Although very long, worthwhile for readers for all ages! These are fun twists on classic fairy tales most of us have heard, & the ones we haven't the reader will fall in love with! ( )

Summary: The Grimm brothers' collection of folk stories was originally intended as a scholarly work for adults, although they're better known today as children's fairy tales. This collection contains early versions of favorites such as Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. However, there are also many lesser-known fables as well, telling stories of noble kings and beautiful princesses, clever merchants and shiftless sons, magical sacks and enchanted animals, and wicked witches and the depths of the dark forest.

Review: I'd always heard that the original versions of fairy tales were a lot darker and more gruesome than the Disney-fied versions that everyone knows. And, while it's true that the stories in this collection were certainly not nearly as sanitized as the versions that you'll find in children's storybooks, neither were they quite as dark as I'd been led to believe. A lot of the stories are either humorous and light, or relatively straightforward morality tales with the good and honorable people winding up happy and the wicked people ending up punished for their misdeeds. What really surprised me were the few stories that seemed to run counter to the implied morality of the rest of the tales - there was more than one story where the character who is clever and manipulative and greedy actually gets his own way, instead of causing his own downfall. That discontinuity actually interested me more than any of the so-called "dark" elements to the stories; I'd be curious to read a more analytical approach to these classic stories.

This book took me a long time to finish, not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because when a book contains short short stories, it becomes too easy to put down and not pick back up again. The stories I enjoyed most were not the stories I already knew (i.e. Cinderella, etc.), nor the stories that were totally unfamiliar, but rather the stories that I had only ever encountered in passing in other works of fiction. I got a lot of background on quite a few Fables characters whose origins I didn't already know, that's for sure. Finally reading "The Goose Girl" let me see how much of Shannon Hale's version was her own invention, and I was shocked to see that Tender Morsels is an actual quote from "Snow White and Rose Red." Overall, if it isn't too blasphemous, I do have to say that I generally enjoy retellings more than the originals, but that my appreciation for the retellings is deepened by knowing where they come from... so reading the Grimm brothers' originals was certainly worth my time. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Every lover of fantasy and fairy tales should probably read this (and Hans Christan Andersen's Fairy Tales) at some point in their lives. ( )

All of the stories in this collection have a lesson to teach the reader. The stories also allow the reader to escape to another time and place. This is my favorite collection of fairy tales. I would recommend them to all children to help stimulate the imagination and build an appreciation for reading.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Peter Glassman are not the original tales as told by the Grimm brothers. This book is a collection of re-told classic tales, such as Rapunzel, The Valiant Tailor, Rumpelstiltskin, Tom Thumb, and many more. The stories are accompanied by vivid illustrations that enhance the content of the stories.

I’ll admit that I have a skewed outlook on fairy tales as I was brought up on Disney as a child. I was used to the very sanitized, heart-warming classics accompanied by feel good music and loveable characters. I did not realize what fairy tales used to be until I took a Folktale and Fairytale literature class in University. I was horrified by the true nature of the stories, but understood where they were coming from and developed a strange fascination with them. When I chose this book to review, I was hoping that the stories inside would be closer to the originals than to Disney, if that is the self-made spectrum that I am placing them on. Unfortunately, Glassman’s version of these well known tales disappointed. Though not as “fluffy” as some versions, these stories were still highly sterile and lacked the grit that really grabs the reader. In fact, the illustrations show more about the original nature of the text than the actual text does. I would recommend this book as an intermediate introduction to fairy tales, meaning that it is a little heavier than Disney but less graphic than the originals so would be more appropriate for a middle school audience. ( )

Excellent book. Read it and think how many current books/movies are based on these tales...