The book's first edition had a print run of 1500 copies. While the creators had originally expected it to sell out in two to three years, the volume sold out in less than two weeks due to the considerable attention it received. The second printing was published in October 2020 with 15,000 copies, and within a year, sales reached 30,000 copies.
Critical reception Writing for
24.hu, György Balavány called the anthology a "movement pamphlet of fluctuating quality". While acknowledging the noble intentions and sense of social mission behind its publication, he opined that many of the included tales function as moral lessons or outright "ideological propaganda". He argued that these "heavy-handed
fables" are too intent on conveying a message, therefore lacking the subtlety that characterises real works of art. On the other hand, he praised the literary and narrative qualities of some stories, writing that they feature "genuine life situations, conflicts, and characters that are accessible and relatable for children" while lacking any sense of deliberate intent. In a positive review, Olaf Tempelman of
de Volkskrant rated the book's Dutch translation four stars out of five, writing that the fairy tales are "funny and at times truly moving".
Controversy over LGBTQ themes 's shredding of the book's pages provoked significant criticism. On 23 September 2020, two days after the volume's release, ultraconservative group
CitizenGO launched an online petition, headed by the organization's national campaign director Eszter Schittl, in which they called on several bookstores to stop distributing the book, claiming that it "poses a threat to the innocence and safe development of children". The petition was signed by over 80,000 people. On 25 September, far-right political party
Our Homeland Movement held a press conference during which
Dóra Dúró, the party's deputy president and member of the
National Assembly, declared that the party "will not tolerate that children are exposed to homosexual propaganda" in the form of "sneaking the abnormal lifestyle into storybooks". After her speech, Dúró ripped several pages out of the book and inserted them into a
paper shredder. In a Facebook post, she referred to the volume as "the propaganda book of homosexualism " and "an attack on children's healthy development and on Hungarian culture". The actions of Our Homeland Movement sparked widespread criticism. The (MKKE) issued a statement condemning the event, stating that the "politically driven destruction of books [...] is not merely an expression of opinion, but an alignment with the legacy of
Nazi book burners and communist book crushers." HUBBY, the national chapter of the
International Board on Books for Young People also issued a statement in which they distanced themselves from the action. Writer , one of the book's authors, commented that the shredding of the book is "no different from
book burning" and described book destruction as a form of violence. , another contributor, condemned the petition and the shredding, comparing the events to the plot of the novel
Fahrenheit 451. Several Hungarian celebrities, including rapper , singer-songwriter , and television presenters and
Csilla Tatár, also condemned the book shredding. In response to the backlash against the book, English actor
Ian McKellen wrote in a Facebook post, "I wish I could have read this book when I was a child." On 4 October, Hungarian prime minister
Viktor Orbán was asked about
A Fairytale for Everyone in an interview on
Kossuth Rádió's weekly programme ''''. He described the book's release as a "provocative demonstration" and commented that while "Hungary is a patient, tolerant country as regards homosexuality [...] there is a red line that cannot be crossed, and this is how I would sum up my opinion: leave our children alone." Four days later,
Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, stated that any kindergarten that implements the book "must be investigated to determine whether it involves the crime of
child endangerment. If confirmed, legal action must be taken against the [kindergarten's] operator." When asked about the controversy in an interview with conservative newspaper
Magyar Nemzet on 8 October, prominent psychologist
Emőke Bagdy stated that early sensitization on
gender identity among preschool-aged children can pose a risk because social influences may alter the activity of regulatory genes, disrupting the harmony between biological sex and social gender. She also claimed that fairy tales can serve as a medium for "deliver[ing] messages that a child accepts without critique". Two days later, a joint declaration was issued by psychologists who asserted that Bagdy's earlier statement "contain[s] unprofessional claims contrary to the current state of scientific knowledge" and that "the book addresses important social issues and incorporates them into the world of tales, which poses no danger to either children or other members of society." Within days, more than 1200 psychologists signed the declaration in protest.
Awards and honours In 2021, Dorottya Rédai was included on
Time magazine's
Time 100 list of the year's most influential people for his role in the book's publication. In her recognition, German
MEP Terry Reintke called her "a symbol of the courage needed" in Hungary's hostile political climate. ==Translations==