Audiobook · read by volunteers
Lilac Fairy Book
Andrew Lang (1844–1912)
Read by ML Cohen, Becky Miller, katyleah, Lucy Burgoyne (1950-2014), Elizabeth McAndrew, Betsie Bush, Jessica AC Snyder, Ted Delorme, Claire Goget, John Lieder · 34 chapters · 9 h 47
About the book
Princes and princesses, clever animals, wicked enchanters and magical gifts: the Lilac Fairy Book brings together a wide variety of stories from around the world. Here are tales from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Japan, the Arab world and beyond, retold in a clear, lively style for young readers.
There are adventures to follow, riddles to solve, and good-hearted heroes who win through by kindness or cleverness. Some stories are funny, some are scary, and some end with a quiet moral. Each one is short enough to enjoy in a single sitting, and together they offer a rich sampler of folk and fairy tradition.
Thirty-four chapters and nearly ten hours of storytelling. A fine companion for bedtime, car journeys or rainy afternoons, and a delight for listeners of every age who enjoy a good fairy tale.
Introduction
Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scottish writer, poet and folklorist. He is best remembered today for his series of twelve fairy books, which began with The Blue Fairy Book in 1889 and continued with colours such as Red, Green, Yellow and Lilac. The Lilac Fairy Book, published in 1910, was the last of the series.
Lang did not collect the stories himself from oral tradition. He drew on published collections from many countries, chose the tales he liked best, and had them translated or retold, largely by his wife, Leonora Blanche Lang, and a team of translators. He edited the volumes and wrote the prefaces. The books were illustrated, notably by H. J. Ford, and their combination of international variety and clear storytelling made them a staple of children’s libraries for generations.
The series is also significant for the history of folklore, because it brought lesser-known tales to an English-speaking audience. Lang was himself a serious scholar of myth and custom, and his interest in the shared patterns of fairy tales across cultures is part of what gives the collection its range.
This recording has thirty-four chapters and lasts almost ten hours, read by LibriVox volunteers. Each tale is separate, so you can listen to a story or two at a time, in any order. Children will enjoy the magic and humour, and adults may be struck by how many of the plots and motifs seem familiar. It is a pleasing way to travel the world of folk imagination.
Public domain
Andrew Lang died in 1912: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text