Perrault Fairy Tales

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The Story of Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault was born more than 300 years ago, in 1628. He wrote many books, but he will be remembered forever for just one: Stories or Tales from Times Past, with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose. The book contained only eight fairy tales, and they have become classics around the world. You have probably heard some of these stories in your own life!

• Sleeping Beauty
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Blue Beard
• Puss In Boots
• The Fairies
• Cinderella
• Ricky With The Tuft
• Little Tom Thumb

Many of these stories were already well-known to people even in Charles Perrault’s time, but they had never been written down. They were stories told orally (which means spoken out loud), around the fire or at bedtime, to entertain and teach children. Some stories that Perrault wrote down were popular all over Europe, and some were also written down later in Germany as Grimm Fairy Tales. If it were not for writers like Charles Perrault, many of these stories would have been lost to us. What’s even better is that he wrote them with such style and wit. PerraultFairyTales.com is proud to bring them into the computer age! 

Charles Perrault was born to a wealthy family in Paris, France. He was always interested in learning. He went to the best schools, where he was always top of his class. 

When he grew up, Charles Perrault got married and became a lawyer. He also worked with his brother collecting taxes for the city of Paris. He was always ahead of his time, and caused a stir for writing that modern ideas are better than ancient ideas. He believed in the future and in progress, so it is very strange that we celebrate him for Tales of Times Past! 

Charles Perrault knew a lot about a lot of things, and he was interested in making life beautiful for people. When some noblemen wanted to close the Tuileries Gardens in Paris to everyone except the King, Charles Perrault argued that they should be open to the public, and they still are to this day. The King still liked him, and gave Perrault several appointments and positions, including looking after Royal buildings, designing tapestries, and writing poems. When Charles Perrault became a member of the famous Académie Française in 1671, he again showed his love for the people by opening up the ceremony to the public for the first time. 

When his wife died he gave up his public life to educate their children. Believe it or not he was almost 70 years old when he wrote his first fairy tales in 1697! They were instant hits, and it is from Perrault Fairy Tales that we get the most famous versions of some classic stories. Charles Perrault died five years later, in Paris in the year 1703.