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Grimm's Fairy Tales
Is a collection of well-loved fairytales by the brothers Grimm. Stories include Hansel and Gretel, Tom Thumb, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, the Frog Prince, Rapunzel, The Elves and The Show Maker and many more.
387 pages, Hardcover
First published December 20, 1812
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1356 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Grimm
5,787 books2,284 followersGerman philologist and folklorist Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm in 1822 formulated Grimm's Law, the basis for much of modern comparative linguistics. With his brother Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786-1859), he collected Germanic folk tales and published them as
Grimm's Fairy Tales
(1812-1815).
Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.
This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .
Adapted from Wikipedia.
Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.
This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .
Adapted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
February 28, 2025
The Grimm’s brothers were scientific philologists whose chief pride was their establishment of Grimm's Law. Close as twins and closer than spouses, the two brothers were a year apart in age and spent most of their lives living very near each other. The elder brother, Jakob, never married and ended up living with his married brother, Wilhelm after the marriage becoming part of the household, ‘according to one commentator, “one might imagine the children were common property.”’
The stories they have gathered together here are more properly understood as folk tales, than children’s stories, although many of them have been ‘softened’ and revised over the years, republished and recycled into versions more suitable for children, or anyway, what subsequent generations have deemed is suitable.
Personally, I think children can handle most of the original versions because there is a raw justice in the tales which the young recognize and appreciate. Yes, the stories have violence, but it is appropriate to the crime/actions, a sweet justice. Cinderella’s cruel sisters get their eyes picked out by pigeons. Okay, so maybe it is not something you want to read to every child and not before bedtime, but when you think of some of the other things they are exposed to today, I will take Cinderella, Snow White and even Hansel and Gretel every time.
The ‘three brother’ motif is very popular among these tales. I encountered it in three stories, The Golden Bird, The Golden Goose and The Water of Life in the first third of the book; there were others. Nearly as frequent are stories with three sisters, e.g., Cinderella and The Singing, Soaring Lark. Always the oldest and second sibling are the evil ones. They are usually greedy, rude, selfish, vain, ambitious and/or foolish. How the father—and it usually is the father—does not see this most of the time I do not know except then there would not be a story. The youngest may not be perfect (in The Golden Goose he is called Simpleton) but s/he usually has the best heart. The mothers are frequently stepmothers and have no love for their stepchildren but show clear favoritism for her decidedly inferior birth children.
Some of my favorite tales came at the very end and they were also ones I had never heard of:
1) Our Lady’s Child – about a little girl allowed to go up to Heaven and live with Mary for the first part of her life. One day she is left alone with 13 keys, each of which unlocks a hidden door, 12 allowed, I forbidden. Of course, she has to take a peek at the forbidden door. The problem is she lies to Mary about what she has done. She is banished back to earth and lives a lonely existence until discovered by a king who falls in love with her. When her first child is born, Mary comes back and asks her again if she will admit her mistake or lose her child. A good story about suffering the consequences of curiosity and not telling the truth.
2) The Twelve Huntsmen – a beautiful story about split loyalties.
3) The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake – a very funny story about a young man named Hans who was such a simpleton he was not afraid of anything, hence his inability to ‘shiver and shake’. This resulted in some very amusing situations, including that Hans released the castle from a wicked enchantment and won the King’s daughter in marriage. How Hans finally learns how to ‘shiver and shake’ is
4) Our Lady’s Little Glass – a sweet story which gives the origin of the name of the flower.
5) The Bremen Town Musicians – I feel I have heard the name of this story, but not recalling it, enjoyed reading it. An old ass, dog, cat and cock have seen better days and looking for somewhere to live out their latter days. The place they find is occupied by robbers, so they conspire together to frighten the thieves out of their hideaway and claim it as their own.
6) Brother Frolick – how have I never read or heard of this? A delightful scoundrel who was a ‘lighthearted, jolly fellow’ had been released from the army and was now wandering the countryside. He is at once open-hearted and generous, but also not afraid to lie if it suits his purposes and stick to his version to the bitter end. He meets up with none other than St. Peter who tests him and finds him very perplexing, both very good and yet very stubborn, refusing to admit to or change his lies. So, the good saint washes his hands of him, just leaving him with a sack which will put whatever Brother Frolick asks into it. As you can imagine, our intrepid wanderer has fun with this … right up until the end, which I refuse to give away. You have to read this story!
