The Brothers Grimm: Popular Folk Tales

by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Brian Alderson (Translator)

Thirty-one folk and fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers including "Rapunzel," "Snow White," "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," and "Hansel and Gretel."

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

German 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.

Reviews

[Abigail]

I had been casting about in my mind of late, trying to think of a suitable gift for my cousin's young son, when it occurred to me that all children should have a few fairy-tale collections in their library. Naturally, my mind turned to this book, with its thirty-one tales from the Brothers Grimm. Translated by Brian Alderson in the 1970s, and illustrated by the talented Michael Foreman, who has worked with such children's literature luminaries as Leon Garfield, Terry Jones, and Michael Morpurgo, its brevity and visual whimsy make it the ideal introduction to these marvelous tales.

A "complete" edition of the Brothers Grimm might prove overwhelming for the very young child, but this title is the perfect length. Foreman's art, which can be both eerie and humorous, enhances the effect of these "strange little tales." I enjoyed Alderson's translation, which strives to locate the tales in their oral context, and to communicate the directness of the text in the original German. The language here is not "fancy" or remote, and has an earthy, sometimes very working-class flavor. This is a very "British" translation, particularly in those selections where Alderson is trying to approximate the dialectical variations of the original, but I think American readers will be able to appreciate it.

The tales themselves (as always) are fascinating... The gruesome Fitcher's Bird, a variation on the classic Bluebeard story, always makes me shiver. The Fisherman and His Wife is a tale that has been recurring in my reading recently, with versions from Poland and Russia cropping up. The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Rapunzel are always favorites, as is Hansel and Gretel and Rumpelstiltskin.

Greedy and cruel women abound here, and their punishments are invariably extreme. The double-standards can be a little difficult to take: the uncaring father in Hans, My Hedgehog is rewarded by his son in the end, but neglectful mothers meet terrible ends. Still, children will thrill to these tales (severed body parts and all), particularly the ones about young people cast out into the world.

[Ilana]

Beautiful, but gruesome illustrations and definitely not the Disney versions for these fairy tales.

To warn: I read these when I was about seven or eight or so and still have a copy. However, I wouldn't recommend this version for kids that age if they are easily scared. Age appropriateness is something for each parent to determine (though I do find parents usually err on the cautious side way too much), but as I kid I did have rather ghoulish tastes and my parents were quite hands off.
However, I certainly turned out with a strong sense of empathy and an intense dislike for real violence so in my case, reading such things in no way 'desensitized' me.

[Jennifer]

Some great; some ok.

[Moni Smith]

I have found myself almost obsessed with these stories. I decided to read through these folk-tale and fairy-tale classics because I don't remember being exposed to the original versions of the stories in my childhood. I absolutely love them. Some of the originals are so gruesome that they had me exclaiming "oh my God!" out loud in the staff lounge at work, and then I had to share the passage with my co-workers. Did you know that Snow White's step-mother told her henchman to kill Snow White and bring back her lungs and liver so she could eat them? yikes! And don't even get me started on the story "Fitcher's Bird." That story will give you nightmares.

They are freaking awesome!

The edition I checked out from the library didn't include Red Riding Hood and Cinderella so I just bought the Complete Grimms and will read them at my leisure.

[John Kulm]

Marie-Louise von Franz wrote several books examining fairytales from a Jungian archetypal perspective. Her writing got me interested in reading fairytale books like this one. I found it intriguing to see the images in these old fairytales, for the first time, as similar to the images in dreams. For example, a stepmother murders her stepson, and the stepson's half-sister buries his bones under a juniper and the bones transform into a bird that sings about how he was killed. Very dreamlike. Then, in Jungian fashion, the stepmother, stepson, half-sister and bird can be seen archetypally as ... god knows what. (Actually, it seems obvious to me what archetypal figures they represent, but the value of it is in pulling your own meaning out of it so... enough.)

Nicely illustrated, too.

[Thomas Wyatt]

The amazing tales originally told by the Brothers Grimm translated by Brian Alderson. It retells many of the famous and infamous tales known worldwide which is assisted by some great illustrations. The interesting aspect I found is that the original details, most specifically the gory details in those tales. Many do not know the original or full story due to the fact that many have been made incredibly happy by Disney and others. An example of this is Little Snow White, the wicked witch has to dance with shoes that are red hot until she died. Although it serves to teach adults and children alike about how the tales were written, however it can also lose the magic so to speak for some children where the happy endings aren’t as happy as Disney would intend you to believe. It is jam-packed with very well known tales as well as those many haven’t ever heard of. Truly a great book.

[Taylor S.]

i learned not to runnaway from home or not to lie. but to make sure to treat yourself and others in a positive way. The stories that you read in this book are all realistic thing in a fictional way. I really liked this book because the stories get you wondering, what will happen next or what will they tell you in the next story.

[Emily P]

I gave this book three stars because it wasn't a bad book but it just wasn't my taste. Many of the stories had lessons in them and others were just plain boreing. It did take me back, though, to when I was little and my parents would tell me these stories.

[Courtney Niederer]

Some familiar good tales, some so strange I can't even describe them.

[Luke Smith]

The real delight was not just realising how many of these stories I knew, but the bizarre ones I'd never heard of, like hans my hedgehog. Great fun