Folk and Fairy Tales A Handbook

Just about everyone is familiar with folk and fairy tales. These forms of folklore are taught to children and repeatedly appear in one version or another in movies, literature, popular culture, and everyday life. But while folk and fairy tales are so pervasive, most people have only a vague understanding of them. Written by a leading expert, this reference is a valuable introduction for students and general readers. It examines folk and fairy tales as a folklore genre, discusses specific examples from around the world, explores the varied manifestations of folk and fairy tales throughout world culture, reviews critical and scholarly approaches, and cites works for further reading.