These are just the tip of the iceberg of the delightful stories in this book. It is a shame we don't read these more today!
The stories they have gathered together here are more properly understood as folk tales, than children’s stories, although many of them have been ‘softened’ and revised over the years, republished and recycled into versions more suitable for children, or anyway, what subsequent generations have deemed is suitable.
Personally, I think children can handle most of the original versions because there is a raw justice in the tales which the young recognize and appreciate. Yes, the stories have violence, but it is appropriate to the crime/actions, a sweet justice. Cinderella’s cruel sisters get their eyes picked out by pigeons. Okay, so maybe it is not something you want to read to every child and not before bedtime, but when you think of some of the other things they are exposed to today, I will take Cinderella, Snow White and even Hansel and Gretel every time.
The ‘three brother’ motif is very popular among these tales. I encountered it in three stories, The Golden Bird, The Golden Goose and The Water of Life in the first third of the book; there were others. Nearly as frequent are stories with three sisters, e.g., Cinderella and The Singing, Soaring Lark. Always the oldest and second sibling are the evil ones. They are usually greedy, rude, selfish, vain, ambitious and/or foolish. How the father—and it usually is the father—does not see this most of the time I do not know except then there would not be a story. The youngest may not be perfect (in The Golden Goose he is called Simpleton) but s/he usually has the best heart. The mothers are frequently stepmothers and have no love for their stepchildren but show clear favoritism for her decidedly inferior birth children.
Some of my favorite tales came at the very end and they were also ones I had never heard of:
1) Our Lady’s Child – about a little girl allowed to go up to Heaven and live with Mary for the first part of her life. One day she is left alone with 13 keys, each of which unlocks a hidden door, 12 allowed, I forbidden. Of course, she has to take a peek at the forbidden door. The problem is she lies to Mary about what she has done. She is banished back to earth and lives a lonely existence until discovered by a king who falls in love with her. When her first child is born, Mary comes back and asks her again if she will admit her mistake or lose her child. A good story about suffering the consequences of curiosity and not telling the truth.
2) The Twelve Huntsmen – a beautiful story about split loyalties.
3) The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake – a very funny story about a young man named Hans who was such a simpleton he was not afraid of anything, hence his inability to ‘shiver and shake’. This resulted in some very amusing situations, including that Hans released the castle from a wicked enchantment and won the King’s daughter in marriage. How Hans finally learns how to ‘shiver and shake’ is
4) Our Lady’s Little Glass – a sweet story which gives the origin of the name of the flower.
5) The Bremen Town Musicians – I feel I have heard the name of this story, but not recalling it, enjoyed reading it. An old ass, dog, cat and cock have seen better days and looking for somewhere to live out their latter days. The place they find is occupied by robbers, so they conspire together to frighten the thieves out of their hideaway and claim it as their own.
6) Brother Frolick – how have I never read or heard of this? A delightful scoundrel who was a ‘lighthearted, jolly fellow’ had been released from the army and was now wandering the countryside. He is at once open-hearted and generous, but also not afraid to lie if it suits his purposes and stick to his version to the bitter end. He meets up with none other than St. Peter who tests him and finds him very perplexing, both very good and yet very stubborn, refusing to admit to or change his lies. So, the good saint washes his hands of him, just leaving him with a sack which will put whatever Brother Frolick asks into it. As you can imagine, our intrepid wanderer has fun with this … right up until the end, which I refuse to give away. You have to read this story!
These are just the tip of the iceberg of the delightful stories in this book. It is a shame we don't read these more today!
October 10, 2012
The Golden Bird-
why about the golden cages? in this tale, whatever looks good isn't.
This story is like the nightmare of the German; no one can properly follow simple instructions. And the moral of the story: if somebody asks fervently to be killed and mutilated do follow through immediately, he might be a prince. :P
Hans in Luck-
The nightmare of the Businessman. A person working hard for seven years, and eventually throwing away the accumulated wealth of years and years of hard work.
