| A collection of thirty short stories written by Terry Jones during the summer of 1978 for his daughter, Sally. It was published by Pavilion Books as an impressive hardback volume with illustrations by Michael Foreman in 1981. The original version is highly sought after but the paperback version, published by Puffin in 1987 with black and white illustrations, is still widely available and hugely recommended, regardless of your age.
The stories are of classic fairy tale stock; fairies, goblins, magic, dragons, kindly kings and wicked witches all come and go with entertaining regularity, helped with a heavy spoonful of Jones' trademark Pythonesque humour - especially noticable in The Silly King. And, in true fairy tale fashion, all the stories have little morals and lessons to be learned woven right into the fabric, thankfully without them looking like blatantly obvious moral plays one might usually associate with mid-eighties American sitcoms.
Contents
- The Corn Dolly
- The Silly King
- The Wonderful Cake-Horse
- The Fly-By-Night
- Three Raindrops
- The Butterfly Who Sang
- Jack One-Step
- The Glass Cupboard
- Katy-Make-Sure
- The Wooden City
- The Ship Of Bones
- Simple Peter's Mirror
- Brave Molly
- The Sea Tiger
- The Wind Ghosts
- The Big Noses
- A Fish Of The World
- Tim O'Leary
- The Witch and the Rainbow Cat
- The Monster Tree
- The Snuff Box
- The Man Who Owned The Earth
- Why Birds Sing In The Morning
- The Key
- The Wine of Li-Po
- The Island of Purple Fruits
- The Beast with a Thousand Teeth
- Far-Away Castle
- Dr. Bonocolus's Devil
- The Boat That Went Nowhere
Quotes from the back cover:
"Terry Jones is a gifted storyteller ... perfect for reading aloud."
- Good Book Guide to Children's Books
"Here is an author setting out to rival classic fairy tales and making an exciting job of it."
- Financial Times
"...could conceivably become a 'modern classic' ... the book is a joy."
- The Spectator
ISBN 0-14-032262-0 | 
