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Cinderella

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Cinderella, illustrated by Charles Robinson Like most of the fairy tales presented in this blog, Cinderella comes from The Big Book of Fairy Tales, published in 1911 by Blackie & Son. Charles Robinson made a set of black and white drawings, including the title (above) and decorated letter (below). There's also a special treat - a full-page color illustration (later). The story is well-known, probably the most well-known story in the world. It starts with the girl losing her mother. Her father remarries and gets out of the picture (Cinderella is a fine example of the theme of the absent father). His new wife already has two daughters. So his daughter gets a stepmother and two stepsisters at once. But she loses much more. Her peace of mind. Her dignity. Even her name. All the dirty works are reserved for her. Nothing is too hard or too early for her. She has to sleep by the heath and is covered by ashes. Yet she somehow manages to stay optimistic. Her positive attitude improves
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Jack the Giant-Killer

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Jack the Giant-Killer, illustrated by Charles Robinson Jack the Giant-Killer is a typical English fairy tale dating from the 18th century. It is included in the collection The Big Book of Fairy Tales, edited by Walter Jerrold. In the beginning, we are informed about the giant who has terrorized an area for many years. His name is Cormoran, and he lives in St. Michael's Mount of Cornwall. He is huge, and strong, and often takes a few dozen sheep, oxen, or other animals to satisfy his hunger. Everybody fears him. In the same area lives a boy named Jack. He is a very smart boy. He asks in the Town Hall what would be his reward if he kills the giant. The Magistrates tell him he could keep the giant's treasures in the giant's cave. Jack makes a deep pit near the giant's cave and covers it with branches and leaves. He takes a pick-axe and starts yelling at the cave. The giant comes out and wants to catch Jack. He falls into the pit, and Jack crashes his skull with a pick-axe.
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Hansel and Gretel

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Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by Charles Robinson (A classic fairy tale with a bit of  twist) This story was published in The Big Book of Fairy Tales, edited by Walter Jerrold. The publisher was Blackie & Son in 1911. Hansel and Gretel live with their father and stepmother. Father is a poor woodcutter. They are all hungry. Stepmother gets the idea to take the kids into the woods and leave them there so there would be two hungry mouths at the house. Father doesn't like the idea but she persists. Hansel tells this to his sister. He has a plan. He sneaks out of the house and fills his pockets with white pebbles so he can drop them on their way to the forest, and the kids can later find their way home. The plan works. Hansel and Gretel are left in the woods but return home following the trace of the pebbles. Unfortunately, their stepmother insists on taking them to the forest again. This time, the door is locked, so Hansel can't take the pebbles. He tries to mark the way with
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Jack and the Beanstalk

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Jack and the Beanstalk, illustrated by Charles Robinson The story about a boy who challenges a giant is among the best-known tales in the world. Less known is the fact that writers tried to improve the plot for centuries. What is the obvious problem? Jack enters the giant's castle and starts stealing stuff. While our sympathies are obviously with the boy and not with the man-eating giant, his actions are still questionable from a moral point of view. What gives him the right to take the giant's possession? Are we sending the wrong message to our children? Will they grow up believing that stealing is okay? So several writers and editors tried to improve the fairy tale by adding a so-called pre-story. Jack wasn't a poor boy or at least he shouldn't be. His father was rich and good-hearted. But the evil giant who was jealous of his good heart and possessions took everything from the family including the life of Jack's father. Yes. Such an explanation looked all right t
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Happy Prince

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The Happy Prince and Other Tales  Written by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Charles Robinson When Oscar Wilde became a father, he wanted to offer his son a few good stories for children. Unfortunately, none of the books on the market suited Wilde's exquisite taste, so he decided to write a book of stories for kids himself. His wife Costance very likely helped him at work, at least with the editing part (after all, she already had some experience with writing fairy tales) but we'll never know how much of her wit is in the five tales presented below. (frontispiece)      Anyway, Oscar Wilde definitely infused some of his best intellectual powers in this work which, by the way, was never popular among children. But it's still a masterpiece and we will explore it with illustrations by Charles Robinson. The illustrator made great effort as well. He didn't just create pictures of the scenes from the tales but approached to the project as a decorative artist and designer so the b
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