It does express a reality though, the man who has no attachment to their possessions is a free man.
On the other side of this story, people working hardly should be able to keep what they have earned. I expected this story to rather end like this: "Then up he got with a light heart, free from all his troubles, and walked on till he reached his mother's house, and told her how very easy the road to good luck was AND THEN she gave him a good hit on the head to get some sense inside his hollow of a head when she heard he threw away the earnings of seven hard years. After that she send him off to be a Greek politician and with his foolishness he brought the country to economical turmoil and chaos. He still was a happy man."
why about the golden cages? in this tale, whatever looks good isn't.
This story is like the nightmare of the German; no one can properly follow simple instructions. And the moral of the story: if somebody asks fervently to be killed and mutilated do follow through immediately, he might be a prince. :P
Hans in Luck-
The nightmare of the Businessman. A person working hard for seven years, and eventually throwing away the accumulated wealth of years and years of hard work.
It does express a reality though, the man who has no attachment to their possessions is a free man.
On the other side of this story, people working hardly should be able to keep what they have earned. I expected this story to rather end like this: "Then up he got with a light heart, free from all his troubles, and walked on till he reached his mother's house, and told her how very easy the road to good luck was AND THEN she gave him a good hit on the head to get some sense inside his hollow of a head when she heard he threw away the earnings of seven hard years. After that she send him off to be a Greek politician and with his foolishness he brought the country to economical turmoil and chaos. He still was a happy man."
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August 2, 2019Let me tell you a little story before we start with the review:
I am proud to say that when I was in my last year at university (2012) I launch a (small) campaign to bring back the course Children's Literature. So many students promised me to be on the course. We ended up 6 of us, but the course was back nevertheless. One of the main reasons I wanted the course back was this magnificent book: The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature: The Traditions in English a 2470+ pages mammoth book. Along with this another required text was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. How awesome is that? I ended up studying Harry Potter for final exams. I couldn't believe my luck.
Anyway along with Harry Potter we studied, nursery rhymes, picture books, Victorian stories, science fiction, and of course fairy tales. We studied 3: Little Red Riding Hood (10 different versions), The Beauty & The Beast, and Hansel & Gretel. And thanks to this course, now, 4 years later I was able to read the Grimms' Fairy Tales with a critical eye.
So, this little book was full of fairy tales (duh!). It contained 62. That is 29.3% of all the tales Brothers Grimm collected, edited, and published. (211 in total)
But none of the tales scored 5/5 for me.
16 tales scored 2/5. Pretty mediocre, rushed, and repetitive or confusing.
32 tales scored 3/5. Interesting but they didn't have what I was personally looking for, in them.
14 stories scored 4/5 and they're as follow:
10. The Fisherman And His Wife
18. The Valiant Little Tailor
19. Hansel And Gretel
22. Little Red Cap [Riding Hood]
31. Snowdrop [Snow White]
35. Ashputtel [Cinderella]
36. The White Snake
37. The Wolf And The Seven Little Kids [Goats]
38. The Queen Bee
40. The Juniper Tree
45. The Four Clever Brothers
46. Lily And The Lion
57. The Salad
58. The Story Of The Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was
These stories that scored 4/5 were mostly the well-known ones like:
Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood,
Cinderella, Snow White &c.
Or they were inventive and original like:
The Valiant Little Tailor, The Salad, The White Snake, &c.
Others were either disturbing: The Juniper Tree
or spooky The Story Of The Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was.
The Juniper Tree was the most shocking one. An (evil (how obvious) ) stepmother decapitates her stepson and then stitches his head back but this can't hide the fact that he is dead so she cuts him to pieces and makes sausages out of him à la Shakespeare/Game of Thrones!
Another story included incest where a king wanted to marry his daughter which reminded him his beautiful wife. (Cat-Skin)
Cinderella is called slut several times by her stepmother.
A story with animals (The Adventures Of Chanticleer And Partlet) ends up with all the characters dead (around two dozens) and many more.
