MarytaleBrothers Grimm fairy tales
Brothers Grimm fairy tales, retold in our own words: Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and fifteen more.
20 stories
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm did not invent these stories. They collected them, mostly from people who told them out loud, and published them in 1812 — and because the tellers all told them a little differently, there has never been one correct version of any of them. Ours is another telling, written for reading aloud.
🔑 A few of them are not the story most people remember, and we have kept them that way. The frog is not a prince until the very end, and he becomes one because a girl loses her temper and throws him at a wall, not because she kisses him. Thumbling is swallowed by a cow. The fisherman's wife ends up exactly where she started.
They are the longest stories here — seven to ten minutes each — and several of them have something difficult in the middle: a wood you get lost in, a door you should not have opened, a promise you should not have made. That difficulty is the reason they have lasted, and the reason a child would rather meet it sitting next to you than anywhere else.
Cinderella8-10 min read · 16 pagesCinderella, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. No fairy godmother here — what helps her grows on her mother's grave.
Frau Holle7-9 min read · 16 pagesFrau Holle, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. A girl falls down a well into another country, where shaking the beds makes it snow.
Hansel and Gretel8-10 min read · 16 pagesHansel and Gretel, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. The breadcrumbs do not work, and the house in the clearing is made of sugar.
Little Red Riding Hood7-9 min read · 16 pagesLittle Red Riding Hood, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. She is told to keep to the path, and the wolf asks where she is going.
Rapunzel6-8 min read · 16 pagesRapunzel, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. A tower with no stairs and no door, and a plait of hair long enough to climb.
Rumpelstiltskin7-9 min read · 16 pagesRumpelstiltskin, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. He spins straw into gold three nights running, and the third time he names his price.
Sleeping Beauty7-9 min read · 16 pagesSleeping Beauty, or Briar Rose, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. Every spindle in the kingdom is burned, and one is missed.
Snow White8-10 min read · 16 pagesSnow White and the seven dwarfs, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. A mirror gives the same answer every day, until one day it does not.
Snow White and Rose Red7-9 min read · 15 pagesSnow White and Rose Red, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. A bear knocks at the door in winter and asks to sleep by the fire.
The Bremen Town Musicians7-9 min read · 16 pagesThe Bremen town musicians, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. Four animals too old to be useful set off to become a band, and never arrive.
The Elves and the Shoemaker5-7 min read · 12 pagesThe elves and the shoemaker, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. The shoes are finished every morning, and nobody has seen who does it.
The Fisherman and His Wife6-8 min read · 16 pagesThe fisherman and his wife, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. The flounder grants what she asks for, and she keeps finding something else.
The Frog King7-9 min read · 16 pagesThe frog king, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. He fetches her gold ball out of the well, and she promised him rather a lot for it.
The Golden Goose7-9 min read · 16 pagesThe golden goose, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. Everyone who grabs at it sticks fast, and the line behind it gets longer.
The Star Money6-8 min read · 16 pagesThe star money, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. A girl with nothing left but her shirt gives that away too, and then the sky opens.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses7-9 min read · 16 pagesThe twelve dancing princesses, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. Their shoes are worn through every morning, and the doors were locked.
The Valiant Little Tailor8-10 min read · 16 pagesThe valiant little tailor, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. He kills seven flies at once, and then lets everybody guess what he means by it.
The Wishing Table8-10 min read · 16 pagesThe wishing table, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. A table that lays itself, a goat that makes gold, and a sack nobody should open.
The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids7-9 min read · 16 pagesThe wolf and the seven little kids, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. Their mother tells them how to know him, and he changes both things.
Thumbling8-10 min read · 16 pagesThumbling, the Brothers Grimm tale to read aloud. He is no bigger than a thumb, and he never once lets that be the end of the matter.
Frequently asked
- Are these the original Grimm versions?
- The plots are, including the parts that later retellings tidied away. The words are ours: the Grimm texts exist in many editions and translations, and we have written these again rather than reprint anyone's.
- Are they frightening?
- Some have a frightening middle — the wolf, the witch, the tower. None of them ends badly for the child in the story. If you want the gentler end of the shelf, start with the Bremen town musicians or the star money.
- Which are the best known?
- Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin. Those six are why most people can name the Grimms at all.
Who wrote Cinderella, Snow White and the fairy tales
By topic
- Bedtime stories about animals
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- Classic fairy tales
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