Are you sitting comfortably...

Morality, justice, triumph and enchantment – just your average bedtime story if you bring a classic fairytale to the duvet. The Guardian and the Observer have produced a seven-part, beautifully illustrated collection of fairytales, themed around such perennial nice and nasty subjects as Wicked Parents, Rags to Riches, Love, Quests and Beastly Tales. One is being given away free every day from Saturday 10th October. Each has been nominated by a panel of critics, writers and experts, all authorities on children’s literature. They’re a heavyweight lot, and include Anthony Browne, Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie and AS Byatt. Each collection includes an afterword written by someone equally illustrious. Whoever asked Hilary Mantel, whose Wolf Hall romped home to win the Booker earlier this week, to write the first for Part 1 Wicked Parents must be feeling a tiny bit smug. It’s a gorgeous set, and well worth making it to the newsagent for.

The collection starts Saturday 10th October. And once the week is up, we’ll send a complete and pristine set to whoever leaves the best comment starting with, ‘It was a dark and stormy night…’.

Tags: Treats for teenies

1. angelsandurchinsblog says:

   October 8, 2009 at 23:06

   Well, we might as well kick this off cos we’d quite like a set:

   It was a dark and stormy night
   Stories were needed, sunny and light
   Goodies, baddies, a princess with a pea
   Even better, all of them are free!

   Hmmm. In mitigation it’s quite late at night.
2. miranda a says:

   October 11, 2009 at 13:41

   It was a dark and stormy night
   We were inside tucked up tight
   Tales by the fireside, cocoa too
   I’d love to hear more – wouldn’t you?
3. cheryl pasquier says:

   October 11, 2009 at 14:56

   It was a dark and stormy night
   With booms of thunder to give you a fright
   But snuggled up on mummy’s knee
   We were reading tales quite happily.

   Goldilocks had finished the three bears porridge
   The Babes in the Wood had been left to forage
   The Seven Dwarves had met Snow White
   And on the bongs of midnight, Cinderella took flight.

   So now it was time to go to bed
   With tales of fairies and princesses in my head
   No room for nightmares, just lots of laughter
   Because we all live happily ever after !
4. Helen Craig says:

   October 14, 2009 at 23:50

   It was a dark and stormy night
   We didn’t need witches, I looked a fright
   Sleepless weeks caused by baby’s screams
   No wonder I’m spending £s on wonder creams
   But I don’t care how bad I look
   Life with bambina is a fairytale book
5. angels&urchinsblog says:

   October 22, 2009 at 13:27

   Dear Cheryl, you’re the winner! We will email you for your address and send you the winning books, plus a bonus prize of some gorgeous Anne Semonin body scrub to give your skin a fairytale ending too!