。。。more
Juli Anna
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The best stories: "The Goblin Pony，" "The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar，" "What Came of Picking Flowers，" "The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles，" and "Long， Broad， and Quick-Eye。" The best stories: "The Goblin Pony，" "The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar，" "What Came of Picking Flowers，" "The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles，" and "Long， Broad， and Quick-Eye。" 。。。more
Elinor Loredan
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Favorites:Donkey Skin （though I wouldn't let a donkey be slain for me）The Goblin PonyAn Impossible EnchantmentDschemil and DschemilaThe Goat-Faced GirlWhat Came of Picking FlowersThe Story of the Queen of the Flowery IslesThe White WolfBobinoThe Jackal and the SpringThe Bear （though the prince really did not deserve her）The SunchildThe Unlooked for PrinceCannetellaA Fairy's BlunderLong， Broad， and QuickEyePrunellaI literally loathed Mohammed With the Magic Finger for all the unjustified killing， Favorites:Donkey Skin （though I wouldn't let a donkey be slain for me）The Goblin PonyAn Impossible EnchantmentDschemil and DschemilaThe Goat-Faced GirlWhat Came of Picking FlowersThe Story of the Queen of the Flowery IslesThe White WolfBobinoThe Jackal and the SpringThe Bear （though the prince really did not deserve her）The SunchildThe Unlooked for PrinceCannetellaA Fairy's BlunderLong， Broad， and QuickEyePrunellaI literally loathed Mohammed With the Magic Finger for all the unjustified killing， and some other stories were too violent or brutal for me， like the dervish drowning the pigs in the Fair Circassians。 。。。more
Chris
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Really fun but I wish it had annotations of some sort explaining what various monsters were。
Mary Catelli
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This one has a fair variety。 A number of Arabic -- or arabesque -- ones， some of which I recognized from a more literal translation （this turns ghouls into witches and ogres）。 Some prolonged literary ones， which were not to my taste。 I particularly liked "The Story of Bensurdatu"， "The Magician's Horse，" "the White Wolf，" "The Bear，" and "Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye。" All which I think I have read before as variants earlier in the series。 Interesting to see what twists are put on them。 （It feat This one has a fair variety。 A number of Arabic -- or arabesque -- ones， some of which I recognized from a more literal translation （this turns ghouls into witches and ogres）。 Some prolonged literary ones， which were not to my taste。 I particularly liked "The Story of Bensurdatu"， "The Magician's Horse，" "the White Wolf，" "The Bear，" and "Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye。" All which I think I have read before as variants earlier in the series。 Interesting to see what twists are put on them。 （It features "Donkey Skin。" Bowdlerized， of course。） 。。。more
Amalie
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"Prunella"'s source unidentified。 The source for this tale can be from oral traditions， and others from French， German or Italian collections。 *spoiler*Seven years old girl used to pick ripe plums from a wild plum tree。 Each morning the child would pick one， and put it into her pocket to eat at school。 For this reason she was called Prunella。 The tree belonged to A witch， one day she caught her and she dragged Prunella into her house。 Prunella grew up into a very beautiful girl and the witch bec "Prunella"'s source unidentified。 The source for this tale can be from oral traditions， and others from French， German or Italian collections。 *spoiler*Seven years old girl used to pick ripe plums from a wild plum tree。 Each morning the child would pick one， and put it into her pocket to eat at school。 For this reason she was called Prunella。 The tree belonged to A witch， one day she caught her and she dragged Prunella into her house。 Prunella grew up into a very beautiful girl and the witch became jealous。 The witch gives her tasks she cannot finish and is helped by young Bensiabel， the son of the witch。 Bensiabel is in love with Prunella and saves her life several times and finally by accident kills the witch （his mother） trying to save Prunella。 Prunella became Bensiabel's wife， and they lived happily ever after。 。。。more
Michiyo 'jia' Fujiwara
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