Howard Pyle: Fairy Tales

"The North Wind Flies with His Faithful Servant"

 

"Howard Pyle had been in New York only a short time when he discovered that the greatest charm of his literary work lay in his appeal to children. Fairy tales had always fascinated him when he was a child. His mother had read to him all that could be found and he was saturated with their spirit. At first his fairy tales were mere retellings of old legends. From the skeleton of an old folk tale he would develop a story, so replete with details, and so changed to suit his own ideals, that one could scarcely recognize the framework of the original tale. Later he launched out for himself, inventing his own plots. 

A fairy tale to him meant more than an impossible story. He always combined his own with a touch of the moral, never heavy and nearly always artistic. His bits of common sense came as naturally to him as 'flies in the summer time.' And throughout all his tales there are no crudities, no useless cruelties, no evilly suggestive scenes to be found in so many purely mythical stories. As one grateful parent wrote him, 'we never have to skip a word.'

His first fairy tale book, 'Pepper and Salt' or 'Seasoning for Young Folk,' was published in 1886. It was not very successful, perhaps because it was too costly, but it was a genuine work of art bristling with good pictures and sparkling with a quaint, kindly humor. His second book, 'The Wonder Clock,' was published two years later. According to the plan of the book, every hour brought forth a new tale from the dilapidated old Wonder Clock which stood in Time's garret. This book was an immediate success. He always considered it his best book of fairy tales. It is interesting to note that the book has continued to grow in popularity through the years rather than to diminish. Six times as many copies were sold in 1919 as in 1889. It was not until 1895 that the third and last book of this nature, 'Twilight Land,' appeared. 

With his three books of fanciful tales, he established himself as a master of the form. They were written and illustrated with a perfection that can only be marveled at. The duality of his genius placed him head and shoulders above his contemporary rivals."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Howard Pyle, A Chronicle" by Charles D. Abbott.)