Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy-Tale Beasts ed. by Jennifer Schacker, Christine A. Jones (review)

Fairy-tale beasts, from early tales such as those by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault to postmodern fairy tales by such authors as Angela Carter and Kelly Link, continue to fascinate readers because, among other reasons, they are always surprising. A bear is never just a bear, nor is a cat simply a cat. These beasts seem at once to both revel in their animal form and to cast it off in favor of more human attributes. It is this sense of ambiguity, this elusiveness between what it is to be human and what it is to be animal, that weaves its way through Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy-Tale Beasts.

Editors Jennifer Schacker and Christine A. Jones have compiled a collection of ten fairy tales from all over the world, each of which features a different fairy-tale creature. First, by way of the editors’ note, Schacker and Jones assert that although some changes have been made to the stories, their goal was “to maintain the texture and character of each story,” even if the stories seem unfamiliar to contemporary readers (ix). From the start, this indicates the direction of the book: to invite adult readers to reconsider fairy tales, to re-approach those familiar texts from childhood (e.g., “The Story of the Three Bears”), and to consider lesser known works (such as “Ballad of the Bird-Bride”) in unmediated form. These are not postmodern retellings, a genre with which many readers have now become familiar. Rather, Schacker and Jones present a collection of fairy tales that date back hundreds of years. Their purpose in this is to expose misconceptions about fairy tales in terms of their function and audience and to invite adult readers to “reread historical tales with a new sense of wonder” (2).

In their introduction the editors set the record straight on two main misconceptions about fairy tales: first, the idea that traditional fairy tales are conservative and didactic, and, second, that fairy tales are just for children. Although postmodern fairy tales are recognized for their subversive tendencies, the editors contend that “the wickedness we now associate with adult or postmodern versions of stories is part of that long tradition; it is not a twenty-first-century invention” (13). The tales in this book, though they are stories capable of being enjoyed by all ages, do have “a whole host of adult themes” (13). Corresponding with the stress Schacker and Jones place on an adult audience for this collection, the design of the book itself works to overturn these two misbeliefs concerning function and age. The collection resembles a children’s book—an oversized hardcover filled with Lina Kusaite’s compelling illustrations—but its resemblance is a ploy to compel readers to rethink their assumptions that fairy tales are suitable for only a young audience.

The question then arises, Why focus the collection on fairy-tale beasts? The editors contend that animals, in particular, those that exist alongside humans, “add a layer of critical interest to how the themes are addressed” (13). To illustrate how these more critical readings of fairy-tale beasts can occur in the ten collected tales, the editors briefly present in their introduction a fascinating look at one of the most popular fairy tales, “Little Red Riding Hood,” and one of the most infamous fairy-tale beasts, the Big Bad Wolf. What follows are ten stories that are not by any means a comprehensive look at fairy-tale beasts; they are, however, a diverse collection of stories—in origin, genre, and beast—that invites adult readers to revisit the world of fairy tale. Each story is preceded by a brief introduction that situates the story in a historical context and offers readers a few suggestions about how the fairy-tale beast functions within the story.

Stories in the collection include the first published version of “The Story of...