Fairy Tales: The Short Works of E. Nesbit

One of her most beloved series.

E. Nesbit, like Andersen and MacDonald and Hoffmann, is another writer of original tales who holds a notable position in the history of fairy tales and retold fairy tales.

Her short stories use a narrative voice typical of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, one in which the omniscient authorial narrative addresses the reader. Unlike the same technique used by Lang in one of his few original works, Nesbit's characters don't come across as condescending ("Now, now, little children, have you behaved well?") but more like film characters who break the fourth wall to drop hints and quips. They pull the reader into the joke--rather than mocking the reader.

 

And she is very funny. In "The Deliverers of Their Country" in The Book of Dragons, dragons from the size of newts to the size of houses show up all over England (because the Sunshine tap has been left full on). People respond with "patent dragon poison and anti-dragon soap and dragon-proof curtains."

 

In Mesalinde, gorgeously illustrated by P.J. Lynch, the king and queen decide not to invite ANY fairies to the christening. After all, whenever there is a christening and fairies show up, chaos ensues. 

 

Unfortunately, seven hundred of them show up in a snit. The king prevents them from all cursing the princess since tradition dictates that only one bad-tempered fairy is allowed. The princess is given one curse. In the long-run, she  ends up with hair that grows at such an enormous rate, the country begins to rely on it for rope and stuffing and, even, "haircloth...for hermits and other people who wished to be uncomfortable...but because it was so soft and silky, it only made them happy and warm [so they] gave it up."

 

She then grows so large, she is able to pick up the soldiers of an invading army and send them home.

 

Of course, eventually, a prince comes along and they solve the problem together.

 

Naomi Lewis's introduction to the picture book states with utter perfection, "[W]ho but E. Nesbit could have made [the story] so entertaining, so funny, so practical...[with] a kind of fairy tale arithmetic?"

 

"It is a genuine fairy tale," Lewis states robustly, and Lewis is correct!