Grimm Tales for Young and Old presents a collection of tales by the Brothers Grimm, creatively reimagined by Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials. Unlike the familiar bedtime stories of our childhood, Pullman takes us back to the darker roots of these tales. This collection is not intended for bedtime reading with children.

The book begins with an insightful introduction discussing the nature and origin of fairy tales, and each story is followed by a brief explanatory summary. Pullman’s easy writing style lends a refreshing twist to these timeless stories captivating the reader with their unique charm and ensuring accessibility for a modern audience.

These stories, however, mirror the values of their time, portraying women fixated on bearing children, cruel stepmothers, and men constantly falling in in love at first sight with beautiful women who are gifted to them by their fathers; hell, in Snow White, the woman doesn’t even need to be breathing for the prince to fall in love with her beauty!

Contrary to the title's implication of tales for the young, these narratives are not suitable for children. Pullman reminds us that the original tales served as cautionary fireside stories, exploring the darker aspects of the human soul, and providing warnings about the perils of the world. For this reason, the tales in this collection are better suited for mature readers, and I urge you to take note of the trigger warnings before embarking on your journey into the depths of these pages. ( )

I am a runner. And when you run a long race, oftentimes you find yourself basically counting down the miles . . .10 to go, 9 to go, etc. I felt similarly while reading this book. 40 fairy tales to go. 39 fairy tales to go. 1 fairy tale to go. Goal!!
That's how much I enjoy reading fairy tales. Not.
Basically, fairy tales encompass every reading element I don't care for. No character development. Lots of fantastical and supernatural elements. Anti feminist (the women, in the form of princesses, are basically the reward for every good deed and every decent male). Worse yet, a lot of the elements are basically repeated in different tales.
This book was basically a retelling of favorites with Pullman's commentary at the end. Pullman's commentary was more like blog entries than a polished analysis. Sometimes he really made me chuckle. Sometimes he brought up some interesting tidbits. And sometimes, I'm like "can't believe they published this drivel". What his commentary was not was academic or erudite. That's fine, but I couldn't really trick myself into feeling like I was learning something by reading these fairy tales.
A few of the tales did bring about some nostalgia (Little Red Riding Hood). I also liked a few - - by far my favorite was the one about the insatiable wife who is never satisfied and harangues her husband endlessly. Another one I found enjoyable was about a very lazy man who marries a very lazy wife. But others were just bad or meandering or pointless.
At any rate, I'm still giving the book three stars because in the context of the tag, I think the book was a fine effort. I didn't have trouble getting through it. I found some of it mildly entertaining. So on the low end of the three star range, but definitely in there. ( )

I found this collection pretty unedifying really. I think it might be nice for a more casual reader rather than someone who has studied the tales, but lacking either novelty or exegesis its just another collection of fairy tales neither noticably better nor especially worse than any other. ( )

Wonderful book - best overall condensation of Grimm I've encountered. Pullman is not only a wonderful writer, but a very competent scholar as well. ( )

Very well told - will buy own copy. Loved these in childhood in an older version