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Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Since the first publication of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Kinder-und Hausmarchen (Tales for Children and Households), in 1812, these stories have been translated into more than 160 languages, moving beyond Germany to become a worldwide phenomenon. Their best-known characters rank alongside those of Green mythology as touchstones of universal meaning: Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Rapunzel, and the Frog Prince.
Folktales transmit messages that communities deem vital, whether cautionary-as in "Little Red Riding Hood," a veiled warning of the dangers of adolescence-or celebratory, as in "The Six Swans," an avowal of sibling love.
Although most of the tales are conservative in outlook-the old ways usually turn out to be best-many also delight in upending the social order, as when a clever, plucky peasant becomes a king ("The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake"), or when animals get the better of humans ("The Brewman Town Musicials"). This selection of nearly fifty of the tales includes the famous ones along with others that represent the full spectrum of the Grimm Brother's Collection.
Folktales transmit messages that communities deem vital, whether cautionary-as in "Little Red Riding Hood," a veiled warning of the dangers of adolescence-or celebratory, as in "The Six Swans," an avowal of sibling love.
Although most of the tales are conservative in outlook-the old ways usually turn out to be best-many also delight in upending the social order, as when a clever, plucky peasant becomes a king ("The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake"), or when animals get the better of humans ("The Brewman Town Musicials"). This selection of nearly fifty of the tales includes the famous ones along with others that represent the full spectrum of the Grimm Brother's Collection.
248 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2007
9 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Grimm
5,748 books2,258 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 19, 2021
I know who the Brothers Grimm are, you know who the Brothers Grimm are. But have you actually ever read the Brothers Grimm? This is the first time I've actually picked up one of their collections, but who doesn't love a good fairy tale?
There are a total of 33 in this collection, including all the popular ones you know and love ... or rather, here you'll find the source text for all the Disney versions you know and love. But the old rule applies here too — the book is better.
The classics are, of course, classics for a reason, so "Rapunzel," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and "Hansel and Gretel" are all standout tales. But there were several others I enjoyed just as much if not more since I'd never heard them before.
"A Fairy Tale About a Boy Who Set Out to Learn Fear," "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs," "The Drummer," "The Master Thief," "Faithful Johannes," and "All-Kind-Of-Hide" are all delightfully charming (and sometimes charmingly dark).
For all the attention that "controversial" books intended for young readers have received lately — treasured classics seem to come under fire from both left and right these days — I'm surprised that I haven't heard the Brothers Grimm (or is it more correct to say the Grimm Brothers? Hmm ...) mentioned. Perhaps their lack of inclusion is more due to the fact that school libraries are less likely to contain a collection of their tales, which would be an even greater travesty. From incest and child abuse to cannibalism and sexual desire, there's plenty here to send the fanatical, censorious souls on both the left and right into a tizzy.
Should children read the original Brothers Grimm tales? Hell yes! Childhood has, after all, plenty of dark moments as well as bright ones, or don't you remember? Children would be able to relate to these tales and perhaps even find the more-than-occasional bouts of bloodletting cathartic.
But we shouldn't limit these classic tales to just children. Like any masterpiece, these tales only grow richer with age. Thousands of essays have been published on all the various things that these tales have to offer, and with so many Easter eggs hidden in a brief 3-4 page tale, you'll find more on each rereading.
The only thing I might criticize about this specific edition, which is otherwise beautifully done, is that some of the illustrations — by contemporary Haitian artists — often don't feel like a part of the text and don't seem to fit at all. I'm not saying that German artists should have been commissioned instead — fairy tales are universal, after all — just that centering the illustrations a bit more around the tales themselves would have been a good idea.
Otherwise, this is a very good collection of wondrous tales, expertly chosen, and should be required reading regardless of age.
There are a total of 33 in this collection, including all the popular ones you know and love ... or rather, here you'll find the source text for all the Disney versions you know and love. But the old rule applies here too — the book is better.
The classics are, of course, classics for a reason, so "Rapunzel," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and "Hansel and Gretel" are all standout tales. But there were several others I enjoyed just as much if not more since I'd never heard them before.
"A Fairy Tale About a Boy Who Set Out to Learn Fear," "The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs," "The Drummer," "The Master Thief," "Faithful Johannes," and "All-Kind-Of-Hide" are all delightfully charming (and sometimes charmingly dark).
For all the attention that "controversial" books intended for young readers have received lately — treasured classics seem to come under fire from both left and right these days — I'm surprised that I haven't heard the Brothers Grimm (or is it more correct to say the Grimm Brothers? Hmm ...) mentioned. Perhaps their lack of inclusion is more due to the fact that school libraries are less likely to contain a collection of their tales, which would be an even greater travesty. From incest and child abuse to cannibalism and sexual desire, there's plenty here to send the fanatical, censorious souls on both the left and right into a tizzy.
Should children read the original Brothers Grimm tales? Hell yes! Childhood has, after all, plenty of dark moments as well as bright ones, or don't you remember? Children would be able to relate to these tales and perhaps even find the more-than-occasional bouts of bloodletting cathartic.
But we shouldn't limit these classic tales to just children. Like any masterpiece, these tales only grow richer with age. Thousands of essays have been published on all the various things that these tales have to offer, and with so many Easter eggs hidden in a brief 3-4 page tale, you'll find more on each rereading.
The only thing I might criticize about this specific edition, which is otherwise beautifully done, is that some of the illustrations — by contemporary Haitian artists — often don't feel like a part of the text and don't seem to fit at all. I'm not saying that German artists should have been commissioned instead — fairy tales are universal, after all — just that centering the illustrations a bit more around the tales themselves would have been a good idea.
Otherwise, this is a very good collection of wondrous tales, expertly chosen, and should be required reading regardless of age.
November 7, 2019
Let start this off by saying that I am a huge fan of fairytales and the brothers Grimm are my favorite writers that do fairytales. That being said the only reason why this book did not get 5 stars has nothing to do with the writing or the stories themselves. Rather it has to do with this edition. Some stories that are alike in setup or even plot are placed one after another. This gives off the idea that the book is extremely repetitive. That being said if you are reading a story a night to for example your children this should not be a problem.
July 30, 2022
These are way darker than you'd expect and they seem to truly hate girls and women. Good to understand where these fairy tales and archetypal characters come from though.
June 22, 2010
I love the many tales that are in this book!! Some that I knew of and others that I didn't. Though the tales are sometimes incomplete and leave you on the edge of your seat waiting and thinking about what happened next, the tales are just as magical as if you were to read the actual story. I believe that these stories are just a review of the tales, I couldn't say for sure. However I enjoy them all.
July 25, 2017
I liked reading all the fairytales as they were written originally (and some I hadn't even heard of), but the tales are very repetitive to the point where I had to keep checking if the same story had been printed twice by accident. The repetitive nature of the tales did get a little annoying after a time.
December 11, 2011
Loved reading these classic (and sometimes unknown) fairy tales. The layout of the book could have been a bit better though... sometimes, stories with the same themes and events (basically just swapping out character names) were placed back-to-back and got repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews