Fairy Tales From the Brothers Grimm - Philip Pullman

Author:  Philip Pullman
Publisher: Viking/Penguin, November 12, 2012
Source: A copy from the publisher
Audience: High School and Adult
Read Aloud: Stories can be read aloud or shared with children
Pair with:  Adam Gidwitz' A Tale Dark & Grimm or In a Glass Grimmly.

Description from the publisher:

This year marks the 200^th anniversary of the first publication of Grimm’s fairy tales. To celebrate, Viking is thrilled to publish FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, a retelling of fifty beloved stories by Philip Pullman, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy.

In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of Children’s and Household Tales. Now, two centuries later, fairy tales are once again all the rage with TV shows like Grimm and Once Upon a Time dominating ratings and two movie adaptations of “Snow White” out in the same year.  With FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, Philip Pullman brings these much-loved tales back to the page. 

From stories like “Cinderella” and “Hansel and Gretel” to lesser-known treasures like “The Girl With No Hands,” “The Three Snake Leaves,” and “Godfather Death,” Pullman retells fifty of Grimm’s timeless classics for the modern age in his lively, beguiling prose. He includes all the most familiar characters—Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, the Frog Prince, and Rapunzel—while also introducing readers to some they might not have met yet.

Pullman has consulted a variety of editions of the work to pull together a seamless version of each story that focuses on engaging readers and demonstrating exactly why these fairy tales have been told over and over again, remaining vibrant since their original publication in the early 19th century. With FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, Pullman pays homage to the tales of romance and villainy that inspired his unique creative vision—and that continue to cast their spell on the Western imagination.

My thoughts on this book:
In FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, author Philip Pullman retells 50 of the more well known fairy tales.  Each fairy tale is then accompanied by a half page to full page of notes providing more information about the text and similar stories.  Though many children are familiar with various renditions of the Grimm Fairy Tales, this is a book for the "student" of fairy tales.  The High School student or adult who is interested beyond just the retelling of the stories but to the background as well.  I found the notes section particularly fascinating and informative.  The information within the notes also reveals various aspects of the lessons meant to be learned by children as part of the original tales and which continue to hold true today.  

Teachers and parents may select specific stories to read aloud to children or to use in lesson that compare various retellings of a particular story.  This is a wonderful collection to maintain in a personal reference collection or for the serious reader of Grimm stories.     
  
Official Book Trailer:

About the author:
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) has sold more than fifteen million copies and been published in more than forty countries.  The first volume, The Golden Compass, was made into a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.  Pullman is at work on a companion His Dark Materials novel The Book of Dust.  He lives in Oxford, England.
  


Links to check out:

Interview with Philip Pullman on the Telegraph

Excerpt in the Guardian

BBC Interview

The Golden Key (An e-book special)


Stop back on Thursday for a chance to win a copy of Pullman's FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHER'S GRIMM.