FESA Staff's Favourite Children's Books: My Wonderful World of Fairy Tales

This blog post is part of an ongoing series where FESA staff revisit their favourite children's books and why they love them. Krissy shares hers this week.

My most cherished childhood book was a collection of fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

Although some stories in the collection like Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and even Snow White seemed a bit scary for me (although not quite realizing in my young age just how dark they really were) I would read them over and over again. Admiring the beautiful colorful drawings of magical lands where straw could be spun into gold, homes could be made of gumdrops, and slippers could be made of glass.

The one I loved the most was The Frog Prince. The story of a somewhat spoiled princess who begrudgingly promises to befriend a frog in return for his help in retrieving a golden ball that she dropped in the pond where the frog was living.

The reason this fairy tale resonated with me so much was because I used to spend my summers at the family cabin. During the warm summer nights, I would spend hours catching hundreds of tiny frogs just outside our cabin doors. I never wanted to marry the prince I was bound to find amongst the many frogs, but I did want to befriend him! The story always reminded me that a promise is a promise and to always be kind and friendly to everyone, no matter what they look like.

My sister still has this beautiful book of Fairy Tales and now enjoys reading it with my six-year-old nephew.