‘Old Time Stories Told by Master Charles Perrault’ is translated from the original French by A. E. Johnson, and presented alongside the captivating illustrations of William Heath Robinson. It includes such classics of the fairy tale genre as: ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Bluebeard’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Tom Thumb’, and many more. Charles Perrault (1628 – 1703), was among the first writers to bring magical children’s stories into the literary mainstream, proving to his original seventeenth century readers that such works were important, enjoyable, as well as thought-provoking. They remain as popular today, as they were then. William Heath Robinson (1872 – 1944), was an English cartoonist and illustrator, best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines – for achieving deceptively simple objectives. Such was (and is) his fame, that the term ‘Heath Robinson’ entered the English language during the First World War, as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance. Appearing alongside the text, his illustrations further refine and elucidate Jackson and Perrault’s masterful storytelling. Pook Press celebrates the great ‘Golden Age of Illustration‘ in children’s literature – a period of unparalleled excellence in book illustration. We publish rare and vintage Golden Age illustrated books, in high-quality colour editions, so that the masterful artwork and story-telling can continue to delight both young and old.

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