Oscar Wilde was made for writing fairy stories. He writes with the necessary magic, the wonder of beauty. His aestheticism was extremely useful in this endeavor, and his wit can be found in these stories as well. The stories aren't quite like other fairy stories in that they oftentimes do not have completely happy endings. A few actually moved me to tears.

The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and The Young King seemed especially strong to me. I wouldn't be able to choose a favorite among them. The others are good too, of course, but just weren't as sweetly touching. In The Happy Prince, the Prince says

"I am glad that you are going, little Swallow....you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you."

How incredibly sweet is that? And while I truly adored The Fisherman and His Soul, it seemed too long for the genre at nearly sixty pages.

The stories are beautiful and sweet. The descriptions are divine, and there was a surprising amount of character development considering these are fairy stories. People don't seem to remember Oscar Wilde for these stories--he's remembered more for The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest. I think that should change; these stories are written just as well, just as cleverly, and are spectacularly enjoyable.