# The Coloured Fairy Books

The Brown Fairy Book

Andrew Lang
4.08
1,306 ratings 41 reviews
The Brown Fairy Book features stories from every continent, including ‘The Bunyip’, a story from the Australian bush, and the Native American tale of the ‘Ball-Carrier and the Bad One’. There is magic and enchantment from Africa in ‘The Sacred Milk of Koumongoé’ and from India in the ‘Story of the King who would be Stronger than Fate’. These far-flung tales all obey the time-honoured rules of fairyland: in the Persian story ‘What the Rose did to the Cypress’, a prince must guess a riddle to win his princess’s hand in marriage, and in the Scandinavian tale ‘The Fox and the Lapp’, a wily fox hitches a ride on a merchant’s sledge and plays tricks on everyone he meets. A feature of The Folio Society editions of Lang's fairy books are their superb illustrations, harking back to Arthur Rackham and the golden age of children's illustration. The watercolours and pen and ink drawings created by Omar Rayyan are especially charming. He is an American artist, but the gorgeous colouring in his art is clearly influenced by exquisite Persian miniature painting. There is also a sly sense of humour in many of his illustrations, which makes the perfect accompaniment to such stories as 'The Enchanted Head' or 'Father Grumbler'. Classic stories included in this collection: 'What the Rose did to the Cypress'; 'Ball-Carrier and the Bad One'; 'How Ball-Carrier finished his Task'; 'The Bunyip'; 'Father Grumbler'; 'The Story of the Yara'; 'The Cunning Hare'; 'The Turtle and his Bride'; 'How Geirald the Coward was Punished'; 'Hábogi'; 'How the Little Brother set Free his Big Brothers'; 'The Sacred Milk of Koumongoé'; 'The Wicked Wolverine'; 'The Husband of the Rat's Daughter'; 'The Mermaid and the Boy'; 'Pivi and Kabo'; 'The Elf Maiden'; 'How Some Wild Animals became Tame Ones'; 'Fortune and the Wood-Cutter'; 'The Enchanted Head'; 'The Sister of the Sun'; 'The Prince and the Three Fates'; 'The Fox and the Lapp'; 'Kisa the Cat'; 'The Lion and the Cat'; 'Which was the Foolishest?'; 'Asmund and Signy'; 'Rübezahl'; 'Story of the King who would be Stronger than Fate'; 'Story of Wali Dâd the Simple-hearted'; 'Tale of a Tortoise and of a Mischievous Monkey'; 'The Knights of the Fish'.
Genres: FantasyFairy TalesClassicsFictionShort StoriesChildrensFolkloreMythologyLiteratureYoung Adult
304 Pages

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The Coloured Fairy Books Series

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Folio Society Editions
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