Have you ever seen the Disney movie "Cinderella?"  How about "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?"  Or perhaps you have seen my personal favorite, "Sleeping Beauty?"  If your answer to any of the above questions is yes, then you might find this next part very interesting.  The origins of these fairy tales do not come from our American past.  Instead, they come from two brothers of German descent who did not even like children.  Also, have you ever noticed how these classic fairy tales are ingrained into our culture?  We have Disney movies, such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Beauty and the Beast."  We have Cinderella Barbie dolls and video games that portray different fairy tales.  We even have little fairy tale figurines that are given out at drive-thru windows.  These classic fairy tales have become a part of our culture, and almost every childhood memory of mine contains a byproduct of these fairy tales, such as a Snow White doll or a figurine.  Yet, Disney is not the only source for these stories.  In fact, these fairy tales can be found in many different forms.  One of the most famous collections of fairy tales, containing such common stories as "Hansel and Gretel," "Rumpelstiltskin," "Cinderella," and "Sleeping Beauty" comes from the Grimm Brothers. 

    Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two brothers from Germany who devoted their lives to the study of literature and linguistics.  Their devotion to their fields led them to compose a collection of old fairy tales and folk tales that had been passed down through oral tradition for generations. The Grimm Brothers' collection was not written for children, nor did they have children in mind when they envisioned their completed work. Their collection was changed slightly throughout the years to make the stories more suitable for a younger audience.  The Grimm Brothers did not actually author the stories in this collection.  They simply collected the various stories from folk storytellers to conserve some part of their German heritage.  The Grimm Brothers' attentiveness to detail and their passion for their native German culture led them to compose one of the greatest collections of German folk stories of all time.  Whether it is a Disney movie about a beautiful princess named Cinderella, or a toy replica of Prince Charming, these stories will live on because of two brothers who were dedicated to preserving a part of their culture through this collection of folktales. 


    I have chosen to present three fairy tales that I believe will be a good representation of how much the original stories by the Grimm Brothers have changed over time.   I have chosen "Cinderella," "Little Briar-Rose" (Sleeping Beauty), and "Little Snow-White" for my Storybook.  The modern versions of these stories are probably very familiar to you today.  I am sure you have seen the Disney films of these fairy tales, or perhaps you have read these stories in an illustrated children's book.  Either way, these classic fairy tales are well-known to most people around the world.  They are all about beautiful women who have overcome some terrible obstacle and live happily ever after.  Unlike the versions you are probably familiar with, the original versions by the Grimm Brothers are much more graphic and despondent.  For instance, you might be surprised to find out that the story of Cinderella collected by the Grimm Brothers ends with the evil stepsisters getting their eyes pecked out by pigeons.  In the Grimm Brothers' version of Sleeping Beauty, there are young boys who die agonizing deaths while trying to reach the beautiful Sleeping Beauty. Film versions, such as the Disney versions, and other children's books today have taken out these graphic details so that these fairy tales are suitable for younger children. 

    My goal in presenting this Storybook is to enlighten people about the origins of some of their favorite fairy tales, and to compare and contrast the differences that have been incorporated into these stories over the past two centuries.  I have chosen a good friend of mine, Albert Chadwick III, to tell you his very humorous story of what happened to him on his first encounter with the Grimm Brothers' collection of fairy tales.   I was a babysitter for Albert's children at one time, and I grew to love him and his family.  He is a very amiable man with a bright red beard and hair to match.  Albert is a very good husband and father, but he works very late hours.  He is an extremely busy accountant for a big law firm in the city.  Because of this, he is not at home as much as he would like to be, especially in the evenings when his two daughters, Ally and Sarah, are going to bed.  Albert did get the chance to make up for some lost time with his daughters when his wife, Emily, went out of town for a business trip.  I, incidentally, was not available to babysit that week because I was out of town on vacation.  This left Albert in charge of the house and the girls.  One evening, Albert was at home with Ally and Sarah getting ready to put them to bed.  His rather bulky stature made it very difficult for him to catch the girls, but he finally completed the delicate task of getting a five-year-old and a three-year-old in bed.  After many minutes of coaxing, Albert finally lured the girls into bed with the promise of a bedtime story every night that week that their mother would be gone.  With this promise, he picked up the first book he could find and began their magical adventure.


My Coverpage
Cinderella
Little Briar-Rose
Little Snow-White


Image Information:  This is a picture of the classic Disney princesses.
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