Rabbit Ears Book Blog: fairy tale and folktale fridays

Showing posts with label fairy tale and folktale fridays. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2026

Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays #41: Disturbing Fairy Tale and Folktale Artworks Part 2

Hey there! Welcome to "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays," a new feature on my blog where I discuss about some fairy tales and folktales I have read throughout the years.

Wow! It's been a long time since I last did the "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays" feature. This was my favorite feature for the blog, since I love fairy tales and folktales. But life got in the way, and I wasn't able to post as frequently on my blog as I used to.

So, to make up for my absence on this blog, I'm going to start up this series again and this time, I wanted to get into showing off some disturbing artworks from various fairy tales and folktales over the years (because there's actually quite a lot of them). So, here are the second set of disturbing artworks that I've found!

1. Russian Fairy Tales 1: Artwork by Boris Zabirokhin

2. The Giant Enters: Arabian Nights: Artwork by Henry Justice Ford (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

3. Bluebeard from the Brothers Grimm: Artwork by Gustave Doré (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): CHARLES PERRAULT'S FAIRY TALES

4. The Fool and the Flying Ship (Russian Folktale): Artwork by Henrik Drescher

5. Russian Fairy Tales 1: Artwork by Boris Zabirokhin

6. Arabian Nights: Artwork by Henry Justice Ford (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

7. The Demon of Cathay: Artwork by Henry Justice Ford (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

8. The Pilgrim's Progress: Artwork by Henry Justice Ford (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

9. Red Riding Hood (Charles Perrault Version): Artwork by Gustave Dore (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): CHARLES PERRAULT'S FAIRY TALES

10. Arabian Nights: Artwork by John D. Batten (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

So, this is the second part of the "Disturbing Fairy Tale and Folktale Artworks!" I'm hoping to make this a more weekly thing, so stay tuned for more disturbing fairy tale and folktale artworks!

Friday, January 9, 2026

Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays #40: Disturbing Fairy Tale and Folktale Artworks Part 1

Hey there! Welcome to "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays," a new feature on my blog where I discuss about some fairy tales and folktales I have read throughout the years.

1. The Two Brothers from the Brothers Grimm: Artwork by Kay Nielsen

2. The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen: Artwork by Kay Nielsen

3. The Six Servants from the Brothers Grimm: Artwork by Sergei Goloshapov

4. The Fool and the Flying Ship (Russian Folktale): Artwork by Henrik Drescher

5. Hop-o'-My-Thumb by Charles Perrault: Artwork by Gustave Doré

6. Virgilius & the Evil Spirit from Andrew Lang's Violet Fairy Book: Artwork by Henry Justice Ford (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

7. The Wounded Dragon (Europa's Fairy Book): Artwork by John D. Batten (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

8. The Sprightly Tailor (Celtic Fairy Tales): Artwork by John D. Batten (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

9. Red Riding Hood (Charles Perrault Version): Artwork by Gustave Dore

10. The Demon with the Matted Hair (Indian Fairy Tales): Artwork by John D. Batten (SOURCE FOR ARTWORK): ARCHIVE.ORG

So, this is the first part of the "Disturbing Fairy Tale and Folktale Artworks!" I'm hoping to make this a more weekly thing, so stay tuned for more disturbing fairy tale and folktale artworks!

Friday, June 18, 2021

Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays #39: Fat Cat

Hey there! Welcome to "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays," a new feature on my blog where I discuss about some fairy tales and folktales I have read throughout the years.

Fat Cat

Type: Folktale

Country of Origin: Denmark

Main Character Hero or Heroine: Hero or Heroine (depending on which version you read)

Recommend?: Yes!

The story starts off with the Cat swallowing up a large batch of pies and then he proceeds to swallow up most of the townspeople, which included a wash lady and her washtub, a troop of soldiers and even the king and his elephant! But when the Cat swallows up a mouse and her sewing basket, he soon learns the hard way that he shouldn't eat everything in site!

Wow! This was one crazy story! I have read many folktales about characters eating up other characters. But, I never read a folktale that involved a cat eating up most of the people in town! I was also surprised by how violent the ending of this story got as I won't spoil the ending for those of you who haven't read this story yet, but let's just say that it involves a bit of surgery. Definitely a fun story to read!

1. How did you feel about the Cat eating up all the people in town?

I will admit that I was a bit disturbed by the cat eating up most of the people in the story since it's rare that I've seen a story where a cat of all animals eats up people.

Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale by Margaret Read MacDonald; illustrated by Julie Paschkis

The Fat Cat by Jack Kent

East of the Sun West of the Moon

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

Peachboy

The Frog Prince

Friday, May 31, 2019

Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays #38: The Emperor and the Nightingale

Hey there! Welcome to "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays," a new feature on my blog where I discuss about some fairy tales and folktales I have read throughout the years.

The Emperor and the Nightingale

Type: Fairy Tale

Country of Origin: China (Setting); Denmark (Origin of Author)

Main Character Hero or Heroine: Hero

Recommend?: Yes!

The story starts off with the Emperor of China hearing about a nightingale that lives in his kingdom and how its song is the most beautiful thing in his kingdom. He then orders his servants to seek the nightingale and bring it to him. When the servants finally found the nightingale, they brought it to the Emperor's palace and the nightingale began to sing for the Emperor. The Emperor was so moved by the nightingale's singing that he wanted the nightingale to stay with him and sing for him. Unfortunately, the nightingale wanted to go back to the forest so it could live in freedom. One day, the Emperor received a gift of a beautiful bejeweled mechanical bird that was able to sing just as lovely as the real nightingale. The Emperor then became so engrossed in the mechanical bird's singing, that he lost interest in the real nightingale and the real nightingale ended up returning to the forest. One unfortunate day however, the Emperor became ill and the servants thought that he was going to die. It was during that night that Death came to the Emperor and was going to take the Emperor away. The Emperor then begged the mechanical bird to start singing for him, but the mechanical bird wouldn't sing, due to being played too many times . It was during that moment that the Emperor realized that having the real nightingale is much more precious than having a mechanical bird who's beautiful on the outside.

I absolutely loved this story! I loved the fact that this story takes place in China since I love reading stories that take place in foreign countries and I think that this story captures the true essence of China so well! I also loved the fact that this story is about what true beauty is all about as the mechanical bird may be beautiful on the outside, but it can't be counted on when the Emperor really needed it. I loved the fact that the Emperor learns his lesson about true beauty when the real nightingale ends up saving the day, even though he dismissed it earlier in favor of the mechanical bird.

1. What's your definition of true beauty?

I think that true beauty is something that is in the inside, meaning that even if you have an ugly appearance on the outside, if you are a kind-hearted person, then you are beautiful no matter what.

2. Have you ever received a beautiful gift from anyone before?

I had received several over the years. But some beautiful gifts I had received were jewelry from my relatives and parents, which I still keep to this very day!