Sign in with Facebook
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
For almost two centuries, the stories of magic and myth gathered by the Brothers Grimm have been part of the way children—and adults—learn about the vagaries of the real world. Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow-White, Hänsel and Gretel, Little Red-Cap (a.k.a. Little Red Riding Hood), and Briar-Rose (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty) are only a few of more than 200 enchanting characters inc...more
Kindle Edition, 194 pages
Published
(first published 1812)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.
― Albert Einstein
After being gifted this beautiful edition of Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales, I decided to be a good and proper Auntie and read them to my niece (6). What better way to end the day and send her off to slumberland?
These children’s tales are very short - perfect for bedtime reading - and are full of valuable lessons:
1. Step-mothers are evil bitche...more
― Albert Einstein
After being gifted this beautiful edition of Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales, I decided to be a good and proper Auntie and read them to my niece (6). What better way to end the day and send her off to slumberland?
These children’s tales are very short - perfect for bedtime reading - and are full of valuable lessons:
1. Step-mothers are evil bitche...more
For $8? hell yes.
4 likes · like · see review
Feb 21, 2011
L11_Nick Mamula
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
traditional_lit
The original collection of tales, that encompasses the foundation of what we base the majority of our present day lessons upon. In particular, Rumpelstiltskin was a story that struck me as very intense and dark for being a children story. The idea that Rumpelstiltskin is portrayed in a devil like fashion, and is the essence of evil, scares even me. In addition, the story contrasts normal gender roles, where the man is wise and the woman is weak and insignificant. Within Rumpelstiltskin, the role...more
4 likes · like · see review
May 30, 2008
Maureen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Maureen by:
my dad
Shelves:
children
The original Grimm's Brothers fairy tales were a far cry from the Perrault collection of many of the same stories, the Green Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, or, God forbid, Walt Disney. The Brothers Grimm told stories with meat on their bones, where the good people were heroes and the bad people were really, really bad. The outcome of a particular story rose and fell on the consequences of the actions of the characters. The evil stepsisters in Cinderella, for example, did not go to the wedding of Cin...more
25 likes · like · see review
I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while. It is fascinating to see how all of the fairy tales which we have grown up with in a sanitized Disnified form, originally came to take their shape. The tales are in as enjoyable a form as any cheerful animation. Whatever translation was done is seamless and there are no ridiculous schisms between the meanings and implications of terms that have different connotations in German (a common trait when words do not match exactly in two different languag...more
Good old tales that are always wonderful and refreshing. My all-time favorites, to keep a part of me that'll never grow old. Yup, we've been hearing these same old things quite a lot from time to time, but I never get tired of it. And finally, I got hold of an all-in-one edition, even more than the ones I have read and heard of. Time to put my old little fairy tale books from childhood to rest.
* Shelved to weekly-dose-read: books too heavy and thick that couldn't possibly be carried around for...more
* Shelved to weekly-dose-read: books too heavy and thick that couldn't possibly be carried around for...more
Do you know kids today don't know how gory fairy tales are? This is a travesty and will not stand while I am a teacher. While we were discussing Paul Bunyan this week I got sidetracked and started talking about how everything in fairy tales happens in threes. Like how in the original Cinderella the stepmother tries to trick the prince by cutting of portions of her stepdaughters feet to fit the shoe. The kids were all riveted and many asked "Where's that book with all the gross stories in it?" du...more
14 likes · like · see review
I want to read this book so much! it has the real fairy tales. not the dysney kind.
4 likes · like · see review
As a child, I was never much exposed to fairy tales, only a tiny selection of them. I read (almost) all of them many years later as a part of my cultural anthropology studies, and we compared them to earlier versions (Charles Perrault and others), which were much more explicit and occasionally had sexual content that doesn't appear in the Grimm versions at all. Originally, fairy tales weren't necessarily aimed at children; often the contrary was the case.
There's still a lot of pretty gruesome v...more
There's still a lot of pretty gruesome v...more
3 likes · like · see review
I think this is an absolutely important book for everyone to read. The story tropes are important for appreciation of other later works in all forms of entertainment.
