Oscar Wilde became involved with fairy tales when he began telling them to his two children. Later, he recorded some of these tales and published them in a small volume.

In these tales, we see the other side of his talent that made him a leading playwright: the poisonous humor turns into sensitivity, and social criticism becomes tenderness.

As a prose writer, Oscar Wilde shocked the conservative Victorian era with his unparalleled "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the bitter autobiographical "De Profundis." As a storyteller, he continues to speak to the hearts of not only children but also adults, who, especially in our prosaic time, are his most fervent readers.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]