It's obvious these stories where not intended for children, they are shocking, dark and grim (nice word-play here)
What I didn't like from the stories was that women were almost always depicted as evil people. Evil Queens, evil stepmothers, evil maids, evil(ugly) sisters, evil fairies.
On the other hand the men were either brave and good or naïve and good, sometimes evil and this when they were magical creatures like dwarfs, giants, hobgoblins (Rumpelstiltskin) &c.
Something else I didn't like was that it was always the youngest child that was good and lucky, the older ones where either jealous or evil. I also didn't like the repetitive device of a random guy doing something brave and marrying the princess as a reward. Half of the stories ended with a marriage and the cliché phrase; "and they lived happily ever after". At the beginning it was okay, but then it became repetitive and annoying.
So the overall score is 2.96 which translates to 3 stars. Recommended for fairy tales lovers, not curious readers. If you are curious buy it with caution, or buy an illustrated collection.
I am proud to say that when I was in my last year at university (2012) I launch a (small) campaign to bring back the course Children's Literature. So many students promised me to be on the course. We ended up 6 of us, but the course was back nevertheless. One of the main reasons I wanted the course back was this magnificent book: The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature: The Traditions in English a 2470+ pages mammoth book. Along with this another required text was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. How awesome is that? I ended up studying Harry Potter for final exams. I couldn't believe my luck.
Anyway along with Harry Potter we studied, nursery rhymes, picture books, Victorian stories, science fiction, and of course fairy tales. We studied 3: Little Red Riding Hood (10 different versions), The Beauty & The Beast, and Hansel & Gretel. And thanks to this course, now, 4 years later I was able to read the Grimms' Fairy Tales with a critical eye.
So, this little book was full of fairy tales (duh!). It contained 62. That is 29.3% of all the tales Brothers Grimm collected, edited, and published. (211 in total)
But none of the tales scored 5/5 for me.
16 tales scored 2/5. Pretty mediocre, rushed, and repetitive or confusing.
32 tales scored 3/5. Interesting but they didn't have what I was personally looking for, in them.
14 stories scored 4/5 and they're as follow:
10. The Fisherman And His Wife
18. The Valiant Little Tailor
19. Hansel And Gretel
22. Little Red Cap [Riding Hood]
31. Snowdrop [Snow White]
35. Ashputtel [Cinderella]
36. The White Snake
37. The Wolf And The Seven Little Kids [Goats]
38. The Queen Bee
40. The Juniper Tree
45. The Four Clever Brothers
46. Lily And The Lion
57. The Salad
58. The Story Of The Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was
These stories that scored 4/5 were mostly the well-known ones like:
Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood,
Cinderella, Snow White &c.
Or they were inventive and original like:
The Valiant Little Tailor, The Salad, The White Snake, &c.
Others were either disturbing: The Juniper Tree
or spooky The Story Of The Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was.
The Juniper Tree was the most shocking one. An (evil (how obvious) ) stepmother decapitates her stepson and then stitches his head back but this can't hide the fact that he is dead so she cuts him to pieces and makes sausages out of him à la Shakespeare/Game of Thrones!
Another story included incest where a king wanted to marry his daughter which reminded him his beautiful wife. (Cat-Skin)
Cinderella is called slut several times by her stepmother.
A story with animals (The Adventures Of Chanticleer And Partlet) ends up with all the characters dead (around two dozens) and many more.
It's obvious these stories where not intended for children, they are shocking, dark and grim (nice word-play here)
What I didn't like from the stories was that women were almost always depicted as evil people. Evil Queens, evil stepmothers, evil maids, evil(ugly) sisters, evil fairies.
On the other hand the men were either brave and good or naïve and good, sometimes evil and this when they were magical creatures like dwarfs, giants, hobgoblins (Rumpelstiltskin) &c.
Something else I didn't like was that it was always the youngest child that was good and lucky, the older ones where either jealous or evil. I also didn't like the repetitive device of a random guy doing something brave and marrying the princess as a reward. Half of the stories ended with a marriage and the cliché phrase; "and they lived happily ever after". At the beginning it was okay, but then it became repetitive and annoying.
