The Blue Fairy Book
By Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang's premier 1889 collection of classic European fairy tales—Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
Reading The Blue Fairy Book this term?
Schedule chapters into your Charlotte Mason week with one tap and read the full unabridged text in a calm, distraction-free reader with zero ads or Gutenberg formatting quirks.
Instant setup • No credit card required • Keep your pace forever
Chapter 1 Sample & Typography Preview
Distraction-Free ReaderBelow is an unabridged preview of Chapter 1 formatted in our peaceful Living Term reader typography. No ads, no sidebars, and no eye strain.
Tale 1: The Bronze Ring
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Bronze Ring
THE BRONZE RING
Once upon a time in a certain country there lived a king whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden. But, though the gardeners were many and the soil was good, this garden yielded neither flowers nor fruits, not even grass or shady trees.
The King was in despair about it, when a wise old man said to him:
“Your gardeners do not understand their business: but what can you expect of men whose fathers were cobblers and carpenters? How should they have learned to cultivate your garden?”
“You are quite right,” cried the King.
“Therefore,” continued the old man, “you should send for a gardener whose father and grandfather have been gardeners before him, and very soon your garden will be full of green grass and gay flowers, and you will enjoy its delicious fruit.”
So the King sent messengers to every town, village, and hamlet in his dominions, to look for a gardener whose forefathers had been gardeners also, and after forty days one was found.
“Come with us and be gardener to the King,” they said to him.
“How can I go to the King,” said the gardener, “a poor wretch like me?”
“That is of no consequence,” they answered. “Here are new clothes for you and your family.”
“But I owe money to several people.”
“We will pay your debts,” they said.
So the gardener allowed himself to be persuaded, and went away with the messengers, taking his wife and his son with him; and the King, delighted to have found a real gardener, entrusted him with the care of his garden. The man found no difficulty in making the royal garden produce flowers and fruit, and at the end of a year the park was not like the same place, and the King showered gifts upon his new servant.
The gardener, as you have heard already, had a son, who was a very handsome young man, with most agreeable manners, and every day he carried the best fruit of the garden to the King, and all the prettiest flowers to his daughter. Now this princess was wonderfully pretty and was just sixteen years old, and the King was beginning to think it was time that she should be married.
“My dear child,” said he, “you are of an age to take a husband, therefore I am thinking of marrying you to the son of my prime minister.
“Father,” replied the Princess, “I will never marry the son of the minister.”
“Why not?” asked the King.
“Because I love the gardener’s son,” answered the Princess.
On hearing this the King was at first very angry, and then he wept and sighed, and declared that such a husband was not worthy of his daughter; but the young Princess was not to be turned from her resolution to marry the gardener’s son.
Then the King consulted his ministers. “This is what you must do,” they said. “To get rid of the gardener you must send both suitors to a very distant country, and the one who returns first shall marry your daughter.”
Keep reading The Blue Fairy Book in Living Term
Get instant access to all 34 unabridged chapters, plus 350+ other Charlotte Mason living books, poetry, hymns, and a peaceful weekly schedule builder.
Table of Contents
34 ChaptersEvery chapter below is pre-indexed for oral narration and easy 1-click scheduling into your weekly Charlotte Mason lesson plan.
Tale 1: The Bronze Ring
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Bronze Ring
Tale 2: Prince Hyacinth And The Dear Little Princess
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Prince Hyacinth And The Dear Little Princess
Tale 3: East Of The Sun And West Of The Moon
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — East Of The Sun And West Of The Moon
Tale 4: The Yellow Dwarf
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Yellow Dwarf
Tale 5: Little Red Riding Hood
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Little Red Riding Hood
Tale 6: The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood
Tale 7: Cinderella, Or The Little Glass Slipper
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Cinderella, Or The Little Glass Slipper
Tale 8: Aladdin And The Wonderful Lamp
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Aladdin And The Wonderful Lamp
Tale 9: Rumpelstiltzkin
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Rumpelstiltzkin
Tale 10: Beauty And The Beast
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Beauty And The Beast
Tale 11: The Master-Maid
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Master-Maid
Tale 12: Why The Sea Is Salt
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Why The Sea Is Salt
Tale 13: Felicia And The Pot Of Pinks
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Felicia And The Pot Of Pinks
Tale 14: The White Cat
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The White Cat
Tale 15: The Terrible Head
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Terrible Head
Tale 16: The Story Of Pretty Goldilocks
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Story Of Pretty Goldilocks
Tale 17: The History Of Whittington
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The History Of Whittington
Tale 18: The Wonderful Sheep
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Wonderful Sheep
Tale 19: Little Thumb
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Little Thumb
Tale 20: The Forty Thieves
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Forty Thieves
Tale 21: Hansel And Grettel
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Hansel And Grettel
Tale 22: Snow-White And Rose-Red
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Snow-White And Rose-Red
Tale 23: The Goose-Girl
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Goose-Girl
Tale 24: Toads And Diamonds
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Toads And Diamonds
Tale 25: Prince Darling
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Prince Darling
Tale 26: Blue Beard
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Blue Beard
Tale 27: Trusty John
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — Trusty John
Tale 28: The Brave Little Tailor
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Brave Little Tailor
Tale 29: A Voyage To Lilliput
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — A Voyage To Lilliput
Tale 30: The Princess On The Glass Hill
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Princess On The Glass Hill
Tale 31: The Story Of Prince Ahmed And The Fairy Paribanou
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Story Of Prince Ahmed And The Fairy Paribanou
Tale 32: The History Of Jack The Giant-Killer
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The History Of Jack The Giant-Killer
Tale 33: The Black Bull Of Norroway
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Black Bull Of Norroway
Tale 34: The Red Etin
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang — The Red Etin
When you assign The Blue Fairy Book to your weekly schedule, Living Term advances your bookmark to the next chapter every time a lesson is completed.
Add to Weekly Schedule (Free Trial)Why Charlotte Mason Parents Read With Living Term
Living Term replaces messy PDF downloads, ad-cluttered public domain archives, and lost paper bookmarks with one peaceful morning time habit.
Click Monday on your schedule, tap the reading row, and the next chapter opens immediately in your browser or tablet.
Complete spines from H.E. Marshall, Charlotte Yonge, Arabella Buckley, Thornton Burgess, plus 109 traditional hymns and poetry.
Every chapter includes noble narration prompts and copywork excerpts ready to go, saving Mom hours of Sunday evening prep.