LoveReading Says
A truly beautiful collection of over one hundred English stories, it just had to be included as a LoveReading Star Book and a Liz Pick of the Month. This treasury would make a perfect gift for anyone who loves the written word, there are tales of wonder and humour, villains and heroines, betrayal and absurdity, birth and death, all of life can be found in these pages, and the commentary adds depth and flavour. The enchanting cover welcomes the reader, and what follows is an absolute delight. This is the first book of English folktales I’ve consumed, nestled at home I have books on folklore featuring the world, and other countries of the UK (and Cornwall), and yet have somehow missed Neil Philip’s original treasury which first published in 1992. This updated version with a foreword by Neil Gaiman will be much loved indeed. Neil Philip’s introduction is fascinating, he explains how things have changed in the thirty years since he first published, now a new generation of writers, including non-fiction, and oral storytellers are weaving folktales into their writing and telling, he finishes his introduction: “In short, the English folktale, far from being moribund, is alive and kicking”. Folktales pack their bags and go travelling, as they meander along their way, they take on new appearances and it is common to see a variation of a tale in different villages, counties, and even countries. Neil Philip sets source notes, the original narrator and location where known, the type of tale is also included, then follows the folktale itself, and after comes a full explanation as to the origins and other fascinating slices of information. Sometimes I recognised elements or even the full stories, at others I came across an entirely new tale, yet could see the invisible thread that holds them all together. The Watkins Book of English Folktales has been collated with true wonder and love for the magic of storytelling, I can only recommend it with my heart and soul.
Liz Robinson
Find This Book In
| Primary Genre |
Gift Books
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The Watkins Book of English Folktales Synopsis
With a foreword by Neil Gaiman, this comprehensive, entertaining and authentic collection of English folktales is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Philip Pullman and the Brothers Grimm.
This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Read these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art – when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o’-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs. Find “Jack the Giantkiller”, “Tom Tit Tot” and other quintessentially English favourites, alongside interesting borrowings, such as an English version of the Grimms’ “Little Snow White” – as well as bedtime frighteners, including “Captain Murderer”, as told to Charles Dickens by his childhood nurse.
Neil Philip has provided a full introduction and source notes on each story that illustrate each tale’s journey from mouth to page, and what has happened to them on the way. These tales rank among the finest English short stories of all time in their richness of metaphor and plot and their great verbal dash and daring.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781786787095 |
| Publication date: |
11th October 2022 |
| Author: |
Neil Philip |
| Publisher: |
Watkins Media |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
400 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Gift Books
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Neil Philip Press Reviews
A treasure-trove of living stories, and enormously fun to read. Enjoy!
- Neil Gaiman
Shivery, creepy, melancholy, funny, fantastic and very real ... Neil Philip's classic collection offers us an overflowing cauldron of marvellous stories.' - Marina Warner
Collections of folktales as good as this should be bound in gold and brought out on ceremonial occasions as national treasures.
- Philip Pullman
'A book that inspires and informs, and opens hearts and minds to our story heritage.' - Professor Carolyne Larrington
A profound influence on me and Hookland.
- David Southwell
This is the best collection of English folktales.
- Professor Diane Purkiss
A superb anthology of more than one hundred extraordinary tales that reveal the exquisite nature of the English storytelling tradition. This is a dazzling book.
- Professor Jack Zipes
Never was a better time for such a knowing, appreciative volume of our shared tales.
- Gregory Maguire
An expertly chosen selection of English folktales that is highly readable, endlessly entertaining, and intellectually enlivened. If by some mysterious goblin's spell I was condemned to give away all the books in my library but one, this is undoubtedly the book I would keep.
- Professor Andrew Teverson
About Neil Philip
Neil Philip is a writer, folklorist and poet. Among his many books are The Cinderella Story, Mythology (with Philip Wilkinson),The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse, The Tale of Sir Gawain and The Adventures of Odysseus. Neil has contributed to numerous journals, including The Times and Signal: Approaches to Children's Books, and has also written for stage, screen and radio. His work has won the Aesop Award of the American Folklore Society and the Literary Criticism Book Award of the Children's Literature Association.
Follow Neil Philip on Twitter: @neilphilipmyth
Webiste: www.neilphilip.com
More About Neil Philip
