Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

by Jakob & Wilhelm Grimm, The Brothers, Leonard Weisgard (Illustrator)

JACOB and Wilhelm Grimm did not set out to entertain children, not at first. They were primarily collectors and philologists, who almost two centuries ago assembled German fairy tales as part of a life's work that included, Maria Tatar points out, ''massive volumes with such titles as 'German Legends,' 'German Grammar,' 'Ancient German Law' and 'German Heroic Legends.' '' (''Jacob Grimm's 'German Grammar' alone,'' we are told helpfully, ''took up 3,854 pages.'') They published their first collection of Märchen, ''Children's Stories and Household Tales,'' in 1812, with a second volume in 1815 and an expanded and revised edition in 1819; folklorists who became, of necessity, storytellers, they reworked the tales for years, smoothing them while removing material they considered unsuitable for children. More than 200 tales by Brothers Grimm. Some of the titles Frog prince -- Gallant tailor -- Giant and the tailor -- Little farmer -- Golden key -- Sharing joy and sorrow -- Nail -- Tom Thumb -- Tom Thumb's travels -- Young giant -- Sweet porridge -- Elves -- Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf Poltrie -- Old beggar-woman -- Jew among thorns -- King Thrushbeard -- Clever Gretel -- Fitcher's bird -- Robber bridegroom -- Old Hildebrand -- Singing bone -- Maid Maleen -- Goose-girl -- Skilful huntsman -- Princess in disguise -- Cinderella --

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Faete · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had good reasons for wanting to read this, but I wouldn't cover/cover read it again at all. It was soo dull. There were standout interesting stories that I enjoyed and will likely revisit, but those were about a third of the book. On their own, each story is okay, but seeing them all together is soo repetitive because so many of the plots are similar. Blah.