Fairy Tales Hardcover – November 17, 2004

Great stories to be read and reread - even for the adult reading to a youngster. Love anything by e e cummings so was delighted when this book was released - read it to my daughter and continue to give it as a gift.

My children are now in college, and they remember this book with high fondness. I overheard them recommending it to a friend of mine for whom they babysit. So I bought a new copy, hardback, so their childhood paperback will not be the only one in the house for posterity.It's not for the conventional. If you like a poetic imagination you will love these characters, these sentences, and the logic of a poet's world.If you like moralistic lit or overly realistic lit for your poor children, don't bother with this beautiful masterpiece.

I originally bought this book for its uniqueness and oddity. Then I understood better what it was about from reading the notes in the back of the book.Cummings had a daughter by a failed marriage who never knew who her real father was. His first wife had left him and married a weallthy man. The daughter was too young to recognize her real father at the time. The daughter grew up in a life of wealth and privilege which Cummings could not have provided.Years later, after a heads up from a friend, Cummings arranged to run into his full grown daughter in New York. He did not have the courage at first to identify himself. He asked her to allow him to paint her (Cummings was also a painter, and his works are fascinating.) It was during the painting sessions that Cummings finally told her that he was her father.These fairy tales were written at different times.. Some were written for the daughter before he met her, and some written for his grandchildren.As usual with Cummings, in order to fully appreciate them,, you have to read them over and over, but that's certainly not a burden.

These short stories are perfect, bedtime or anytime. They move along quickly and with a little bit of intonation go a "long, long, long, long, long" way in giving young children an appreciation of reading. Along with Oscar Wilde's children's stories and Dr Seuss's books, this is one of the best additions you can ever make to your child's library. The artwork is also superb.

EE Cummings can be as simple as Ogden Nash and as complex as James Joyce. Here he writes a fairy tale for his young daughter. Something to stimulate a young mind, but read it first to try to comprehend the message.

I bought this book for my daughter...the writing is so delicious, I have truly enjoyed it myself as well.

Wonderful stories, but the illustrations are nowhere near as nice as they were in the earlier edition (illustrated by John Eaton). It's worth paying a bit extra for a used copy of that edition-- I felt bad even gifting this version to someone else, there is really no comparison when it comes to the artwork.

A wonderful lighthearted read. Definitely pick it up and give it a try when you need a change of pace.