The Happy Prince and Other Tales

by Oscar Wilde

Overview

Do your students enjoy a good laugh? Do they like to be scared? Or do they just like a book with a happy ending? No matter what their taste, our Creative Short Stories series has the answer.

We've taken some of the world's best stories from dark, musty anthologies and brought them into the light, giving them the individual attention they deserve. Each book in the series has been designed with today's young reader in mind. As the words come to life, students will develop a lasting appreciation for great literature.

The humor of Mark Twain...the suspense of Edgar Allan Poe...the danger of Jack London...the sensitivity of Katherine Mansfield. Creative Short Stories has it all and will prove to be a welcome addition to any library.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789350096581
Publisher:	Hachette India
Publication date:	02/10/2013
Series:	Bookmine
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	767 KB

About the Author

Oscar Fingal O?Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854?1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, essayist and novelist. He was one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his witty quotes, humorous plays and novels. Wilde was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford where he was involved in the aestheticism movement. His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and the comic plays, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), were his most famous works. In 1895, Wilde was sentenced to two years? imprisonment and thereafter he faded from the public eye. He died in Paris in 1900.

Date of Birth:

October 16, 1854

Date of Death:

November 30, 1900

Place of Birth:

Dublin, Ireland

Place of Death:

Paris, France

Education:

The Royal School in Enniskillen, Dublin, 1864; Trinity College, Dublin, 1871; Magdalen College, Oxford, England, 1874

Table of Contents

The happy prince -- The nightingale and the rose -- The selfish giant -- The devoted friend -- The remarkable rocket.

Editorial Reviews

Ray's (Magical Tales from Many Lands; The Story of Christmas) folksy, gilt-laden artwork graces this somewhat formal abridgment of Wilde's tale about an enchanted statue. The Happy Prince, who had lived a happy life and died a happy man, is now immortalized high above the city as a golden and bejeweled statue. For the first time the royal sees the suffering, poverty and misery of the common people. Sharing his sympathetic view with a sparrow, the prince persuades the bird to postpone its migration and instead to deliver his gold leafing, his sapphire eyes and ruby belt to those who need them. Soon the sparrow dies of cold and the prince, now shabby, is removed from its pedestal and melted down. Though young readers may appreciate the lessons of selflessness and sacrifice here, the telling may seem to them stilted and even occasionally disjointed. Ray's characteristically rich palette and her delicate borders and backgrounds provide the visual magic that keeps this sentimental tale afloat. Ages 7-up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

K-Gr 3-Ray has done a masterful job of retelling and illustrating one of Wilde's more accessible fairy tales. Using most of the author's words and all of his intent, she has omitted the more flowery and verbose prose and subplots. The result is a tightened tale that expresses compassion in a simple, heartfelt story of a statue and a little bird. Alternating full-and double-page illustrations with panels, Ray has put enormous detail into her paintings, and each one is burnished with a kind of verdigris gold. Readers will especially appreciate the pictures that depict the wonders of Egypt. Not piteous or sentimental, The Happy Prince is a balanced tale; in fact, Leo Lionni's modern classic, Tico and the Golden Wings (Knopf, 1975), seems to revisit its universal themes.-Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY

School Library Journal

Ray presents an abridgment of Wilde's classic fairy tale in picture-book format, leaving the main story intact but eliminating recurring phrases and ideas, omitting the more literary and ironic elements, and changing the phrasing. Illuminated with shiny gold highlights, the striking, full-color artwork contrasts the extremes of wealth and poverty the prince sees about him in the city. Although the abridgment lessens the literary strength and emotional resonance of Wilde's original fairy tale, libraries may want to include this attractive version for younger children.

Carolyn Phelan