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Audiobook edition · 1 h 50 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does kindness cost in a world where a statue sees suffering and a firework hears only himself?
In Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, and Other Tales, fairy-tale wonders meet hard questions about love and giving. The Happy Prince sees misery from his column, and the Swallow becomes his messenger. In The Nightingale and the Rose, a bird wants to help a Student find the flower he needs for a promised dance.
The Selfish Giant walls children out of his garden. In The Devoted Friend, Little Hans trusts Hugh the Miller, a neighbour whose fine words demand much and give little. The Remarkable Rocket brings a vain firework to a wedding feast. Across these five short tales, dry wit sits beside sorrow, and kindness faces a world that is often unfair.
What you’ll discover
- A city seen clearly Look down with the Happy Prince as suffering becomes impossible for him to ignore.
- Love and a rose Follow the Nightingale’s wish to help a young man who longs for a dance.
- A garden behind walls Discover what the Giant’s choice to exclude the children costs him.
- Friendship put to the test Watch the gap widen between Hugh’s talk of friendship and what he asks of Hans.
- Vanity with a spark Meet a firework whose pride leaves little room to hear anyone else.
Who will love it
This book is for you if you love fairy tales with a sharp wit, enjoy stories of kindness and sacrifice, or want gentle tales with real feeling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Kindness begins with seeing another's pain
- Generosity costs the giver something
- The giver understands love's cost
- Keeping others out keeps joy away
- Fine words can disguise selfish taking
- Pride leaves no room for listening
- Tenderness and humour carry the lessons
- Care matters more than impressive appearances
Who’s who
- The Happy PrinceA gilded statue who once lived behind palace walls and now weeps for the suffering he can see from his column.
- The SwallowA small, vain bird who stays behind in the cold and becomes the Prince's messenger to the poor.
- The NightingaleA singer who believes in true love and wants to help a sad student find a single red rose.
- The Selfish GiantAn owner of a lovely garden who walls out the children and then wonders why spring will not come.
- Hans and the MillerHans is a kind gardener who gives everything, and Hugh the Miller praises friendship while taking his flowers and his labor.
- The Remarkable RocketA proud firework at a royal wedding who thinks the whole world turns around his own importance.
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- Large print hardcover
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The Happy Prince, and Other Tales
by Oscar Wilde · 1888
A gilded statue weeps over a city and sends a swallow with its jewels to the poor.
Easy readUnder 2 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Would you give away your own eyes to help a stranger? In the first tale of this book, a statue does exactly that.
The Happy Prince, and Other Tales at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h50 min fast, 1 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 14,800 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1888by Oscar Wilde
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A swallow lands beneath a weeping statue
The first tale opens with a statue. The townspeople admire him for their own reasons. A councillor wants to seem artistic, and a mother holds him up as a model to her crying son.
Then the story turns to a small swallow. His friends have flown to Egypt, but he stayed behind because he fell for a slender Reed by the river. The Reed refuses to leave her home, so he sets off alone. He settles at night between the statue's feet. Then a drop of water falls on him, though the sky is clear. He looks up and sees tears running down the golden cheeks.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1888
- Language
- English
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Wilde, Oscar. The Happy Prince, and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-happy-prince-and-other-tales.
Wilde, O. (2026). The Happy Prince, and other tales. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-happy-prince-and-other-tales (Original work published 1888)
Wilde, Oscar. The Happy Prince, and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-happy-prince-and-other-tales.
@book{wilde2026happy,
author = {Wilde, Oscar},
title = {The Happy Prince, and Other Tales},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-happy-prince-and-other-tales},
note = {First published 1888}
}
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What is The Happy Prince and Other Tales about?
It is a book of five short fairy tales by Oscar Wilde. Each uses talking animals, flowers or statues to explore kindness, sacrifice, selfishness and false friendship, with gentle humour and real feeling.
What stories are in The Happy Prince and Other Tales?
The collection holds The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend and The Remarkable Rocket. Each is a separate story with its own characters, and each can be read alone.
Who is the Happy Prince in Wilde's story?
He is a gilded statue standing high over a city. When he was alive he lived in a palace and never saw sorrow. As a statue he sees the city's poor and asks a swallow to help.
The author
Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Irish playwright and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist born in Dublin. He lived in London and later in France, where he died in Paris. He published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. His play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895.
More by Oscar Wilde
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