ABOUT THE BOOKOriginally written as an early fairy tale, this particular version of the story was written by Charles Seddon Evans, so that Arthur Rackham could illustrate it with silhouette drawings. It was published originally in 1919, and came with the companion tale Cinderella. It has since been reissued in Everyman's Library. The author has lengthened the version of Sleeping Beauty written by Perrault, describing the feasts and discussing in detail the prince's attempts to prevent the evil spell. However, this closely follows the version written by the Brothers Grimm, ostensibly to make the story less violent and more appealing to young readers and parents alike.MEET THE AUTHORAmber Larkins graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature in 2010.EXCERPT FROM THE BOOKThe evil fairy cast a spell so that the princess would die on her fifteenth birthday by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning-wheel. The king drew his dagger to kill the fairy, but at that moment the youngest fairy stepped from behind the arras and bestowed her gift. She could not undo the curse, but she could soften it. Briar-Rose would fall into a deep sleep for one hundred years, after which a king's son would come to awaken her.The king did his best to prevent the prophecy from occurring. He offered a great reward to any magician in the land who could break the spell. None of them could, but one wizard was wiser than the rest. He researched his secret books, consulted his oracle, and presented the solution: if there were no spinning wheels, then the princess would not be able to prick her finger on one.The king immediately decreed that all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom would be burned.As the years passed, Briar-Rose grew into a beautiful young woman with all of the virtues that the good fairies had given her. Her fifteenth birthday came, and all the kingdom was preparing for her party...Buy a copy to keep reading!