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Grimms' Fairy Tales
Illustration by Walter
Crane for 'Snow White' (1882)
The
Brothers Grimm were Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, German professors
of linguistics, who became best known for collecting folk
and fairy tales.
 In
the course of their work on linguistics which included an
analysis of how words change their sounds over the course
of time, they found that one of the best ways to get older
people to talk to them and share the sounds of their dialects
was to ask them to tell the stories that had been passed
down to them. The brothers kept a record of these stories
and eventually published them in 1812. They followed this
with an update in 1814.
The
Grimms' collection of tales consists mainly of Germanic
tales but includes a number of French tales as well. The
stories were not intended primarily for children. They contain
witches, trolls, goblins, and wolves who prowl dark forests.
Some of the tales were quite explicit and were rewritten
by the brothers to better reflect what was considered appropriate
for their time. Many english translations exist, but most
of these are attempts to make the stories into harmless
entertainments for children. The original tales are often
very dark and do not make any attempt to avoid frightening
their listeners, regardless of age.
The
tales collected by the Brothers Grimm underlie much of what
we are familiar with today in children's literature and
cinema. The entire history of the Disney company is a major
example of the Grimms' influence beginning with the company's
first animated feature film, 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.'
The
tales are a magical, scary, comedic, and often violent journey
into the forests of ancient Germany and France where every
path leads to mystery and adventure.
PARENTAL
NOTICE:
Grimm's Fairy
Tales are not all appropriate for very young children. Some
the of the tales contain violence and prejudice. Unfortunately,
they do reflect some of the less admirable qualities of
the people who told the tales and spread them from one region
to another. Some of the prejudice in evidence still exists
today and cannot be viewed as entirely historical in nature.
Please exercise care when reading them to young children.
Try reading the story you are interested in first, then
decide if it is appropriate material for your young listener.
Illustrations on this page in order of appearance:
'Snow White' by Walter Crane (1882)
'Little Red Riding Hood' by Walter Crane (1875)
See
below for more Grimms' Fairy Tale illustrations.
If
you want to listen to our 1/2-hour audio version of 'Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs,' join the Sound
Story Club.
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