Selected Tales

Since the first publication of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Kinder-und Hausmarchen (Tales for Children and Households), in 1812, these stories have been translated into more than 160 languages, moving beyond Germany to become a worldwide phenomenon. Their best-known characters rank alongside those of Green mythology as touchstones of universal meaning: Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Rapunzel, and the Frog Prince.

Folktales transmit messages that communities deem vital, whether cautionary-as in "Little Red Riding Hood," a veiled warning of the dangers of adolescence-or celebratory, as in "The Six Swans," an avowal of sibling love.

Although most of the tales are conservative in outlook-the old ways usually turn out to be best-many also delight in upending the social order, as when a clever, plucky peasant becomes a king ("The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake"), or when animals get the better of humans ("The Brewman Town Musicials"). This selection of nearly fifty of the tales includes the famous ones along with others that represent the full spectrum of the Grimm Brother's Collection.