More Tales from Grimm

by Wanda Gág

Renowned children’s book author Wanda Gág presents these classic Grimm tales, accompanied by whimsical illustrations. Drawing on her peasant heritage and childlike sense of wonder, Gág translated the fairy tales in a uniquely American vernacular tongue. More Tales from Grimm contains over thirty more, including “The Golden Key,” “The Seven Swabians,” and “The Wolf and the Fox,” as well as almost one hundred illustrations. No other editions of Grimm’s fairy tales for children can match Gág’s richness of prose and the humor, beauty, and sheer magic of her pictorial interpretation. Best known for her Newbery Honor winner Millions of Cats, Wanda Gág (1893–1946) was a pioneer in children’s book writing, integrating text and illustration. Born in New Ulm, Minnesota, she rose to international acclaim. In recognition of her artistry, she was posthumously awarded the 1958 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for Millions of Cats and the 1977 Kerlan Award for her body of work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Golden Key
The Seven Swabians
The Wolf and The Fox
Mother Holle
The Water Nixie
The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage
Thorn Rose, The Sleeping Beauty
The Sweet Porridge
The Little Shepherd Boy
The Twelve Lazy Servants
Lucky Scraps
The Cat and The Fox
The Soldier and His Magic Helpers
The Good-For-Nothings
The Star Dollars
A Trip to Schlaraffenland
The Three Languages
The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean.
The Wishing Table, The Gold Donkey, and The Cudgel-In-The-Sack
The Tailor Who Went to Heaven
Presents of the Little Folk
The Three Spinners
The Six Swans
The Queen Bee
The Hedgehog and The Rabbit
The Earth Gnome
The Three Lucky Ones
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Iron Hans
Jorinda and Joringel
The Wolf and The Seven Little Kids
The Shoemaker and The Elves

Genres: Childrens

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1981

About the author

Wanda Hazel Gág (pronounced GOG) was an American author and illustrator. She was born on March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her mother, Elisabeth Biebl, and father, Anton, were of Bohemian descent. Both parents were artists who had met in Germany. They had seven children, who all acquired some level of artistic talent. Gág grew up the eldest of these, and despite their economic hardships, the family was surrounded by music, art, light, and love, making it for the most part a joyous existence.

When Gág was 15, her father died of tuberculosis; his final words to her were: "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt', muss die Wanda halt fertig machen." ("What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will have to finish.") Following Anton's death the family was on welfare, and some townspeople thought that Gág should quit high school and get a steady job to help support her family. Despite this pressure, Gág continued her studies. After graduating in 1912, she taught country school in Springfield, Minnesota, from November 1912 to June 1913.

In 1917, she illustrated A Child’s Book of Folk-Lore, following which she worked on many different projects and became a well-known artist and author. Her art exhibition in the New York Public Library in 1923 was the true beginning of her fame. She gained a reputation as an illustrator for socialist publications such as The New Masses, and she considered herself a feminist and advocate of free love in the 1920s. She did not marry her lover until later in life, for instance, although she lived with him before they wed.

She was especially esteemed for her lithographs, though today if her name is known at all it is usually from her children's books, specifically the classic Millions of Cats, which won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. Gág also received the Newbury Honor Award for this book, and the combined effects of it and her exhibition gave her the funds she needed to carry on her work without stress.

She died in New York City on June 27, 1946.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now while just like with Wanda Gág's Tales from Grimm, I have very much and generally equally enjoyed her sequel (her More Tales from Grimm), especially since there are quite a number of lesser known stories included (and even a select few rather unfamiliar to and for me), I also do have to point out that due to the sad and sorry fact that Wanda Gág died of lung cancer before she could put the finishing touches both on her illustrations and also on her texts (on her translations, on her written words), More Tales from Grimm does sadly sometimes feel and read just a trifle choppily and with a sense of incompleteness, as though there is something minor but still essential missing.

