such good tales!! ( )

When a boy gives some of his cake to an old man in the woods, he is given a golden goose. When people around the boy wish to take from the goose a golden feather, they become stuck to the goose and have to follow it and the boy where ever they go. The goose brings much luck to the boy because he eventually has a parade of people following him. He went down to a palace where the king declared that anyone who made his daughter laugh, they could marry her. His daughter could not stop laughing over the parade. So the boy got to marry her. The king had one condition, he must bring him a boat that sailed on water and land. He ended up going back to the old man and he gives them the boat.
The theme is to always be nice to people because good things could also happen to you. ( )

I find it a bit demoralizing to go back to the Brothers Grimm, such a part of my childhood and collectively our very concept of childhood, and not be able to get over the fact that it's all bloody death and princesses, sorry "kings' daughters," waiting to be plucked, but what can I say, that's how I feel. My kid is a sensitive guy and when my mum read him "Peter and the Wolf" he was like "the wolf only ate the bird because he thought it was food" and when I read him this he didn't react really but while he'll have to come to terms with the fact of death and of nature red in tooth and claw, I feel like golden goose–type stories less give you the facts than convey a morality (plucky lad is plucky, gets girl) and that might be harder to sort out somehow. My niece's generation are all inventing new genders at this point so I suppose it'll take care of itself, but I reluctantly concede that a lot of things I loved growing up I just can't see passing on to my own child (cf. also the Just So Stories, which we started recently and which still have their charms but there was just one too many nigger joke for me. Let him read and appreciate as an older boy who can separate the threads, or study it as a grownup if he makes the same mistakes as his dad and becomes an English student.) ( )

The Gold Goose is a cute story about how kindness can go a long way. The story is about three brothers and each of their encounters with an old man they meet in a forest. The old man asks each brother for a piece of their cake, but the two older brothers act selfishly and refuse. The third brother however, shared his piece with the old man and acted kindly towards him. After this nice gesture the old man rewarded the third brother by giving him a golden goose. This gift leads the third brother on an adventure with many people trying to touch the golden goose, and as they reach for it, magic takes over and makes them follow the third brother around town. The end of the story is quite surprising. The third brother goes into town because he heard the king say whoever can make his daughter laugh will marry her. With the luck of the old man and the goose the brother wins the heart of the princess and becomes king. The illustrations worked for the book I think. They were "light" in a way and fit well with the scene. I think this is an interesting fantasy. It has all the "magic" and "mystical" characteristics to it but I think it sends a good message to children. The third brother was kind to the old man, and because of that the old man rewarded him with things he could not imagine. I think this would be a good book to read to children and even make a lesson about kindness out of it. ( )

The Golden Goose by Jacob Grimm was lively, poetic, and fun to read. The tale kept with the oral tradition that I have heard growing up. The theme that emerges from the story is to be happy with what you have and not to desire the gifts of others. This theme goes with the book because every body who tried to steal Simpleton's golden goose would be stuck to the goose forever. Another theme that emerges from the story is to be nice to everybody because one never knows how they might be able to help you one day. Simpleton was the only person who was nice to the old man, because he was nice the old man gave him gifts to help Simpleton out. ( )