Overview. The readings for this unit come from
More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, published in 1894 as a sequel to his
English Fairy Tales of 1890. In these two volumes, Jacobs set out to find folktales and fairy tales that could be considered "native" to England and the Lowlands of Scotland. He undertook the project in what he considered a patriotic spirit, hoping that English children would enjoy reading English fairy tales, in addition to French fairy tales told by Perrault or the German stories of the Brothers Grimm. Here in this second volume, you will find several "Cinderella-type" stories such as
Tattercoats, Rushen Coatie, and
Catskin. There are tragic stories, such as
The Children in the Wood, and comical tales like
Johnny Gloke or
The Three Wishes. And the opening story is one I am sure you know:
The Pied Piper, which is told here with wonderfully vivid details!
Language. Jacobs tells the fairy tales in modern literary prose, so it is not difficult reading.
Story Length. These are all single-page stories.
Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total:
More English Fairy Tales. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.
- The Pied Piper
- The Golden Ball
- Tattercoats
- Johnny Gloke
- Scrapefoot
- The Old Witch
- The Three Wishes
READING B:
- The Children in the Wood
- King John and the Abbot of Canterbury
- Rushen Coatie
- The King o' the Cats
- The Stars in the Sky
- The Little Bull-Calf
- Old Mother Wiggle-Waggle
- Catskin
