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bibliophiliadk's review against another edition
4.0
*Popsugar 2015 Reading Challenge*
**A Book You Started But Never Finished**
**A Book You Started But Never Finished**
allison_13's review against another edition
4.0
I have always been fascinated in retellings of fairy tales, but somehow, I've not read the "originals" since I was in fourth of fifth grade. Now that I'm the selector for fairy tales at work, I am surrounded by them daily. So when I saw Perrault sitting on the shelf the other day, I took it eagerly.
Interesting things to note:
1) Many people consider original fairy tales to be written by the Grimm brothers. (They were actually compiled and rewritten...) Many forget Perrault's tales which were compiled some 200 years before the Grimm brothers.
2) I always thought Beauty and the Beast was a Perrault tale. It's not. It was written by a woman named Mme. Leprince de Beaumont.
Now to the actual book. The editor included all eleven Perrault tales, and three other french tales of a similar vein (of which Beauty and the Beast is one.)
Sleeping Beauty - Unlike the story we know so well where she falls asleep and is awakened by true love's kiss the end, this story has a bit more to it. The princess awakes by herself at the end of 100 years. The prince happens to be there, but there's no kiss. And instead of ending, the story continues with a secret marriage and a mother in law who wants to eat the princess and her children. In fact, the mother-in-law's steward cooks various animals to give the queen to eat and hides the children... a theme we see in Snow White some years later.
Puss In Boots - This is a story I had mostly forgot existed until I saw Jane Yolen speak a few months ago. Her thoughts on the story have colored mine to the point that I don't like this so much. The ogre was doing nothing wrong!
Little Tom Thumb - So you remember in Hansel and Gretel when their father takes them to the forest to lose them, but Gretel drops little white stones to follow home. Then when he takes them out again, she drops bread crumbs, but the birds ate them so the children end up lost? Those same events happen to Tom Thumb and his brothers. Only instead of a witch, they find an ogre.
Cinderella - In the Grimm version of Cinderella, there's a lot of mutilation and blood. Cinderella is extremely kind-hearted in this version and forgives her sisters.
Red Riding Hood - Unlike the story most of us are familiar with, this one ends when the wolf swallows Red whole.
Beauty and the Beast - I have always had an issue with Disney's version because the beast is absolutely abusive and the message it gives little girls is to stay with your abuser because your love will change him. People have told me time and again that Disney is just retelling a fairy tale. Well, having read this, the beast is a gentleman in the story. So I maintain, Disney's Beauty and the Beast is awful.
There were a number of other stories in the compilation, but these were the ones that particularly stuck out to me. Going through all these fairy tales has been quite fascinating, and I am looking forward to my next compilation.
Interesting things to note:
1) Many people consider original fairy tales to be written by the Grimm brothers. (They were actually compiled and rewritten...) Many forget Perrault's tales which were compiled some 200 years before the Grimm brothers.
2) I always thought Beauty and the Beast was a Perrault tale. It's not. It was written by a woman named Mme. Leprince de Beaumont.
Now to the actual book. The editor included all eleven Perrault tales, and three other french tales of a similar vein (of which Beauty and the Beast is one.)
Sleeping Beauty - Unlike the story we know so well where she falls asleep and is awakened by true love's kiss the end, this story has a bit more to it. The princess awakes by herself at the end of 100 years. The prince happens to be there, but there's no kiss. And instead of ending, the story continues with a secret marriage and a mother in law who wants to eat the princess and her children. In fact, the mother-in-law's steward cooks various animals to give the queen to eat and hides the children... a theme we see in Snow White some years later.
Puss In Boots - This is a story I had mostly forgot existed until I saw Jane Yolen speak a few months ago. Her thoughts on the story have colored mine to the point that I don't like this so much. The ogre was doing nothing wrong!
Little Tom Thumb - So you remember in Hansel and Gretel when their father takes them to the forest to lose them, but Gretel drops little white stones to follow home. Then when he takes them out again, she drops bread crumbs, but the birds ate them so the children end up lost? Those same events happen to Tom Thumb and his brothers. Only instead of a witch, they find an ogre.
Cinderella - In the Grimm version of Cinderella, there's a lot of mutilation and blood. Cinderella is extremely kind-hearted in this version and forgives her sisters.
Red Riding Hood - Unlike the story most of us are familiar with, this one ends when the wolf swallows Red whole.
Beauty and the Beast - I have always had an issue with Disney's version because the beast is absolutely abusive and the message it gives little girls is to stay with your abuser because your love will change him. People have told me time and again that Disney is just retelling a fairy tale. Well, having read this, the beast is a gentleman in the story. So I maintain, Disney's Beauty and the Beast is awful.
