Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Thienemann
Description
The legendary folklorists Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are widely credited with preserving and documenting Europe's oral fairy tale tradition. On several extended trips collecting stories in and around Germany, the pair transcribed more than 200 classic folk tales. This volume compiles some of the most popular and well-known fairy tales from the Grimms' body of work.
User reviews
LibraryThing member amyrn75
I love books of fairy tales, and this is one of my favorites.
LibraryThing member the1butterfly
This is a very edition- the first 35 pages are missing and some at the end as well, and the rest are loose in places. Nonetheless, it is good reading, the stories are good, as always, and it is neat to have such an old copy. I'm not positive how many stories it has (what with the table of contents
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missing), but it has quite a few and they are very readable. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kaitlyn.Johnston
I myself always appreciated Grimm's Fairy Tales when I was younger, that being said it is definitely a collection one should really be wary of when suggesting to students. The language is not always as clear as some students may need, and despite the allure of fairy tales, some students may not
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appreciate the darker and more graphic representations. This book is something I would suggest more for older readers, perhaps 6th and on, as the material within the stories may again put some younger readers off. However, for students who are interested in folklore and the like, this is a collection they would likely be interested in ,and enjoy seeing some of the the original versions of widely known tales. Show Less
LibraryThing member teampeeta254
My copy used to belong to my mother, who gave it to me one day when I complained about having read all my books. And now that I see what Barbie and Disney have based their princess stories off of, It makes me like them even less.
LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of German fairy tales. A second volume was published in 1815. After various revisions, a total of 211 stories were collected.
My English hardcover contains 55 of these stories, taken from both volumes. Many of the stories are very familiar: The
The violence in these stories is shocking. The brothers received criticism for it even in their day. In 1825 they printed a Children's Edition which included some of the safer stories. Walt Disney has rendered even the safer stories innocuous.
Take the original Cinderella, for example. When the prince came to find the sister who fit the golden slipper, the eldest tried first:
Her great toe prevented her from getting it on. Her foot was too long.
Then her mother handed her a knife and said, "Cut off the toe. When you are Queen you won't have to walk any more."
The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the slipper, stifled her pain, and went out to the Prince. ...
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from it. So he turned his horse round and carried the false bride back to her home, and said that she was not the right one. (162-3)
She was the lucky one! The second sister had to pare down her heel. In the end, Cinderella was married to the prince. As they walked into the church, a dove plucked one eye from each of the false brides. On their way out of the church the dove picked the other eyes. "And so for their wickedness and falseness they were punished with blindness for the rest of their days" (165).
I suppose that's one way to get children to behave!
These stories are part of our culture. They have staying power that is rarely seen. Enjoy them—just watch out for vindictive doves.
My English hardcover contains 55 of these stories, taken from both volumes. Many of the stories are very familiar: The
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Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs to name a few.The violence in these stories is shocking. The brothers received criticism for it even in their day. In 1825 they printed a Children's Edition which included some of the safer stories. Walt Disney has rendered even the safer stories innocuous.
Take the original Cinderella, for example. When the prince came to find the sister who fit the golden slipper, the eldest tried first:
Her great toe prevented her from getting it on. Her foot was too long.
Then her mother handed her a knife and said, "Cut off the toe. When you are Queen you won't have to walk any more."
The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the slipper, stifled her pain, and went out to the Prince. ...
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from it. So he turned his horse round and carried the false bride back to her home, and said that she was not the right one. (162-3)
She was the lucky one! The second sister had to pare down her heel. In the end, Cinderella was married to the prince. As they walked into the church, a dove plucked one eye from each of the false brides. On their way out of the church the dove picked the other eyes. "And so for their wickedness and falseness they were punished with blindness for the rest of their days" (165).
I suppose that's one way to get children to behave!
These stories are part of our culture. They have staying power that is rarely seen. Enjoy them—just watch out for vindictive doves.
Show Less
LibraryThing member REGoodrich
Ever since I was a child all snuggled up under the covers with my stuffed bear, I have either been read or pursued on my own the imaginative fairytales written by a host of authors over the centuries. The Grimm brothers are perhaps the best-known. Their tales are short and unique and without any
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barriers on creativity. I wonder if they were the first to make inanimate objects come to life? Young or old, there is much enjoyment to be had in these treasured Fairytales. Show Less