Michèle Mendelssohn is Professor of English and American Literature at Oxford University. Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was a playwright, novelist and poet associated with the Aesthetic movement. This beautiful collectors’ edition with original watercolour illustrations and decorative motifs from the 1913 edition by Charles Robinson and an introduction by Wilde expert Michèle Mendelssohn is certain to surprise and delight adults and children alike. By turns moving and funny, they gently teach free thinking rather than giving prescriptive lessons. Wilde’s stories have given pleasure to generations of readers. How can you set the world on fire? asks ‘The Remarkable Rocket’. Can you have too much compassion? asks ‘The Devoted Friend’. How do you win friends (and avoid alienating people)? asks ‘The Selfish Giant’. How do you get what you need? asks ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’. Featuring princesses, ogres and talking animals, the questions they pose are as pertinent now as they were at the turn of the century. Oscar Wilde’s children’s stories explore timeless themes of good and evil, freedom and responsibility, love and death, beauty and self-sacrifice.
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