It is well for the fairy-loving public that Mr. Andrew Lang should go bravely on publishing his delightful Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Fairy Books as if the cry of ‘ too many books ‘ had never been uttered. The juvenile clientele whom he addresses is an ever-increasing one and is as many-colored as Joseph’s or as Parsifal’s coat. So skilful a caterer as this keen-eyed Scotchman is not often found: an intellectual gourmand of the first water, long since awarded the cordon bleu in the fine art of fairy-tales, he knows what his public likes-the exacting, appreciative boy-and-girl public whose instinctive cleverness tells them what is good and what is not. His sympathetic nature makes all children congenial to him, and he has remained child enough, despite Homeric disquisitions and scientific fads in folk-lore, to pick out with infallible taste just what they like. ‘ The Yellow Fairy Book’ is full of tales from uncouth tongues like Polish, Hungarian, Russian and Red Indian, but also sprinkled with old favorites like Andersen’s ‘ Tin Soldier ‘ and Grimm’s ‘Iron Stone.’ A glimpse or two from the fanciful French ‘Cabinet des Fées ‘ is also to be found in this capital collection, which is prefaced by a good-natured but sharp-tongued stricture on the false position of Mr. Laurence Gomme and his rather portentous Folk-Lore Society.
This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.