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Grimm's Fairy Tales
This edition of classic fairy tales features a suede-like custom cover with beautiful metallic foiling and a ribbon marker.For most children, reading the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm is an essential experience when growing up. Grimm's Fairy Tales collects more than fifty of the best-known fairy and folk tales set down by the Brothers Grimm,
272 pages, Leather Bound
First published December 20, 1812
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 10, 2025
Skipped to the stories I knew. I had no interest in the others, couldn’t get into them. Fun quick read .
October 27, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
November 1, 2022
A nice presentation with small illustrations accompanying each story. Was interested for the creepy factor, but found it hard to get into most stories.
November 30, 2022
I had only read a few of the Brothers Grimm’s original fairytales previously, so when I came across this beautiful edition, I was inclined to pick it up. The stories were different than I expected. At times very dark, and while some stories had a strong sense of justice (like the stepmother picking her own punishment unknowingly) others were completely bereft of it. Characters would get away with behaving cruelly and still have happy endings. This honestly kinda confused me because at times, it left me confused as to the author’s intentions. However, I am aware that the Grimm brothers simply compiled folk tales, so perhaps that is why their morals tend to vary.
However, lots of the stories were still incredibly repetitive, which can make reading them all in a row rather dull at times. A few things I noticed that Disney has also incorporated into their retellings are that beauty equals good while ugly equals bad and stepmothers are always evil and favour their daughters. Other commonalities include everything always happening in threes (no exceptions!) and weird animal pairings. Many stories will have the EXACT same ending like Little Red Cap and The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats. This honestly made me wonder how many of these stories started as one tale and diverged into two, or even five based on varied retellings, like a game of Telephone.
As for the writing itself, initially I found the stories difficult to get into. There are tons of run on sentences that will have like six commas to break them up, but should probably just be a paragraph. I must admit I’m not super familiar with old writing styles though. Perhaps this was common at the time the Brothers Grimm lived, but it’s a bit odd now. Also uncommon word choices, but I’m not sure when this translation was done, so they are again likely products of the time they were written. After reading for fifty pages or so, I started to get into a rhythm and stopped struggling with the stories. I enjoyed seeing how stories I was familiar with were changed by Disney and made more “family friendly”, so as not to include Rapunzel mysteriously falling pregnant and Snow White’s stepmother dancing herself to death in hot iron shoes!
Overall, I think I would recommend maybe reading this book as needed or as interested. Read a tale or two at a time and see how the modern retellings have changed, but don’t force yourself to read the whole thing if you’re not feeling it. There’s a reason some of these tales aren’t commonly remembered and many of them are just the same few elements repeated. 3/5 November 29 2022
However, lots of the stories were still incredibly repetitive, which can make reading them all in a row rather dull at times. A few things I noticed that Disney has also incorporated into their retellings are that beauty equals good while ugly equals bad and stepmothers are always evil and favour their daughters. Other commonalities include everything always happening in threes (no exceptions!) and weird animal pairings. Many stories will have the EXACT same ending like Little Red Cap and The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats. This honestly made me wonder how many of these stories started as one tale and diverged into two, or even five based on varied retellings, like a game of Telephone.
As for the writing itself, initially I found the stories difficult to get into. There are tons of run on sentences that will have like six commas to break them up, but should probably just be a paragraph. I must admit I’m not super familiar with old writing styles though. Perhaps this was common at the time the Brothers Grimm lived, but it’s a bit odd now. Also uncommon word choices, but I’m not sure when this translation was done, so they are again likely products of the time they were written. After reading for fifty pages or so, I started to get into a rhythm and stopped struggling with the stories. I enjoyed seeing how stories I was familiar with were changed by Disney and made more “family friendly”, so as not to include Rapunzel mysteriously falling pregnant and Snow White’s stepmother dancing herself to death in hot iron shoes!
