My Book of Favourite Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Jennie Harbour

My Book of Favourite Fairy Tales is a wonderful collection of classic fairy tales such as ‘Cinderella’, ‘Little Snow White’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Bluebeard’, ‘Thumbelina’, and ‘Beauty and the Beast’. These much-loved stories are accompanied by the magnificent colour and black-and-white illustrations of Jennie Harbour. The narratives were originally edited by Captain Edric Vredenburg, a noted British collector of folklore – and appear in his translation. Vredenburg was a military man as well as an editor at Raphael Tuck and Sons; notable publishers of short stories and fairy tales. They produced many exceptional volumes classic tales, retold for young audiences.

Jennie Harbour (1893 – 1950) was an immensely talented and popular illustrator. Despite this, very little is known about her life. She managed to capture the public’s imagination with her delicate and ethereal illustrations. They most commonly featured subtle yet bold washes of colour, with few of the thick black outlines so common in other illustrations of the day. Vibrant colours and Art Deco patterns full of energy and emotion characterise Harbour’s work. The illustrations in My Book of Favourite Fairy Tales are presented alongside with the classic fairy tales – both aspects further refining and elucidating the other.

Pook Press celebrates the great ‘Golden Age of Illustration‘ in children’s literature – a period of unparalleled excellence in book illustration from the 1880s to the 1930s. Our collection showcases classic fairy tales, children’s stories, and the work of some of the most celebrated artists, illustrators and authors.