There were a number of other stories in the compilation, but these were the ones that particularly stuck out to me. Going through all these fairy tales has been quite fascinating, and I am looking forward to my next compilation.
morgianlefaye's review against another edition
4.0
I have always been fascinated in retellings of fairy tales, but somehow, I've not read the "originals" since I was in fourth of fifth grade. Now that I'm the selector for fairy tales at work, I am surrounded by them daily. So when I saw Perrault sitting on the shelf the other day, I took it eagerly.
Interesting things to note:
1) Many people consider original fairy tales to be written by the Grimm brothers. (They were actually compiled and rewritten...) Many forget Perrault's tales which were compiled some 200 years before the Grimm brothers.
2) I always thought Beauty and the Beast was a Perrault tale. It's not. It was written by a woman named Mme. Leprince de Beaumont.
Now to the actual book. The editor included all eleven Perrault tales, and three other french tales of a similar vein (of which Beauty and the Beast is one.)
Sleeping Beauty - Unlike the story we know so well where she falls asleep and is awakened by true love's kiss the end, this story has a bit more to it. The princess awakes by herself at the end of 100 years. The prince happens to be there, but there's no kiss. And instead of ending, the story continues with a secret marriage and a mother in law who wants to eat the princess and her children. In fact, the mother-in-law's steward cooks various animals to give the queen to eat and hides the children... a theme we see in Snow White some years later.
Puss In Boots - This is a story I had mostly forgot existed until I saw Jane Yolen speak a few months ago. Her thoughts on the story have colored mine to the point that I don't like this so much. The ogre was doing nothing wrong!
Little Tom Thumb - So you remember in Hansel and Gretel when their father takes them to the forest to lose them, but Gretel drops little white stones to follow home. Then when he takes them out again, she drops bread crumbs, but the birds ate them so the children end up lost? Those same events happen to Tom Thumb and his brothers. Only instead of a witch, they find an ogre.
Cinderella - In the Grimm version of Cinderella, there's a lot of mutilation and blood. Cinderella is extremely kind-hearted in this version and forgives her sisters.
Red Riding Hood - Unlike the story most of us are familiar with, this one ends when the wolf swallows Red whole.
Beauty and the Beast - I have always had an issue with Disney's version because the beast is absolutely abusive and the message it gives little girls is to stay with your abuser because your love will change him. People have told me time and again that Disney is just retelling a fairy tale. Well, having read this, the beast is a gentleman in the story. So I maintain, Disney's Beauty and the Beast is awful.
There were a number of other stories in the compilation, but these were the ones that particularly stuck out to me. Going through all these fairy tales has been quite fascinating, and I am looking forward to my next compilation.
Interesting things to note:
1) Many people consider original fairy tales to be written by the Grimm brothers. (They were actually compiled and rewritten...) Many forget Perrault's tales which were compiled some 200 years before the Grimm brothers.
2) I always thought Beauty and the Beast was a Perrault tale. It's not. It was written by a woman named Mme. Leprince de Beaumont.
Now to the actual book. The editor included all eleven Perrault tales, and three other french tales of a similar vein (of which Beauty and the Beast is one.)
Sleeping Beauty - Unlike the story we know so well where she falls asleep and is awakened by true love's kiss the end, this story has a bit more to it. The princess awakes by herself at the end of 100 years. The prince happens to be there, but there's no kiss. And instead of ending, the story continues with a secret marriage and a mother in law who wants to eat the princess and her children. In fact, the mother-in-law's steward cooks various animals to give the queen to eat and hides the children... a theme we see in Snow White some years later.
Puss In Boots - This is a story I had mostly forgot existed until I saw Jane Yolen speak a few months ago. Her thoughts on the story have colored mine to the point that I don't like this so much. The ogre was doing nothing wrong!
Little Tom Thumb - So you remember in Hansel and Gretel when their father takes them to the forest to lose them, but Gretel drops little white stones to follow home. Then when he takes them out again, she drops bread crumbs, but the birds ate them so the children end up lost? Those same events happen to Tom Thumb and his brothers. Only instead of a witch, they find an ogre.
Cinderella - In the Grimm version of Cinderella, there's a lot of mutilation and blood. Cinderella is extremely kind-hearted in this version and forgives her sisters.
Red Riding Hood - Unlike the story most of us are familiar with, this one ends when the wolf swallows Red whole.
Beauty and the Beast - I have always had an issue with Disney's version because the beast is absolutely abusive and the message it gives little girls is to stay with your abuser because your love will change him. People have told me time and again that Disney is just retelling a fairy tale. Well, having read this, the beast is a gentleman in the story. So I maintain, Disney's Beauty and the Beast is awful.
There were a number of other stories in the compilation, but these were the ones that particularly stuck out to me. Going through all these fairy tales has been quite fascinating, and I am looking forward to my next compilation.
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