The joy of fairy tales

This elegant and stunningly illustrated collection not only includes a wonderful gathering of fairy tales but also discovers how ancient folk tales and legends developed, changed and spread - and how in their retelling they became the familiar stories that people our children's dreams today. As well as relating the familiar and most-loved tales like Aladdin, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly Duckling, this book traces their development, discovers the compilers who researched and sought out all the fairies, princesses, witches and dwarfs that still stir our imagination, as well as authors and illustrators who made these stories their own and generated new tales too.