by the Brother's Grimm
illustrated by Noel Pocock
Barnes and Noble hardcover edition
There are thousands of versions of the Grimm's fairy tales available. I found this version on PaperBackSwap. I thought it might be nice to have a color-illustrated hardcover edition of fairy tales for our shelves. I recently finished reading it aloud and wanted to mention it here on the blog because it might be a good option for families with young children who are looking for a whole book just of Grimm's tales.
Mater Amabilis™ recommends a number of different fairy tale collections in Levels 1B and 1A. We've enjoyed all the ones we've read, though some of them contain more tales than you can read in a year. You can spread them out over multiple years, which is what we've usually done, but you can also just use the selections in the lesson plan charts, which tend to be the best for the ages of children generally at that level. In particular, many of the tales in the Lang fairy books are overly long or sometimes even unexpectedly violent.
This Barnes and Noble edition of the Grimm's tales modifies what I think is the most troublesome tale from Grimm: "Faithful John." In the original, a father kills his two children in order to save the life of a faithful servant. In the Barnes and Noble version, while he is ready to do so, Faith John returns to life without the deaths. I would prefer editions make clear when alterations are made, so I wish there was some sort of a statement on the copyright page about the edit, but I do think the updated version is preferable for children, just as retellings of Shakespeare plays are better at this age than Shakespeare (or, even more so, the modern translations of Shakespeare).
Not that there aren't still strange and sometimes disturbing events in this edition. The Brothers Grimm were not concerned with our modern sensitivities when they recorded their tales. In "Cherry, or the Frog-Bride," a large number of little dogs are thrown into the sea to drown, followed even more disturbingly by a similar number of young women. They are all carelessly cast aside when the most beautiful Cherry appears. My children immediately roared their disapproval, but they were mostly undisturbed. We have learned over the years that fairy tales are not for the faint of heart. They do, however, often make clear what might be hidden by subtleties in society, for there are indeed many instances where an entire group is tossed aside when someone new arrives on the scene.
Note, I no longer have a Level 1A or Level 1B student. My children are Levels 2, 3, 4, and 6, but we still read fairy tales every week; none of us are ready to give them up.
I received nothing in exchange for this post. I requested our copy of this book from another member at PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links.