So the overall score is 2.96 which translates to 3 stars. Recommended for fairy tales lovers, not curious readers. If you are curious buy it with caution, or buy an illustrated collection.
June 22, 2025
I’ve been reading two tales every night before bed like a lil bedtime story just for me and maybe that’s why I haven’t been sleeping well because these things are crazy!!
June 15, 2015
Fairy tale as bloody as it comes
Forgive me for i am going to be all preachy and philosophical in my review
Once upon a time there were two brothers going by the name “Grimm Brothers”. Over the period of time they chronicled stories emerging from all sorts of land and nature. These stories were tainted with horrors of human evilness ranging from the ability to cut and bleed their own family to throwing away humanity for a piece of gold. These stories were ironically grim as the name of the authors itself.
The Grimm brother’s stories were never originally the rosy and chocolate coated versions that is floating around today, as the introduction of the book itself states that these books were dark and warnings for the children against the world that they were going to step into and meanwhile also tried to impart the quintessential theory “good triumphs over the evil”
(trust me after reading the book, i don't think that the Grimm brothers were indicating that there could be a possibility for romance with the wolf by telling us the story of Red riding Hood..the brothers must be rolling in their graves listening to all the werewolf romances )
The stories got moulded and sweetened that we never looked upon them as the authors scribbled it to be. In fact what we saw was the prince getting princess or a pauper becoming king on a fine day for an act of bravery or cleverness. The gruesomeness of wolf ripping apart an old lady or being married to a monster was all morphed into fairy tales that we grew up on making us wait for the day when our own version of such stories came true. Sadly it comes true when you hit the six feet hole in the ground.
These stories had been handed down over generation after generations and now it has taken a life and shape of its own and because of which it was kind of fun visiting the initial version.
The book is a collection of about sixty stories including tom thumb, Rumpelstiltskin, red riding hood, rapunzel and many other and each being about two to three pages long. The Grimm brother’s book is not the picture storybook version that we enjoyed hearing as a toddler. These are the real versions. I found many of the stories repetitive in themes and shockingly many of the popular stories I heard had a different twist and treatment in the book. (Cinderella named ashputtel and the step sisters cutting their heels of to fit into the shoes ..yup so much different than the movie and picture book version.) It was good to read but I also found it a bit boring being devoid of the rosiness and almost sixty stories running the same theme.
What i learnt reading the fairy tale is this
August 10, 2014
This book is a great excuse to read fairytales, because if anyone asks, just say it's a classic peice of literature. Really good to the see the orgins of so many stories and ideas. It was really nice to be able to read a couple of stories every now and then, instead of feeling the rush to finish the whole book.
Some of the stories in this are really engaging , some are well known litary works aand some are just plain weird! But no matter what they're all completely enjoyable!
Some of the stories in this are really engaging , some are well known litary works aand some are just plain weird! But no matter what they're all completely enjoyable!
April 5, 2015
These classic fairy tales are very entertaining and contain lessons to be learned and relearned. I would recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys fairy tales and wishes to visit the originals. There are many familiar stories, as well as little-known, less popular stories that will have you laughing at the ridiculous situations and characters.
November 7, 2015
5 stars
To be honest, I love fairy tales even though I´m an adult for uwuite a long time... And all the classic fairy tales are the best, in my opinion, everybody should read them and tell them to their kids.
These Grimms fairy tales are cool and awesome and not to forget THE BASIC ones... And I LOVE them!!
To be honest, I love fairy tales even though I´m an adult for uwuite a long time... And all the classic fairy tales are the best, in my opinion, everybody should read them and tell them to their kids.
These Grimms fairy tales are cool and awesome and not to forget THE BASIC ones... And I LOVE them!!
July 28, 2016
It has been some time since I have read Grimm's Fairy Tales and some of these are just so crazy, especially the ones about Chanticleer and Partlet. But they are a fun collection and I'm glad I took the time to revisit them.
October 21, 2012
Some of these are really creepy... A job well done, but still... REALLY creepy...
January 5, 2026
This book was supposed to be my last book of 2025, but I guess this book wanted the honor of being the first book of 2026!
