Fairy Tales

A couple of weeks ago I read The Woodcutter by Kate Danley. It is now up there as one of my favourite books.  I really enjoyed reading Fairy Tales as a child, so to read a book that unites many of them with a truly adult theme was a joy for me.  I particularly liked the way fairy tales from many different sources were brought together - to name but a few, it was lovely to see Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Baba Yaga all appear in the same story.

The book also made me reflect on the fact that, for me, one of the very best things about having children is to be able to read books to them and see them discovering for the first time some of the stories that I knew and loved when I was their age. At the moment both kids are enjoying the Kingfisher book of Fairy Tales retold by Martin Waddell, and they are currently reading Tales from Russia retold by James Mayhew.

I'm so glad I read The Woodcutter, as it has reawakened my love for Fairy Tales, and inspired me to expand the kids' collections of traditional stories.