So why did I give it three stars?
Because so many of the stories in here are not ones that you have heard before, and for good reason, they are either boring, a copy of an earlier story in the same work (there about seven stories of Clever So-and-So that all follow nearly the same story path), or don’t really teach anything. Also, h...more
So why did I give it three stars?
Because so many of the stories in here are not ones that you have heard before, and for good reason, they are either boring, a copy of an earlier story in the same work (there about seven stories of Clever So-and-So that all follow nearly the same story path), or don’t really teach anything. Also, h...more
4 likes · like · see review
Ever wonder why we stop reading Fairy Tales!!
All great cultures have passed on rich heritage for coming generations in the form of art, music, dance, dressing, behaviour, traditions, language, greetings, symbols, scripts, and of course literature. Literature could be in the form of religious scripts, historical recordings, pictorial representations, hymns, songs and folk tales. Aesop Fables of the Greek, Panchtantra Tales of India, Jataka Tales of the Buddhist and the Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tale...more
All great cultures have passed on rich heritage for coming generations in the form of art, music, dance, dressing, behaviour, traditions, language, greetings, symbols, scripts, and of course literature. Literature could be in the form of religious scripts, historical recordings, pictorial representations, hymns, songs and folk tales. Aesop Fables of the Greek, Panchtantra Tales of India, Jataka Tales of the Buddhist and the Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tale...more
1 like · like · see review
"Seven at one blow--that is my way!"
Never has a little book of stories delighted me so. It was easy, breezy and beautiful, like Covergirl. And amusing, and creepy, like all good fairy tales should be. The quote above is from "The Gallant Tailor," a sure favorite, though there are so many I would call favorite. "Six Soldiers of Fortune" holds a certain rebellious essence to it, and could mean a lot to a soldier of today. In the story, soldiers are neglected once one of the king's wars is declared...more
Never has a little book of stories delighted me so. It was easy, breezy and beautiful, like Covergirl. And amusing, and creepy, like all good fairy tales should be. The quote above is from "The Gallant Tailor," a sure favorite, though there are so many I would call favorite. "Six Soldiers of Fortune" holds a certain rebellious essence to it, and could mean a lot to a soldier of today. In the story, soldiers are neglected once one of the king's wars is declared...more
Over the years, I've read a considerable amount of fairytales so I was familiar with most of the stories in this collection (in one form or another). However I was surprised at how dark some of the themes were, especially if they were intended for children. Good always seems to prevail but not in the way we would think. With faithful servants being beheaded and frogs being smashed on walls before their worth emerges, no wonder Disney et al have glossed the stories up to suit modern day sensitivi...more
3 likes · like · see review
Jan 14, 2009
Megan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
myths-folklore,
children
I love the stories... but dislike the edition. I bought it because it is a nice hardback that looks good on the shelf. Unfortunately, Barnes & Noble doesn't include any forward, afterward or footnotes ~ just presents the stories. Again, I love the stories, but would have also liked a little more information about their origin, etc. But I suppose this is how Barnes & Noble is able to publish such a pretty book for such a low price.
Knowing what we do now, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that 18th-century Germans had a really twisted sense of morality and justice. Still, some of the stuff in this book is shocking.
5 likes · like · see review
This is one of those seminal books of my childhood (alongside the King James Bible), and in conglomerated form, always served to remind me that at least my stepmother never tried to have me chopped into pieces and planted beneath a juniper tree, or had me married me off to bloodthirsty robbers. And I can also ask myself "What is the Real?" and wonder about it for at least forty-five minutes.
Even though I like some of the Disney movies they're mostly watered down and fluffy versions of these incredibly imaginative, dark and grim folk tales that the brothers Grimm collected. Even though not all the tales are interesting I would happily get this to my bookshelf anyway.
