I’ve been reading The School for Good and Evil recently, and it got me thinking: what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale? I’ve read a few fairy tale retellings and liked them, but do they count as fairy tales in their own right, or are they just a spin-off? Also, does having magic make it a fairy tale, or is there something else that really sets fairy tales apart? The Google definition is “a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands.” But I'm curious whether people agree with this definition or have different criteria.