Fairy Tale Journeys

The Master Thief - From the Grimms

Tom Thumb’s Travels from the Grimms.

Tom Thumb from the Grimms.

This is the story of The Goose Girl at the Well by the Grimms. It will probably remind you of a great many other tales we have read or that you have read to yourself! I thought of King Lear, Cap O’ Rushes, Love Like Salt, Toads and Diamonds, and many more!

This is a cumulative fairy tale called The Golden Goose, from the Grimms.

The Water of Life - The Grimm Brothers

The True Bride - The Grimm Brothers

The Goose Girl - From the Grimm Brothers

Here is the final chapter of this delightful literary fairy tale by John Ruskin. I hope you have enjoyed listening to it. Have a wonderful Christmas season and I will see you all in the New Year!

Enjoy chapter for of John Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River.

Here is chapter three of Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River.

Enjoy chapter two of John Ruskin’s The King of the Golden River.

The King of the Golden River is a literary fairy tale by John Ruskin. This is chapter one. Stay tuned for the next installments!

The Bremen Town-Musicians - Grimms

Brother and Sister - Grimms

Molle Holle - Grimms

The Old Woman in the Wood - Grimms

The Turnip - from the Grimms

Rumpelstiltskin from the Grimm Brothers

King Thrushbeard from the Grimm Brothers

Enjoy this variation on the Snow White story. How is it similar and how is it different from the Snow White we are all more familiar with? What other tales does this one remind you of. I think it has a very Northern feel.

This is another story from the Grimm Brothers.

Enjoy this Beauty and the Beast story from the Grimm Brothers.

This is the true Little Red Riding Hood story with a happy ending!

The Juniper Tree from the Grimm Brothers is rich with symbolism and layers of meaning. Enjoy!

Enjoy Hansel and Gretel - from the Grimm Brothers.

The Golden Bird from the Grimm Brothers

The Twelve Dancing Princesses from the Grimm Brothers

The White Snake from the Grimm Brothers

The Six Servants from The Grimm Brothers

Enjoy part two of the Two Brothers from Grimms. You will no doubt be reminded of a great many other stories and I would love to hear about the connections you make. What else do you notice? Do you have any questions about this story?

Enjoy part one of The Two Brothers from the Grimms. And then you might like to listen to Snow White again, or read Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline in full or in Leon Garfield’s Shakespeare Stories Volume II.

Snow White - Grimm Brothers

This is Sleeping Beauty - Grimm Brothers

Welcome to our first Grimms fairy tale - the beloved Cinderella. How is the similar to or different from other Cinderella type stories that you know?

We begin with an English Fairy Tale from Joseph Jacobs, because it goes with the Legend of Lier and Shakespeare’s King Lear that we have been reading in co-op this week. Jacobs was one of the people influenced by the Grimm Brothers to collect folktales.

To start our new year of fairy tales, I want to share this introduction to the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. If you would like to learn more about the Grimm Brothers, I recommend The Brothers Grimm by Ann Schmiesing. You can find it as an audiobook on Audible and Hoopla, or purchase a hard copy. This biography is detailed and presents the brothers sensitively and favorably without glossing over some of their weaknesses. There is also a biography written for children by Donald Hettinga called The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy. It is harder to find, but worth getting if you come across it in a used bookshop or online used booksellers. I also highly recommend the House of Humane Letters How to Read Fairy Tales class. Angelina Stanford shares a lot of background and biographical information about the Grimms, and teaches how to understand the symbolism inherent in fairy tales, making the reading of them a very rich experience. I hope you enjoy this year of reading the Grimms Tales together!

Here is a wonderful Italian Folk Tale that reminds me of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.

An Italian Folk Tale

Another Italian folk tale heroine named Catherine.

This is another Italian Folk Tale. One of many with a female heroine named Catherine.

This is an Italian tale.

Welcome to the Summer Season of Fairy Tale Journeys. This is another Italian tale.

An Italian literary fairy tale

An Italian Folk Tale

A story from Italy.

A story from Italy.

A story from Italy.

This is a story from Italy.

This is a fairy tale from Italy. Note: In case the children wonder what blood sausage is, it is a sausage like food made by cooking blood (usually of pigs) together with fillers such as meat, bread, suet, oats, etc. It is considered a delicacy in several countries.