Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children

This book is misnamed, unless the purported “stories for children” means the child in all of us. Oscar Wilde is one of the wittiest and most creative writers in English literature. The fairy stories in this book, while in the tradition of that genre, are even more delightful and creative. In addition, it is a beautiful book with great illustrations.

Reading this book—or most any work by Wilde—is like cozying up with a most delicious box of chocolates. Wilde’s mastery of language and light humor make reading an effortless charm.

There are six stories included in this volume, some previously unknown to me. The moral, gentleness, and heart displayed within the stories are also a good lesson for our time, when the sweetness of character is sometimes undervalued. This is a great gift for a child or the child within us.