The Yellow Fairy Book is a wonderful collection of tales from all over the world. There are such familiar old favorites as the "Story of the Emperor's New Clothes," "The Tinder-box," "How to Tell a True Princess," and "The Nightingale." There are less familiar tales by Madame d'Aulnoy and from the collections of Andersen and Grimm. Many tales come from Hungary, Poland, and Russia, and there are German, French, and English stories, too. There are traditional tales of the American Indians, and three others come from Iceland.

All in all, this collection contains 48 stories, all narrated in the clear, lively prose for which Lang was famous. Not only are Lang's generally conceded to be the best English versions of standard stories, his collections are the richest and widest in range.