The Happy Prince & Other Tales
Oscar Wilde’s children’s stories explore timeless themes of good and evil, freedom and responsibility, love and death, beauty and self-sacrifice. Featuring princesses, ogres and talking animals, the questions they pose are as pertinent now as they were at the turn of the century. What is love? asks ‘The Happy Prince’. How do you get what you need? asks ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’. How do you win friends (and avoid alienating people)? asks ‘The Selfish Giant’. Can you have too much compassion? asks ‘The Devoted Friend’. How can you set the world on fire? asks ‘The Remarkable Rocket’.
Wilde’s stories have given pleasure to generations of readers. By turns moving and funny, they gently teach free thinking rather than giving prescriptive lessons. This beautiful collectors’ edition with original watercolour illustrations and decorative motifs from the 1913 edition by Charles Robinson and an introduction by Wilde expert Michèle Mendelssohn is certain to surprise and delight adults and children alike.
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was a playwright, novelist and poet associated with the Aesthetic movement.
Michèle Mendelssohn is Professor of English and American Literature at Oxford University. Her acclaimed biography, Making Oscar Wilde, was a Sunday Times Book of the Year, a PEN America Biography Prize semi-finalist, a Polari Prize finalist and a Biographers' Club Slightly Foxed Prize finalist.
Charles Robinson (1870–1937) was a ground-breaking illustrator of children’s books, influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.
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