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Even if your not a scholar, this tremendous read-aloud reaches all the way back to the voices of the oral tradition, whose rich language and images will transport you to a magical state of being. The Frog King begins "In olden times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face." Try that at dusk or by candle light, and see if an awed hush doesn't fall over your listener(s)! For those with a more serious bent, this is perhaps the most accurate English translation of the Grimm's recordings of the oral tales. The complete collection lets you compare the patterns and rhythms of language and story line. The introduction by Padraic Colum and end commentary by Joseph Campbell (some 30 pages) are an added treasure. This version is frequently used by Waldorf teachers, and is "must have" for all primary teachers and families with children.

I just finished reading this book a couple days ago, and I found it to be quite entertaining. However, many of the storylines in the different tales are quite similiar and so reading this book can feel a bit monotonous at times. In some cases, the storylines can completely veer off from where you think they're headed and can end with totally different characters and environments than were present in the first half of the tale. The writing can seem unfocused, unsolid, and inconsistent (within each separate tale, that is). Also, I personally found most of the characters to be, in a certain aspect, quite annoying, because at least half of the major characters in this book at some point or another in each tale acts almost completely without any rationality. My favorite example of this is in the first couple short paragraphs of the story "Sweetheart Roland", in which an evil witch has two daughters, one bad and biological, and the other foster and good. The bad sister tells her mother that she wants the good sister's apron, and so the mother basically says "well then, I'll go chop off your sister's head while she's asleep tonight and you shall have the apron tomorrow morning." Similiar types of behavior by the characters in these stories is the norm. I personally would hesitate to read these stories to children, because themes of inter-family homicide (usually by parents against children), torture, and cannibalism are prevalent in this book. But as adult entertainment, they're quite fun to read, in a way similiar to The Adventures of Sinbad.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were what we would call today, recorders of folklore. They traveled throughout Germany, listening to, and putting into writing, well over two hundred folk tales which we now call fairy tales.These tales, as originally written, seem to be some sort of morality plays filled with revenge and retribution. A case in point is "Cinderella," which concludes with birds pecking out the eyes of Cinderella's step-sisters as punishment for their evil ways.In many of these tales, fraud and misdeed are touted as acceptable ways to get ahead. This is particularly true when the hero of the tale is taking advantage of the rather naive everyman who is a staple of many of these stories. A case of this is "The Little Tailor" who parlays the killing of seven flies into marriage to a princess who is forced into marrying him against her will.Many of these stories have been revised elsewhere for the consumption of children and have thus been made both suitable and entertaining.Some, however, tend to be dropped from the modern repertoire because no amount of revision can make them suitable reading. An example of this genre is "The Jew Among Thorns." In this tale, the Jew ends up being hanged as a thief after being tricked, harassed, and cheated by a larcenous dwarf. The moral, if you can call it that, seems to be that the very fact of being a Jew is justification enough for hanging.The Brothers Grimm were just chroniclers of what they heard, but what they heard seems to have been on the grim side.The up side of their fairy tales is they have given us a wonderful array of characters who reappear in literature, on the stage, in Disney movies, and in opera. Some notable examples are: Tom Thumb, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and, of course, Cinderella.I'm afraid that I cannot recommend Grimm's Fairy Tales as appropriate reading for children because they present violence, dishonesty, and frequently, murder, as admirable traits. Having said this, however, I must admit that recommending revisions over original versions does go against the grain for me.

I grew up reading this book, an older version of it which was a gift from my brother which unfortunately got misplaced when we moved. I bought this version specially for my daughter and I am sure she will love the tales as much as I do. I love the vocabulary and illustrations that the author has used in this book. Read it! It's fun!!

I collect fairy tale books and have seen many, but this is by far the best and most beautiful. Scharl's illustrations are absolutely wonderful! this is the only version of the stories that I use.