Macmillan Publishers’ The Macmillan Fairy Tales Collection is nothing short of a masterpiece. With illustrations by Peter Bailey, every page is a joy to read.

The book features an impressive selection of over fifty-five fairy tales. It is structured by theme as opposed to the alphabet or place of origin. There is also an index included with every story’s title for the reader’s convenience. Thematic organization creates a harmonious flow when reading the tome in a sitting. 

Characters are your expected: princesses and princes; heroes and villains; booted cats and crowned frogs. They are detailed in a style befitting a fairytale book, the writing relatively straightforward with enough details to satisfy most readers. It’d be quite the leap from, say, Dickens, but the direct diction favored by the Fairy Tales Collection is appropriate.

If asked what my favorite aspect of this publication is, I’d have to commend the diverse origins of the stories. Every classic and more are present, from Cinderella to the Snow Queen, but there are others like Quetzalcoatl’s Journey or Bunyip that most will find refreshing. Every story is wonderfully illustrated with both original artwork and antique sketches. A detail I especially appreciated is that the back of the book includes a list of historic illustrators and authors. It is notoriously difficult to track folklore, and it’s interesting to note where the wide array of stories came from.

The collection is overall extremely well done and great for all ages. Fairytales are timeless, and it’s comforting to see them live on in modern publications like The Macmillan Fairy Tales Collection. With such a cosmopolitan selection, the book should bring a more empathetic and aware generation into the world.