This anthology is designed to provide a solid foundation for university and college courses. The editors offer a broad selection of tales, grouped by theme and era, as well as variants of individual tales that invite cross-cultural and comparative analysis. Each group is preceded by an introduction by the editors. Selections from influential works of criticism range from Max Luthi on the fairy tale hero to recent work by Kay Stone and Jack Zipes. Also included is a section on the illustration of fairy tales, and a bibliography.

Over two dozen selections are new to the third edition, as is the inclusion of color illustrations.