Grimm's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

By Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Published by Longmeadow Press (1995)

Reading Level: Ages 9-12 years

Pages: 632

Genre: Fairy Tales

Summary: "The Goose Girl" is about a princess that is going to another kingdom to marry a prince, but she is forced by her waiting maid to trade clothes and when they get to the kingdom the real princess becomes a gooses girl and the waiting made pretends to be the princess. The goose boy complains about the weird things the goose girl does and the king finds out she is really the princess and the fake princess is killed.

"The Frog Prince" is about a princess that makes a deal with a frog in exchange for him getting her ball. The princess gets frustrated at the frog demanding she keep her promises so she throws him against the wall and he turns into a prince. They marry and are taken home by a faithful servant of the prince.

"Little Red Riding Hood" is about Little Red Riding Hood taking goodies to her grandmother. But, her and grandmother get eaten by a wolf, but they are saved by a woodcutter and the wolf dies. Then a few days later Little Red meets another wolf on the way to grandma's house. So she and Grandma trick the wolf and he drowns in a pot of oil.

"The Bremen Town Musicians" is about a donkey, a cat, a dog, and a rooster that decide to go to Bremen to become musicians because their owners want to kill them. They find a house with thieves in it and scare them off and then they stay there and never go to Bremen.

My Reaction: I've read these tales for a long time and in fact the book I used for this assignment is my book and it contains a couple hundred more tales in it than these four. I love these stories and that is why I read them for the assignment. I love that some of them are different than the ones we are familiar with. I think it's hysterical that the princess never kisses the frog, but throws him against a wall!

Potential Problems: These tales contain death, people eating animals, graphic details, and a violent princess.

Recommendations: Older children might enjoy these stories. I love them! I started reading them with my sister when she was in about 3rd grade.