Its a great winter read, with a cup a cocoa and muffin beside you, wrapping yourself under a blanket, I think the vibe is set. I enjoyed my winter reading this, a walk down the memory lane of all the fairytale stories you've read/heard during your childhood.
When you read the stories as an adult, you certainly feel, "What kind of stories are these?" and laugh at them because at this stage you start wanting practicality and reality in all aspects, but these stories are meant to be read with a child's brain, where you just wanna read them and not analyze...
Its the best book for the winter and I enjoyed it!!!!
Its a great winter read, with a cup a cocoa and muffin beside you, wrapping yourself under a blanket, I think the vibe is set. I enjoyed my winter reading this, a walk down the memory lane of all the fairytale stories you've read/heard during your childhood.
When you read the stories as an adult, you certainly feel, "What kind of stories are these?" and laugh at them because at this stage you start wanting practicality and reality in all aspects, but these stories are meant to be read with a child's brain, where you just wanna read them and not analyze...
Its the best book for the winter and I enjoyed it!!!!
August 20, 2020
This book has 62 stories in it and they are all fairy tales. Disclaimer Not All Stories Are For Children! In total of 62 stories I liked 26 stories and that's not bad. Some stories were a little bit confusing and some were just not really my thing. In this book there are stories like Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, The wolf and the Seven Little Children and Snow White.
If you love fairy tales I would recommend this but if you are just a curious reader I would pick this book as a first choice.
If you love fairy tales I would recommend this but if you are just a curious reader I would pick this book as a first choice.
August 20, 2020
I really wanted to like this book but no unfortunately not for me 😐
May 15, 2020
I read the story of Cinderella from this collection of Grimm's fairytales that I read on Epic. Grimm's fairytales are notorious for their gory and violent story events. In this version of Cinderella, a young girl's mother passed away. Her father remarried to an evil woman with two equally evil daughters. The daughters made her do all the chores and made her life miserable. They made her sleep by the hearth cinders, which is why they called her Cinderella. The rest of the story is just like any other version except in the Grimm's story, Cinderella does not have a fairy godmother but birds to help her. In this version, the violence comes in when the Prince is looking for the maiden to fit the show, both the step sisters cut off part of their feet to fit into the slipper. This version is obviously way different than the Disney Cinderella that I grew up watching. I think it is important to read all the versions but I would have to say this was my least favorite. I would definitely use this with an elementary classroom when learning about fairytales. I think it would be good to compare and contrast all the different versions of Cinderella. For a creative writing assignment for an upper elementary class, you could have them write their own version of Cinderella.
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February 26, 2024“Grimm’s Fairy Tales'' contains many magical stories that hold valuable lessons within them. Some popular tales include “Rapunzel,” “Hansel and Grethel,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Snow White,” and ‘Rumpelstiltskin.” I really enjoyed the way the fairy tales were written: It was very detailed and easily drew me into each story. However, some of the stories seemed a bit repetitive and had similar plots. Each storyline has a distinct motif, but one that really stuck out was “The Golden Goose,” which tells the tale of three sons who go into a forest to chop wood. Each son encounters a little old grey man who asks for a bit of cake and a drink of wine. The first two sons deny him any food or drink, and face great misfortune as a result of this. However, the third son humbly shares with the man and is rewarded in the future. The main motif of this story is to be humble and help those in need. People who are generous and kind often get the same treatment in return. This is just one example of many of the fantastic stories that “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” holds. Overall, I can definitely see myself reading several of these stories again in the future and would recommend that others read them as well.
December 5, 2016
I read this out of curiosity. We all grew up with these fairy tales but I wasn't sure how true to the originals were they. Through out the years the stories have been sanitized to such an extent that they have lost their originals meanings.
A lot of the tales are similar in theme and are different versions of the same story. But the introducing states that the Grimm brothers collected folklore from all over Europe so it lays to reason that the stories traveled and evolved through out the years.
I often thought that the language of the tales had a style of there own and I presume that the translation to English might have something to do with it. They are quiet brutal and have very sinister undertones but I think they are suitable for children. When I read Hanzel and Gretal growing up I didn't think of cannibalism but of the ginger bread house and not to take sweets of strangers.