And finally, I would like to thank you my Finnish teacher who introduced the morbid world of the Grimms to my class when we were 13. She read the most memorable fairy tales to us under a red lamp and it made me travel ba...more
And finally, I would like to thank you my Finnish teacher who introduced the morbid world of the Grimms to my class when we were 13. She read the most memorable fairy tales to us under a red lamp and it made me travel ba...more
In this review I will only be talking about Ashputtle (Cinderella). I had never read the Grimm version before and was pleasantly surprised on how simple and to the point it is. It makes me wonder why Disney had to add so much to the story when it could have been done so nicely with less. I guess movies have to be made though. I did think it was shocking that both stepsisters cut off part of their feet and were blinded, but at the same time they were pretty awful. I much prefer this version to an...more
I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while. It is fascinating to see how all of the fairy tales which we have grown up with in a sanitized Disnified form, originally came to take their shape. The tales are in as enjoyable a form as any cheerful animation. Whatever translation was done is seamless and there are no ridiculous schisms between the meanings and implications of terms that have different connotations in German (a common trait when words do not match exactly in two different languag...more
Obviously, there are timeless stories in this book that everyone has heard of like Little Red Riding Hood, Show White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, etc. And the premise of the book is to capture ALL of the Grimm brother stories. But I had a very serious problem with this book. Many (about 4/5 the book) were repeated stories. For example, it doesn't matter if a fairy, angel, the devil, your mother, a begger, a dwarf, etc. give you three wishes or three things which will eventually be a dress the...more
Annotation:
The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales consisted of numerous classics that we have all read at one point or another, such as Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. However the Grimm brothers put their own gruesome twist on them. The story lines are generally the same but when it comes to the evil witches and fairies the extremity of their wickedness is expanded.
Response:
The different version were definitely shocking, and they put a different spin on the stories I adore growing up. As I...more
The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales consisted of numerous classics that we have all read at one point or another, such as Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. However the Grimm brothers put their own gruesome twist on them. The story lines are generally the same but when it comes to the evil witches and fairies the extremity of their wickedness is expanded.
Response:
The different version were definitely shocking, and they put a different spin on the stories I adore growing up. As I...more
Mar 19, 2013
Maxzine Rossler
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
traditional-fantasy,
electronic
The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales consisted of the classic fairy tales that many of us have read as children. Some of the fairy tales were Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. The Grimm’s version was a lot more gruesome and unpleasant than the regular versions. Throughout the stories the reader runs into the evil side of things with mean witches and fairies. Although in the normal version of the fairy tales there are evil witches and stepmothers this version was more extreme. The same topic...more
The King's Son Who Feared Nothing:
This story was very interesting to me. It includes a prince who is tired of living in his fathers house and goes out on his own. He has adventures with a giant and then comes upon a maiden who needs his help. He must stay in a castle for three nights without any fear to set this maiden free. This would be a good story to tell to students and then talk about how the kings son was so brave and the way that he was helping the maiden and he had to stay strong for he...more
1 like · like · see review
This gruesome fairytale about Cinderella begins after her mother dies and her father has two other daughters with another woman. Her step-sisters make fun of her and do not let her do things with them. She is forced to pick out lentils from the ashes when she wanted to go to the festival for the King's son. Her father is not very caring, but brings back a hazel-tree branch that knocked his hat off, as she asked. She planted it by her mothers grave and sobbed. Birds would land on the branch every...more
This book contains 210 fairy tales that can really be boiled down to about a dozen different types of tale. I confess, it was a bit of a slog to read all at once because of the boring stock characters and oft-repeated plot elements, but these tales weren't meant to be read in rapid succession; they vary hugely in what they are meant to convey (e.g., punishing vice/rewarding virtue, entertainment, scaring the listener, sharing history, religious teaching, etc.). I did enjoy unsanitized versions o...more
2 likes · like · see review