And while due to the above mentioned scenario of Gág's illness and death prior to the completion of More Tales from Grimm this is of course more than understandable, I still do very much miss especially the detailed author's note that has made Wanda Gág's Tales from Grimm such a joy and academic pleasure to read, as it sure has been both interesting and enlightening to have a meticulous breakdown from Gág's own pen with regard to how she went about translating the Grimms' folk and fairy tales and where and for what reason she had abridged and/or changed things around a bit (although and naturally, I do more than well understand that Wanda Gág was obviously much too ill to consider adding an author's note and that in fact, she had not even completely finished all of the accompanying illustrations for More Tales from Grimm when she succumbed to lung cancer, as Carl Zigrosser's foreword clearly states that while Wanda Gág had substantially completed much of More Tales from Grimm, the book was still in the stage of final revision and therefore while mostly complete, not totally so by any stretch of the imagination).

And therefore, while I do feel a trifle sad and frustrated that I do not have the same author's note (with its delightful and for me also academically stimulating details regarding Wanda Gág's translation process and which of her included Grimms' stories have been rendered word for word into English and which have undergone more substantial changes), I am still going to grant a high and shining four star rating to More Tales from Grimm, as for one, the translations themselves and the accompanying and typical of Wanda Gág's expressive and woodcut like art pictures are indeed and definitely absolutely wonderful and a totally and utterly delightful reading and viewing experience, and for two that I am also totally positive and convinced that had she not died of lung cancer before having finished every last part of More Tales from Grimm Wanda Gág would most certainly and likely have added a detailed author's note of the same wonderful quality and calibre as can be found in the first book, as is included in her Tales from Grimm.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A selection of thirty-two of the tales including Sleeping Beauty, Iron Hans, Jorinda and Joringel, The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids, and The Shoemaker and the Elves among others selected, translated and illustrated just before the author’s death. Not all the illustrations are in their completed form, some are sketches that were to be refined and completed. But this gives the viewer an insight into the artist’s technique and more appreciation for the completed illustrations. The translation and selections give the collection a childlike charm which should be appealing to young readers and listeners.

Originally published: Coward-McCann, 1947.
Contents: The golden key – The seven Swabians – The wolf and the fox – Mother Holle – The water nixie – The Mouse, the bird, and the sausage – Thorn Rose, the sleeping beauty – The sweet porridge – The little shepherd boy – The twelve lazy servants – Lucky scraps – The cat and the fox – The soldier and his magic helpers – The good-for-nothings – The star dollars – A trip to Schlaraffenland – The three languages – The straw, the coal, and the bean – The wishing table, the gold donkey, and the cudgel-in-the-sack – The tailor who went to heaven – Presents of the little folk – The three spinners – The six swans – The queen bee – The hedgehog and the rabbit – The earth gnome – The three lucky ones – The sorcerer's apprentice – Iron Hans – Jorinda and Joringel – The wolf and the seven little kids – The shoemaker and the elves.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't know what to say about this book! Of course, being from The Brothers Grimm I expect it to be a little bizarre. My kids liked some of the stories, didn't others, and thought most were just too short. The only story they wanted to repeat was the one about the sausage and the bird. I guess I just thought my kids should be exposed to The Brothers Grimm, and this is a good book to do that with.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both the art and stories are wonderful!

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of boring. this was a collection of short stories. Some were funny, some weren't. they all had the same basic premise be kind to strangers, and the less fortunate, work with industry, and you will be rewarded. be lazy, disrespectful, greedy or willfully ignorant than you will be punished. Pleasant enough if you are just reading them one at a time as bedtime stories to a 5 year old, but as an adult reading them cover to cover it got a little repetitive. I read this book for the 52 books summer connections challenge. Each book in this challenge should connect someway to the one previous too it in the challenge forming a circle of loosly connected books. the prompt read a book +/- 30 pages from previous title.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology is wonderful to use as a read-aloud with grades 2 and 3. Students listened and identified elements of the story such as good and bad characters, the setting, the magic elements, the conflict, resolution, and the moral of the tale. Some of the stories such as "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage." made students laugh. The illustrations are beautiful and really enhance the stories.