In all fairness I think the Ladybird books come close to the originals in style and tone with only a few minor adjustments.
A lot of the tales are similar in theme and are different versions of the same story. But the introducing states that the Grimm brothers collected folklore from all over Europe so it lays to reason that the stories traveled and evolved through out the years.
I often thought that the language of the tales had a style of there own and I presume that the translation to English might have something to do with it. They are quiet brutal and have very sinister undertones but I think they are suitable for children. When I read Hanzel and Gretal growing up I didn't think of cannibalism but of the ginger bread house and not to take sweets of strangers.
In all fairness I think the Ladybird books come close to the originals in style and tone with only a few minor adjustments.
November 29, 2016
This book contains 62 stories, all of which are fairly short. Many of them I recognised as tales I have heard throughout my childhood, but there were also loads that I did not know. I was intrigued to read the original of those stories that have been retold many times, but also to read the lesser known tales.
What soon becomes apparent is that many of these tales are rather similar and it can become very easy to predict what is going to happen to the characters. Some of the stories are so similar in fact that it is surprising that they were both added to the collection.
I read this book from start to finish over 5 and a half weeks while reading other books. I would not do this again as it became tedious and I was very relieved by the time I reached the end. It is very much a book that should be dipped into to read the odd story here and there.
Overall this was a very interesting book to read, which I did enjoy
What soon becomes apparent is that many of these tales are rather similar and it can become very easy to predict what is going to happen to the characters. Some of the stories are so similar in fact that it is surprising that they were both added to the collection.
I read this book from start to finish over 5 and a half weeks while reading other books. I would not do this again as it became tedious and I was very relieved by the time I reached the end. It is very much a book that should be dipped into to read the odd story here and there.
Overall this was a very interesting book to read, which I did enjoy
June 3, 2018
A nice, tidy collection of 58 of the Grimm brothers' more iconic tales. This edition includes well known stories such as Snow White, Rapunzel, The Straw, the Coal and the Bean, Rumpelstiltskin, Tom Thumb and Little Red Riding Hood, as well as some lesser-known but equally brilliant stories.
This is essential reading for anyone with an interest in classic fairy tales, mythology, symbolism etc. There are timeless morals within the stories, and some fascinating characters.
Each story is fairly short, so read it through as a novel or pick one here and there at your leisure. This is a conveniently small edition that makes it perfect for travel.
It's also got some super cute pictures, so that's a nice bonus.
This is essential reading for anyone with an interest in classic fairy tales, mythology, symbolism etc. There are timeless morals within the stories, and some fascinating characters.
Each story is fairly short, so read it through as a novel or pick one here and there at your leisure. This is a conveniently small edition that makes it perfect for travel.
It's also got some super cute pictures, so that's a nice bonus.
April 18, 2022
You don't need to read all the tales, but you should read a couple where the names are familiar, and you should definitely read "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was."
I didn't love working through the whole collection, but I really appreciated a handful of the stories. Grimm's is filled with narratives that have made their way again and again into popular culture. Sometimes the moral lesson is as simple as work hard and share with others, like in "The Three Little Men in the Wood," or is more complex and intertwined with lessons about self control and wit, like in "The Valiant Little Tailor."
Some of these are really great; the trouble is, it isn't necessarily worth reading all the tales in order to get the great ones.
I didn't love working through the whole collection, but I really appreciated a handful of the stories. Grimm's is filled with narratives that have made their way again and again into popular culture. Sometimes the moral lesson is as simple as work hard and share with others, like in "The Three Little Men in the Wood," or is more complex and intertwined with lessons about self control and wit, like in "The Valiant Little Tailor."
Some of these are really great; the trouble is, it isn't necessarily worth reading all the tales in order to get the great ones.
June 2, 2017
I would still like to read the original tales of the Grimm brother's, I hear that not all of them ended as the translated ones do.
This was good, but very repetitive in storylines. Sometimes I would start reading a story and be convinced I've read it before just to learn of a new twisted ending.
