Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children
Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children collects six classic bedtime stories alongside charming illustrations.
Wilde’s children’s stories were first published in a collection in 1888. Elements of them are dark. In the standout “The Happy Prince,” the prince is a gilded and bejeweled statue. Aware of the suffering in the city around him, he begs a migrating swallow to stay and help sell off pieces of the statue to pay for what the people need. Lessons about sacrifice accompany the story’s religious moral about rewards for good behavior.
All six stories feature Wilde’s trademark wit and clever approach to conversations. “The Devoted Friend” includes a story within a story, as a duck tries to change a selfish water rat’s ways by telling him the tale of a boy who remains loyal to an opportunistic alleged friend. Neither the cruel friend nor the water rat learn the correct lesson—a sly and cynical twist that reinforces the well-meaning duck’s point. Other stories also defy expectations in their endings, with Wilde showing that not all situations work out as people hope.
The illustrations take a timeless approach to the stories, using pastel colors and soft lines. The elaborate drawings of the swallow flying across the city and of the devoted friend facing a driving rainstorm without an umbrella are beautiful, while the minimal lines on the manipulative friend’s face convey his lack of clear concern for others.
Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children reintroduces the great author’s children’s work in an appealing new edition.
Reviewed by
Jeff Fleischer
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