12x12: Grimm's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

I got this book from Barnes & Noble years and years ago... I think I actually got it the same month that J and I moved to Iowa City two year ago. I started reading it right away, but I just never got through it. I was about a third of the way through it when I started re-reading it this month!

What I Loved:

• It's objectively a classic, which is why I wanted to read it in the first place. How could I go through life without reading Grimm's Fairy Tales?!
• It did NOT disappoint! All these stories were weird, a little racist at times, definitely super dark, and usually made no sense.
• I was crazy about the fact that these were oral stories passed down for hundreds of years! I could see what kinds of messages the original storytellers were trying to convey (most of the time), and I could really see these stories being even better told out loud.
• I'm definitely going to be reading these to my kids in the future! I might take out the especially gory stories, but most of them are keepers!
• It was easy to read this at night because most of the stories are really short! Even when I was really tired after a day of homework, it was actually do-able to read a chapter or two before I went to bed. Every little bit counts!

What I Wasn't Crazy About:

• Every once in a while, you get a really, really anti-Jewish story. Really strange how unapologetically anti-Semetic some of these stories are, but I also think it was important to be taken aback by the racism, you know? It was a good reminder of how normal this kind of behavior was for a really long time.

Would I Recommend This Book?

• IN A HEARTBEAT. They're classic. Tear out the racist stories and read this out loud to your family!

This particular project took a really long time, but it was absolutely worth it! Grimm's Fairy Tales is now one of my favorite books, and I'm sooo proud of myself for getting through it after two years. Yeah, it took me long enough, but I powered through and finally finished a classic! :)

Have you ever read Grimm's Fairy Tales? Which stories are your favorite?