Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre - Softcover

2007 Katharine Briggs Award

"Why Fairy Tales Stick is outstanding scholarship that offers an original, thoroughly researched, and historically grounded approach to the study of fairy tales. It captures the essence of what the tales at their best should reflect which are engaging and imaginative stories that inspire readers to learn more about the subject." --Carlnita P. Green, Nazareth College, The Journal of Popular Culture

"Why Fairy Tales Stick is both a welcome addition to the expanding area of books about fairy tales and a useful teaching resource." --Kimberly Reynolds, Newcastle University, Modern Language Review

"The real treasures in this book, however, are Zipe's energetic expertise and his unabashedly personal concern for the part fairy tales play in the unfolding triumphs and tragedies of human life in our time." --Maggi Michel, University of California, Los Angeles, Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies.

In his latest book, fairy tales expert Jack Zipes explores the question of why some fairy tales "work" and others don't, why the fairy tale is uniquely capable of getting under the skin of culture and staying there. Why, in other words, fairy tales "stick." Long an advocate of the fairy tale as a serious genre with wide social and cultural ramifications, Jack Zipes here makes his strongest case for the idea of the fairy tale not just as a collection of stories for children but a profoundly important genre.

Why Fairy Tales Stick contains two chapters on the history and theory of the genre, followed by case studies of famous tales (including Cinderella, Snow White, and Bluebeard), followed by a summary chapter on the problematic nature of traditional storytelling in the twenty-first century.