This original version of Cinderella tells the story of girl who's mother died and is under the care of her evil stepmother. She is treated unfairly and poorly by her stepmother and is not allowed to attend the Prince's ball. With help of her Fairy God Mother, Cinderella attends the ball where the prince falls in love with her. Cinderella knowing the magic would ware off at midnight fled from the prince arms as the clock began to strike 12, in such a hurry she lost her glass slipper. The Prince s...more
Oct 23, 2012
Kara Buchholz
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
traditional,
adolesence,
animals,
electronic-reader,
family,
fantasy,
humor,
love,
slavery,
sibling,
k-5,
zilveren-griffel-2006-zilveren-p,
311
Summary
A child’s mother passed away when she was young, but before she died she made her daughter promise that pious and good. When the mother passed away the daughter would weep at her grave multiple times a day. When the seasons changed she was quickly shown into a new family with her father and new wife along with two step sisters. The step family made the girl a slave and referred to her as Cinderella. One day the step sisters received an invitation to a festival for the prince to find his f...more
A child’s mother passed away when she was young, but before she died she made her daughter promise that pious and good. When the mother passed away the daughter would weep at her grave multiple times a day. When the seasons changed she was quickly shown into a new family with her father and new wife along with two step sisters. The step family made the girl a slave and referred to her as Cinderella. One day the step sisters received an invitation to a festival for the prince to find his f...more
Oct 22, 2012
Veronica Smith
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
print-format,
traditonal
Cinderella is a story of a girl named Cinderella whose father remarried a woman with horrible daughters. The whole family is summoned to the castle because the prince is in search of a bride. When Cinderella begged her stepmother to let her go she told her that she is too dirty and has no clothes to go to the festival. She then went to her mother’s grave to cry and spoke to the tree asking it to throw gold and silver down on her.
The bird threw down a silver and gold dress and silver silk slippe...more
The bird threw down a silver and gold dress and silver silk slippe...more
This is the traditional story of Cinderella. When Cinderella's father remarries an evil step mother, she is devastated. Cinderella is forced to act like a servant and do all the chores while her two step sisters are treated like princesses. One day a bunch of dresses come and the girls are all invited to the Prince's ball so he may find a wife. Her step mother tells her she must stay home and do chores. A fairy god mother comes and with her wand transforms Cinderellas raggedy clothes into a beau...more
I learned a lot from reading Grimm's Fairy Tales. I learned that the MOON EATS PEOPLE, that there are several versions of what are essentially the same tale that were originally Celtic Fairy tales AND that they were quite racist and really, really didn't like Jews :/
There are 200 fairy tales and 10 children's 'legends'. There are some that we would recognise in one form or another today. I was surprised to see that Cinderella was largely unchanged from it's original Celtic form(called Fair, Br...more
There are 200 fairy tales and 10 children's 'legends'. There are some that we would recognise in one form or another today. I was surprised to see that Cinderella was largely unchanged from it's original Celtic form(called Fair, Br...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Is there a theme of suicide in any of the tales? | 7 | 42 | May 17, 2013 05:15pm | |
| What do you think of this argument? | 2 | 35 | Mar 21, 2013 05:35am | |
| are old Fairy Tales really too violent? | 40 | 221 | Feb 27, 2013 02:18pm | |
| The Sword and Laser: Once upon a time vs Grimm | 22 | 239 | Dec 08, 2012 10:32am | |
| Endicott Mythic F...: The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm - general discussion | 11 | 31 | Nov 23, 2012 10:16pm | |
| Reading the Classics: Children's Classic: Grimm's Fairy Tales | 28 | 132 | Oct 05, 2012 05:56pm |
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm, German philologist, jurist and mythologist, was born at Hanau, in Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental German Dictionary, his Deutsche Mythologie and more popularly, with his brother Wilhelm, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
(From Wikipedia.)
More about Jacob Grimm...
(From Wikipedia.)
Share This Book
5 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Mirror, mirror, here I stand. Who is the fairest in the land?”
—
29 people liked it
“Some men are born to good luck: all they do or try to do comes right—all that falls to them is so much gain—all their geese are swans—all their cards are trumps—toss them which way you will, they will always, like poor puss, alight upon their legs, and only move on so much the faster. The world may very likely not always think of them as they think of themselves, but what care they for the world? what can it know about the matter?”
—
12 people liked it
More quotes…
Apr 23, 2013 06:20am
You should read these stories for a real giggle, they are completely nuts. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on my...more
Apr 23, 2013 06:25am