Terry Jones' Fairy Tales by Michael Foreman

Terry Jones' Fairy Tales Reviews

• 
  Kevin

  A long time Python fan, I was surprised to find this collection of excellent stories. But then again, it should come as no surprise that Jones has made another career for himself as a brilliant, witty fabulist. The satirical edge is here, as is the gentle humanity, the silliness, and the cosmic joke. Michael Foreman's illustrations match Jones' humorous tone in water colors and pen & inks with a fine balance of cartoonishness and realism. We read this to my son at bed time, and he still laughs about them the following morning.
• 
  Brett Dewey

  What happens when you've read all the classic fairy tales to your kids? Pick up Terry Jones Fairy Tales... they're in the classic tradition of Goldilocks, Rumpelstiltskin and Jack and the Beanstalk - only you've never heard them before! My son and I enjoyed this book full of fanciful fairy tales with Kings and Princesses and talking raindrops with some lessons learned and a touch of Jones' oddness made them special.
• 
  Christine

  Full Review at
  Booklikes
  
  
  
  
  This collection of stories written by one of the members of Monty Python is very clever, very funny, and very surprising. They were written for his daughter and as the introduction points out, make good aloud reading
  
  Some of the stories end abruptly and the happy ending isn’t happy. This is true of the first story, “The Corn Dolly”. This isn’t to say that they lack warmth and understanding. The story of a man who quests to save his friends is very powerful. The story of the crazy king and his daughter who wishes to get married, moving and funny.
  
• 
  Bruce Nordstrom

  First of all, the stories are great. And there are so many great illustrations here, all full page, color, I am tempted to call it a graphic-novel.
  
  Terry Jones takes an old genre- fairy tales- and brings a slightly modern twist to them. All stories are original here, not a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty," or others.
  
  Very fun, and suitable for children. And adults.
• 
  Kevin Fink

  Got this for my ninth birthday, and I love love loved it as a kid. Terry Jones (of Monty Python) is a wonderful genius. The stories and drawings are kind of terrifying, in a good way though. I've always loved "The Island of Purple Fruit," "The Fly-By-Night," and "The Rainbow Cat."
• 
  Colleen

  The stories in this collection are fairly unique, something good and different to read to a child for their nightly stories. Or as I did, for a child to sneak a read under the covers after lights out.
• 
  David

  A childhood book. The stories here are inventive and fun, and the illustrations are well done. When I was younger, however, I did find that a few of the tales were a little confusing or not interesting. Others, though, stood out to me as be grand and are highly memorable to this day.
• 
  Totoro

  Some of the stories were a bit dark .
• 
  Kate

  Terry Jones writes AWESOME fairy tales and fantasy children's books in general.
• 
  Kate

  I loved this when I was little. The watercolor illustrations are incredible and so are the stories. Our copy is battered, so we may have to rebuy when J is old enough to read it himself.
• 
  Annabelle

  I loved this!! I only wish there were more :-)
• 
  Louise

  I was in love with this book as a kid
• 
  Hayley

  I love this book. In year 3/4 our teacher would read to us from it after lunch. The whole class would sit quietly and listen, the sign of a great children's book.
• 
  Thomas Ray

  Terry Jones has an inventive imagination. These are wonderful fairy tales of a kind you've never heard before.
• 
  Nicky Neko

  Very nostalgic reading these again. Children's books should all be like this.
• 
  Greg

  A fantastic collection by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, beautifully illustrated.
• 
  Marsha

  The inventive mind of Terry Jones comes to life again in this collection of unusual fairy tales, many dealing with the foibles and foolishness of humans. Lessons about the dangers of avarice, prevarication and misplaced foolhardiness abound in these pages. Sometimes, people escape unscathed; sometimes doom descends out of nowhere. But actions do have consequences as the tales make amply clear.
  
  The illustrations are goofy. The monsters aren’t particularly terrifying, making this a book that can be read even to very young children. Think of the animations of the 1970s and you’ll have a good idea of what these pictures are like.
  
  If you’re craving whimsical fairy tales with just a dash of sweetness, this book is right up your alley. If you’re a Terry Jones fan, then that also makes it a good find.
• 
  Julie

  I wanted to love this book - I grabbed it off of a display shelf in the children's library, and even renewed it once. It's exactly the kind of book I should have loved.
  
  I have to admit that I didn't love it, though. I liked it, I enjoyed the stories that I read (I didn't quite finish before having to return it). They were good. But they weren't great, and I was expecting greatness.
  
  
• 
  James Frase-White

  The only pleasure while being sick abed, is the therapy that can redeemed from books. I put aside the heavy reading (' Lolita in Tehran) and took out Terry Jones' Fairy Tales, with delicious illustrations by Michael Foreman to reread. Those little tales, between episodes of healing sleep and foggy brain were medicated with sweet humor and savory wit in the voice of this lovely, lovely man. Jones wrote these for his daughter but such creations as the fly-by-night, the corn dolly, Jack One-Step, the Sea Tiger and the Land of the people with big noses are little moral morsels that will have you giggling with delight. And like me, you'll read it to kids, and to yourself, over and over again. I'm sure the Brothers Grimm and the holy Hans Christian would agree.
• 
  Kalen

  My reason for only giving this book 3 stars is I found the formatting and the pictures of the book lacking. If the intention is to read these stories out loud to children then I think a hard cover book would have had a more magical feeling. This paperback copy feels too much like a magazine.
  I enjoyed the full page watercolours and felt like they fit the stories very well but the many of the pen and ink drawings felt too reminiscent of a Saturday comic strip and just didn’t seem to fit with the feel.
  
  Overall the stories themselves were very entertaining, interesting and varied.
• 
  Sepideh Tafazzoli

  I think it's safe to say that Terry Jones is a genius with an old soul. Most of the stories were reminders of Grimm Brothers Tales but the fact that they remained quite original despite their familiarity is quite noteworthy. My favorite stories were: Three Raindrops, The Ship of Bones, and The Wind Ghosts - for different reasons! :D
• 
  Rachel Nouvellon Maltas

  The last time I read this, I must have been about 10. I made my cousins put on a play with me of 'The Witch and the Rainbow Cat' in their garden, because I really wanted to play the cat for some reason, and it was this memory that brought be back to this book at 34 years old.
• 
  Cecilia Porjefors

  An easy read with witty and thoughtful shorts stories
• 
  Katie Tillwick

  So cute. So good. So original!!
• 
  Emma McIntosh

  Reading this book to my Year 1 class is absolutely hilarious... not every story has a happy ending, what lesson can we learn, what would you do differently...discussion heaven.
• 
  David

  Fantastic illustrations with enjoyable short stories for children AND adults!