Customer Reviews

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales 3-volume set

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This book has just about every fairytale author listed, and has headings such as "Spanish Tales" or "Aztec Tales", but you can't search it thematically. I was hoping for a reference I can use to search common fairytale symbols, such as which tales have giants, which tales use gold and silver etc. That's an important part of tracing fairytales and identifying how they have evolved over generations and between cultures. Having an endless list of authors does me no good, especially since most fairytales don't have an original author. It's much more useful to search motifs and symbols to find connections.
At least if the index listed every single tale discussed in the Encyclopedia, or common symbols, that would be more helpful. But the index is also sparse. It also doesn't include many diverse fairy tales. If it does, and they are burried under some obscure authors' names, they are too difficult to find. It's a very expensive book, that is very difficult to use and doesn't have much depth.

The limited "look inside" this book is simply inexcusable. Considering the $300 price tag and reviews by readers, I cannot believe that the publisher refuses to show the full table of contents or the index. The publisher is a bit too proud of this number.

I am currently teaching a college class on childhood and fairy tales and highly recommend this fairy tale encyclopedia to my students. Students of any age who are interested in the cultural and literary history of the folk tale, the literary fairy tale and in children's literature will find this an essential tool to look up important concepts and historiographies from the field. The volume's editor is one of the nation's top fairy tale researchers, and the articles in this compendium are easily accessible for professional researchers and for the general public alike. I found the book very easy to work with, as its entries are logically organized and generously cross-referenced around literary key words, authors, works and cultural trends. It is a great benefit that this edition also includes fairy tale materials from non-Western traditions.