The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales

This thorough and scholarly edition edited by comparative literature expert Zipes contains 130 new entries, bringing the listings up to more than 1,000. Additions include some surprises, such as contemporary authors Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling, whose works use several fairy-tale tropes, such as magic, fantasy, and allegory. Among the other updates are fairy-tale blogs and websites and a brief entry on the genre and pornography. Aside from historical authors, illustrators, characters, themes, and terms relating to the stories, the book also mentions more modern children's authors (for instance, Paul Galdone, Maurice Sendak, Jerry Pinkney, and Trina Schart Hyman) who have contributed to the evergreen genre. Black-and-white illustrations enhance the thick volume, as do several lengthy essays on storytelling traditions around the world. The contributors' list and bibliography are nothing short of impressive.