Your favourite fairytale?

How have I not made this topic before?

Alright, so most of you probably know that I'm just that little bit obsessed with fairytales and have reworked all of my favourites to some extent- plus some of those that aren't even that close to my heart- I'm working on a Rapunzel spin-off at the moment even though Rapunzel was never my favourite. But I want to know- what are your favourites? The obvious ones, like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty (that I like to call the Disney ones, because Disney has made movies out of most of them), or are you like me and love the lesser known but still out there ones like Snow White and Rose Red and The Twelve Dancing Princesses? Or do you like really really bizarre ones?

Tell me!

-Stella x

The first one that comes to mind for me is Bluebeard, in all its creepy, disturbing glory. Then there's Donkeyskin, as one of the first I read as a kid, the Nightingale because sometimes I'm sappy like that, and the Seven Swans, which I just plain loved (sap, again).

I like Snow White and Rose Red (I'm pretty much adoring my book of Grimm's Fairy Tales I got recently) and I've always liked Little Red Riding Hood.

Ever since I was really little, my favorite fairytale has always been Three Little Pigs. Once upon a time, when we used to have the church pastor over almost every other Sunday, before anyone could eat, I would make her read Three Little Pigs to me.
Even now a days, I still listen to Green Jelly's Three Little Pigs almost once a day. It's just too cool!

Piggies Piggies Everywhere!!!

Lily- that's so awesome xD

Actually, regarding Snow White and Rose Red: so I used to go to this nursery school where they gave us all a book at Christmas. And my book was... Snow White and Rose Red. Go figure. I loved that book, and I remember talking to people about it and they'd say, "No, Snow White lived with dwarves!" And I'd say, "No, the other Snow White!" and they'd all roll their eyes and say "That Thomas girl is remedial."

Aha, but I was not. I read that book about a thousand times- and even back then in my innocent youth I felt bad for Rose Red who just "married his brother." Poor girl. But I knew the story, like, off by heart.

So, picture me age five. We went on holiday to Canada (incidentally, on that holiday I read my first novel- The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl), and we met this gay couple at this... bible camp thing my parents were at? who are totally cool and we go visit every time we're in Canada. And apparently, I told one of them a story about a princess called Rose.

And the story just kept going. Apparently my mum kept telling me to be quiet and I just kept on talking about Princess Rose. He likes to remind me of this every time we speak and last time he saw us he was like, "So, are you still writing stories about princesses?"

I laughed.

I don't know whether the story was Snow White and Rose Red or not, but I'm going to guess it was, because I was so enamoured with it.

I loved it when I was the only one in class who knew 'Snow White and Rose Red' and I'd always pick that as my favourite tale because no on else knew it.

But then, really, my favourite would be Goldilocks as that was the first book I read on my own and I loved to sleep in my 'little, just-right bed!' And

...And? xD

Goldilocks was spoilt. Mind you, the fact that the bears ate porridge was a little weird.

My favorite was Rupunzel and The Swan Princess. Sleeping Beauty was also a huge favorite for me. I thought it was super romantic.

The Little Match Girl because it was sad and it suited me well. I found it very easy to associate with as a child and liked the realism of it. Also, Disney made a very sweet little version of it that was close to how I imagined it so I was even more besotted. I think it was the disney one anyway. The one where she had the little pink tattered dress? Anyhow...

Other than that, there was The Shoemaker and the Elves and The Ugly Duckling and The Little Tin Soldier. Hmmm. Also The Tinderbox. That was one of the best!

Snow White and Rose Red was always my favourite, mostly because they were so pretty in the pictures I also really liked Soria Moria Castle and One-Eye, Two-Eyes and Three-Eyes.

Oh goodness,it ate up the rest of my sentences.

Oh and anyway, it was, "And Cinderella. It was my first picture fairy-tale book and I would make up the story based on the pictures."

Back when I used to be overly fixated with fairytales, I had a weird thing for "The Snow Queen". I read it when I was really young, and the weird creepy sadness always stuck with me. It didn't hold up upon re-reading, but I got over it. I also have this wicked-awesome science-fiction update of it sitting on my shelf.

I read everything on this database and all of Andrew Lang's collections. I'm sure you've taken a look at them, but if you haven't and like fairytales, you should. Also, Terri Windling & Ellen Datlow edited a series of anthologies a few years back in which every vaguely well-known (and more-than-well-known, like Neil Gaiman) fantasy writer contributed a fairy tale rewrite. It makes for some pretty gorgeous reading.

I read a Creole spin off of Cinderella when I was growing up, and I was obsessed with it. Still love the premise and the way everything was worded. It was called "The Talking Eggs" I believe =)

Also, of course, more Slavic-type fairytales, though I suppose they would more aptly be called legends. I particularly loved the stories about Aitvaras!

smaur- was that the anthology he wrote Snow, Glass and Apples for, or did he just write that randomly? It's in "Smoke and Mirrors"...

The Little Tin Soldier was cool too ^^. I remember this cartoon of it, and it made me so sad. As for the Little Matchgirl, I remember we did a school play for it and I made my own costume. I was her sister.

I have to say (Mesh said it might be a staff-pick soon too, but how and ever, I'll tell you all anyway), that SurLaLune is one of the best sites out there if you're into fairytales. I've been spending hours at a time on it.

Not so much a fairytale person anymore, but thanks. I've seen that site before. (And that wasn't the story -- Gaiman wrote a reboot of The Three Billy Goats.)