The goal was to bring together a variety of writers — in true fairy-tale spirit, not only those widely known; I sought out writers whose work had suggested “fairy tales” to me, whether in obvious or subtle ways. Initiating the process, I asked merely that writers select a fairy tale as a starting point and to take it from there, to write a new fairy tale. When asked by some contributors what a fairy tale was, I would answer: You already know. A fairy tale is a story with a fairy-tale feel, I told them. And we’d continue from there.

In her book Enchanted Hunters, Maria Tatar describes how fairy tales are so beloved because reading them is like falling in love with reading — they’re that mesmerizing. By reading this book, you become part of a welcoming, old, nonhierarchical, and new tradition. Of course, this book can represent only a tiny sliver of the tradition. I consulted many authors, scholars, translators, students, and readers about whom to invite, and I was introduced to many new voices along the way, and lamented that the book could not be endless. I hope this is just the beginning of a brand-new acceptance of fairy tales as omnipresent. The house of wonder is infinite.

The stories are organized loosely by country of origin — just one of the many ways they could be organized, merely one path through their intricate forest. The contents offers the name of just one origin tale for each story, even though many of the stories draw from multiple variants from all around the world. These are not offered as definitive versions; rather, I hope that you’ll follow these little bread crumbs to fairy-tale books for additional excellent reading. I have also gathered author comments, which follow each story. In these, you will find fascinating, personal insights into how the cited tales provided the authors with inspiration.