Fairy tales

No cover

E. E. Cummings: Fairy tales (1965, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)

41 pages

English language

Published April 13, 1965 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

OCLC Number:
6129215

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4 stars (1 review)

Four tales include "The Old Man Who Said 'Why'," "The Elephant and The Butterfly," "The House That Ate Mosquito Pie," and "The Little Girl Named I."

4 editions

Review of 'Fairy tales' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This slim volume contains four stories, with a high proportion of space taken up by illustrations (that I like a lot.) Three were written for Cummings' daughter, Nancy and one (much later, obviously) for his grandson. This one, The Elephant and the Butterfly, was my favourite. Elephants were Cummings' favourite animals from childhood onwards. (He did his own pictures of elephants as a youngster.) It is surmised in an afterword that the titular Elephant and Butterfly symbolise Cummings himself and his grandson, respectively. I don't know if that's true, but it's plausible and the idea makes the story even more delightful to me.

Subjects

  • Fairy tales -- Juvenile fiction