These stories do have a darker more sinister undertone than the modern fairytales we know, but much of the evil is lost in translation - pun intended.
I still enjoyed most of the stories and characters. Almost all the modern fairytales were born from the Grimm brother's, whom without I believe we wouldn't have had todays awesome tales.
This was good, but very repetitive in storylines. Sometimes I would start reading a story and be convinced I've read it before just to learn of a new twisted ending.
These stories do have a darker more sinister undertone than the modern fairytales we know, but much of the evil is lost in translation - pun intended.
I still enjoyed most of the stories and characters. Almost all the modern fairytales were born from the Grimm brother's, whom without I believe we wouldn't have had todays awesome tales.
April 21, 2016
I felt like there should be an equation somewhere. Where all the kings die or replaced, stepmothers were wicked witches, elders or middle sons were conceited and impulsive, princess were trophy wives and the fools, younger sons or poor good Samaritans triumph in their journey. It was like their is a tipping edge between the poor and the rich, the wise and the foolhardy, the evil and the good, etc. I like the tales but I'm quite disappointed that the book only contained approximately 63 stories compared to the 200+ on the first ed.
April 9, 2014
Great stuff, especially when you consider the time and place when these stories were first shared and gathered.
Granted, a lot of the stories are minor variations on a few themes and they have a certain structure. However, that doesn't diminish their importance of the tradition of oral storytelling and their messages. I like that a lot of them had dark overtones.
I'd love to have a time machine and go back and listen to these stories in a old, forested and dark little village in the mountains of eastern Europe.
Granted, a lot of the stories are minor variations on a few themes and they have a certain structure. However, that doesn't diminish their importance of the tradition of oral storytelling and their messages. I like that a lot of them had dark overtones.
I'd love to have a time machine and go back and listen to these stories in a old, forested and dark little village in the mountains of eastern Europe.
March 18, 2010
reading this made me want to read the original version (too bad it is in German). Because i heard many things that claimed a real version of Grimm's fairy tale (note: especially sleeping beauty), made me wonder if this translated version already softened the story (with adding more happy ending) or not.
Overall i enjoyed reading this. Kinda a bit hard to people who not common with old English language, but its not hard to follow.
And they still adding the poetry, nice :)
Overall i enjoyed reading this. Kinda a bit hard to people who not common with old English language, but its not hard to follow.
And they still adding the poetry, nice :)
December 8, 2012
After the spate of fairy tale stuff going on recently (tv series, movies, books) I decided I needed to read the originals. After reading this I think it was actually the Hans Christian Anderson tales I was after. Oh well, lesson learnt. Many lessons apparently, though I definitely couldn't work out a moral to most of the stories. It was good to read the originals of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella and Rapunzel, but a good few of the other tales were just a waste of time.
March 30, 2015
The Grimm brothers must have been smoking heavy good shit when they wrote this book.
A father wanting to marry his own daughter...
A seven year old child that is seen as a threat by her step mom...
A father eating his own son in a pudding...
A boy taking a piece of bacon for a stroll...
And the list can go on and on.
A father wanting to marry his own daughter...
A seven year old child that is seen as a threat by her step mom...
A father eating his own son in a pudding...
A boy taking a piece of bacon for a stroll...
And the list can go on and on.
January 5, 2012
A collection of, mostly, famous folklore tales. All I can say is, that those people who claim that video games today are violent should read these stories. Murder, cannibalism, violence galore; just about everything is covered in these so-called children's tales.
January 11, 2011
Wonderful book well illustrated originally published in 1900, with illustrations by the great Arthur Rackham which he added to for the 1909 edition.
So many of life's lessons lie between its covers. Thoroughly recommended.
So many of life's lessons lie between its covers. Thoroughly recommended.
June 11, 2016
I liked this book overall. It contains some of the most famous tales of which I was pleased to discover the origins. Some stories I've never heard of have a good plot and they spread good values, but some others are really boring and I almost couldn't go through with them.
April 24, 2015
Some of them are very, very wise. My favourite is "The Seven Ravens".
January 25, 2013
Love the originals!!!
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