Tales from Grimm revised

Title: Tales from Grimm
ISBN:0-8166-4936-7
Translated and Illustrated by: Wanda Gag
Date of publication:1936
Award won: Caldecott Honor and Newbery Honor winner
Age recommendation: 9-12
Group represented: A variety of characters from many places. People and Animal's represented





Summary revised:

Tales from Grimm is a collection of fairy tales that has been translated and made into a book by Wanda Gag. The Grimm fairy tales are 209 fairy tales that were collected by the Grimm brothers and this book is a selection of those. All the fairy tales are German in origin and contain lessons within them and/or happy endings. The stories are fantasy and contain fun tales about children, adults or even animals. One of the more famous stories is Hansel and Gretel which is about a brother and sister who are sent away into the woods by their stepmother to be captured by a witch with a house made out of candy. Hansel and Gretel out smart the old witch and are eventually reunited with their father and their stepmother has gone away. All the characters live happily ever after together. I found that most of the stories I read in Tales from Grimm had the main characters, who were the underdog, living happily ever after. Other examples of this was when a musician group of animals sets out to start a new life together because their former owners don't want them any longer. The animal musicians stumble upon an old house along the way, scare away the thiefs living inside, and are able to live out the rest of their lives together happily. Another story is about on orphan girl who lives alone after her grandmother dies. She has a spindle, needle, and shuttle that magically turn her and her shabby cottage into something that is desired by a prince. The area prince marries her and they live together happily.



These stories could be used in a classroom when studying old fairy tales. The students could be assigned to have to make-up their own fairy tales and the class could make their own book of fairy tales to put in the school library. These fairy tales don't really teach a lesson as some due, this book could be used when teaching a lesson on different types of stories and what stories are or could be used for. A lot of these stories illustrate people that are poor at the beginning, but good things happen to them and they live happily in the end. Students could be assigned to make a book of short fairy tales. Students could act out some of the Grimm tales in class.