My goal is to explore some of the earlier works in children’s literature that the university’s Baldwin Collection has to offer, centering my argument around the development and effect of a specific genre of stories: fairy tales. Eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe is when the bulk of some of the most famous fairy tale works were written, a few examples being Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, and those from Brothers Grimm. Even earlier pieces, like Aesop’s Fables, will help to enhance my overall argument in that such imaginative, adventurous stories come to impact their audiences in different ways. I would like to zero in on the cultural/historical influences behind fairy tales, their transition from paper to screen, and then perhaps highlight the educational themes that can be found within.