Overall, I think I would recommend maybe reading this book as needed or as interested. Read a tale or two at a time and see how the modern retellings have changed, but don’t force yourself to read the whole thing if you’re not feeling it. There’s a reason some of these tales aren’t commonly remembered and many of them are just the same few elements repeated. 3/5 November 29 2022
December 20, 2025
*Contains Spoilers*
“Once upon a time, a mouse and a bird and a sausage lived and kept house together in perfect peace…”
Truly, the cinematic masterpiece Disney never gave us. Probably because—spoiler—they all die horribly.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales collection gathers together German folk stories recorded in the early 1800s. It includes many of the tales Disney later scrubbed clean, like Cinderella—complete with stepsisters who get their eyes pecked out by pigeons—along with Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Frog Prince and Little Red Cap, better known as Red Riding Hood. Rapunzel also makes an appearance, her story kicking off when her parents basically trade her away because they’re desperate for a salad made with rampion (still curious about that one). And of course there’s Hansel and Grethel, whose quick, crafty thinking saves them more than once.
Then there are the lesser-known stories—like the domestic sausage above—which are often even stranger. Hidden gems include Hans in Luck and The Bremen Town Musicians.
Many of these tales are bizarre, dark, and unexpectedly funny. There are similar stories scattered throughout the collection, and it’s easy to see how they’ve been repeated and reshaped over time. Expect evil stepmothers, beautiful princesses, talking animals, and plenty of unhinged side quests.
In short: worth a read—though maybe not before bed.
“Once upon a time, a mouse and a bird and a sausage lived and kept house together in perfect peace…”
Truly, the cinematic masterpiece Disney never gave us. Probably because—spoiler—they all die horribly.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales collection gathers together German folk stories recorded in the early 1800s. It includes many of the tales Disney later scrubbed clean, like Cinderella—complete with stepsisters who get their eyes pecked out by pigeons—along with Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Frog Prince and Little Red Cap, better known as Red Riding Hood. Rapunzel also makes an appearance, her story kicking off when her parents basically trade her away because they’re desperate for a salad made with rampion (still curious about that one). And of course there’s Hansel and Grethel, whose quick, crafty thinking saves them more than once.
Then there are the lesser-known stories—like the domestic sausage above—which are often even stranger. Hidden gems include Hans in Luck and The Bremen Town Musicians.
Many of these tales are bizarre, dark, and unexpectedly funny. There are similar stories scattered throughout the collection, and it’s easy to see how they’ve been repeated and reshaped over time. Expect evil stepmothers, beautiful princesses, talking animals, and plenty of unhinged side quests.
In short: worth a read—though maybe not before bed.
February 5, 2024
"At last she said to her mistress, 'I am homesick, and although I am very well off here, I cannot stay any longer; I must go back to my own home.'" (from The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage)
I have been a fan of Grimm's tales since a youngin'. I was anxious to revisit this collection and I was not disappointed. I did find a new tale, or at least one that I did not remember vividly, titled 'The Dog and the Sparrow' that has become my new favorite. I loved the moral that it had to teach and will find myself reading it again I am sure.
Stars: 4.71
Highly recommend.
I have been a fan of Grimm's tales since a youngin'. I was anxious to revisit this collection and I was not disappointed. I did find a new tale, or at least one that I did not remember vividly, titled 'The Dog and the Sparrow' that has become my new favorite. I loved the moral that it had to teach and will find myself reading it again I am sure.
Stars: 4.71
Highly recommend.
Read
October 31, 2023I don’t know if I plan on rating this but as a person who has felt the influence of the Grimm brothers throughout her childhood, I had to pick it up for Halloween. They are slightly dark and slightly twisted in the very best ways. I really enjoy these tales
April 29, 2024
Great book for the original stories you grew up with!
July 8, 2024
I wasn't expecting there to be so many stories about chickens...
September 17, 2024
Nostalgia is truly beautiful 🥲
Read
November 2, 2024My first ever DNF. The writing style wasn’t for me and the stories were very very repetitive. Beautiful cover though!
November 23, 2024
I enjoyed reading a few stories here and there!
July 31, 2025
classic stories, but also nice d'en découvrir de nouvelles, aussi insensées qu'elles puissent parfois être
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews