Fairy tales with gruesome details for littles?

[three4me]

DD is four years old and is really into fairy tales these days. Her favorite is Sleeping Beauty, but she really loves all of them. I love when I can find a classic fairy tale with beautiful illustrations, and came across this one at the library. It is gorgeous, and has some well-known stories as well as ones I've never heard before. The thing is that so many of the stories have have harsh details that I'm just not sure are suitable for her.

 

For example, the story of Cinderella has the stepsisters cutting off their toes to get their foot into the shoe. The story of Rapunzel has the prince get his eyes poked out, and then Rapunzel turns up with twin babies. In other stories people are devoured by beasts and witches are thrown into great fires, etc.

 

I understand that these are how the original stories were written, and that they weren't necessarily written for children at the time. But I guess I'm wondering where other parents draw the line between keeping these details from their young kids and exposing them to good literature. At what age are these stories appropriate? Or, if you think they are ok for young kids, do you preface the story and explain what will happen?

 

So far I have avoided reading the really strange stories to DD. And the ones I've read she doesn't seem to bothered by (particularly Cinderella). I'd just love some opinions from other parents of fairy tale-loving kids!

 

Thanks!

 

 

UPDATE: After taking a look at many of the suggestions in this thread and borrowing several of the books from the library, I took a chance and ordered this one used on Amazon. And I am happy to say that I have finally found OUR perfect fairy tale book!!! The illustrations are gorgeous, the book is nicely bound. There isn't an overwhelming amount of text on each page. The stories themselves are lovely. After reading so many fairy tales, I know that these ones aren't translated from the original language as many others are, but the story lines do follow pretty closely to the ones I've read before. And, while there are characters that die (evil queens, witches, etc.), the descriptions are not graphic. For example, the prince in Rapunzel doesn't "have his eyes gouged out by thorns," but rather the "thorns pierced his eyes and blinded him." I am SO happy I found this book and cannot recommend it enough for kids who aren't ready for the gruesome details of some of the stories. Thanks for your help, everyone!

Edited November 11, 2012 by CamilikinsMama

[Farrar]

I think there's not a right answer to this. The original stories weren't written for children, but children weren't shielded from them either. And many psychologists have written about the ways in which reading these tales early on help kids deal with their own darkness.

 

But not all kids... and not all families will find that works for them. And there are versions that maintain most aspects of the story but leave out the gore. We mostly read the versions without the gore when the kids were little, though we didn't shy away from some of the sad bits. I mean, unless you completely change Thumbelina, it's always really dark that she's held hostage underground.

 

The one thing I can't stand though is when the conflict is taken out of them entirely. This is why I loathe Super Why. The giant was just misunderstood? Puh-leeze. Way to teach kids about milquetoast political correctness. Oh, and um, random letter recognition.

 

Also, for older kids, I highly, highly recommend the novel A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, which explores the darkness of the fairy tales in some serious gory details.

[stripe]

Avoid Bluebeard!

 

There are plenty of non grisly ones you can read. You can move into the other ones later. There are just soooo many fairy and folk tales.

[Elizabeth in MN]

I was raised on the original fairy tales and LOVED them. My favorite was "The Little Mermaid" and I loved the moral of the story. I loved the moral of ALL the stories. Test your dd out and see how she responds to them. They are tales of caution, tales of making the correct moral choice in the face of adversity and opposition. Don't explain the stories, let her experience them. She'll have questions, and those are GREAT to have about literature.

[momtoamiracle]

gruesome stories freak my son out, so I read the sanitized ones. HIs imagination is so vivid he would have nightmares and anxiety for months.

 

 

you just have to go with whatever your child tolerates. Just become someone says a story is for children, or is good, doesn't mean it is for your child.

[Guest submarines]

I was raised on the original fairy tales and LOVED them. My favorite was "The Little Mermaid" and I loved the moral of the story. I loved the moral of ALL the stories. Test your dd out and see how she responds to them. They are tales of caution, tales of making the correct moral choice in the face of adversity and opposition. Don't explain the stories, let her experience them. She'll have questions, and those are GREAT to have about literature.

 

I loved The Little Mermaid as well!. However I started reading them myself when I was 9 or 10. I don't think they were read to me when I was 4, but I could be wrong.

 

I also find H.C. Andersen to be often sad and lyrical and layered, but not gruesome. The Brothers Grimm are gruesome and very dark. I read the originals when I was about 9 or 10 as well, and really disliked them.

 

I don't think 4 is the best age for them. There are plenty of original, traditional fairy tales that don't involve murder and mutilation.

[Guest submarines]

Avoid Bluebeard!

 

There are plenty of non grisly ones you can read. You can move into the other ones later. There are just soooo many fairy and folk tales.

 

:iagree: I remember DH starting Bluebeard during a read-aloud, and I ran in from another room, screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" :lol: That was two years ago, when my oldest was 8. Now she would be okay, but not back then.

[jhschool]

I wouldn't discuss "ahead of time." I would say just read them.

If you are uncomfortable with them your child may pick up your

discomfort. I would say enjoy the stories too.

I wouldn't sanitize them if she is not being troubled by them as is

and if she is not a nightmare-prone child.

 

You do need to stay away completely from some of them.

Only get the "traditional" "for children" ones--even though they

were not originally written for children, nowadays there is a set

of them which are considered

children's stories. But there are some others that are about ghouls

and extreme psychosis; also there are some with very adult topics

--but you typically will not find those in the

children's classics section of a bookstore or library.

 

I say kudos to you for reading your child fairy tales! It is the best thing

you can do!

[three4me]

Thanks for the input everyone! One thing I want to avoid is reading her very tamed down versions of some of the stories, and then have her find out in a few years what ACTUALLY happened in them. So can anyone recommend stories that are already pretty tame? For example, there's really nothing too scary in Sleeping Beauty. What other stories would be good?

 

Extra points to whoever knows a great book of fairy tales with beautiful illustrations!! We already have some individual favorites but are still looking for a wonderful volume to add to our collection :)

[momtoamiracle]

we have this one:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Random-House-Book-Bedtime-Stories/dp/0679808329/ref=pd_sim_b_5

[jhschool]

The Andrew Lang series The Blue Fairy Book and the

such are great. There are about 7 books?

 

The illustrations are not color, but they are beautiful.

 

Also look on Dover books. They have Arthur Rackham illustrations,

which are gorgeous.

[stripe]

Thanks for the input everyone! One thing I want to avoid is reading her very tamed down versions of some of the stories, and then have her find out in a few years what ACTUALLY happened in them. So can anyone recommend stories that are already pretty tame? For example, there's really nothing too scary in Sleeping Beauty. What other stories would be good?

 

 

Well, there is the creepy stepmother who wants to poison her stepdaughter, and some stories have her becoming pregnant as the result of how she was awakened by the prince (although I don't think I've found a version that clearly states this).

 

And if you read Perrault's Sleeping Beauty, you will be shocked! shocked! to learn that the wedding is not the end. The prince's mother is a troll who likes to eat humans.....so it gets rather blood curdling when she plots to eat her grandchildren. This is the version in the (Dover) edition of Perrault that I own: http://www.amazon.com/Perraults-Fairy-Childrens-Classics-Paperback/dp/B0083JIIJU/

 

Anyway I am not exactly sure which ones are tame. My six year old listened to the recording of Lang's Red Fairy Book so many times she has them all memorized, but some are pretty scary. I ended up with a pretty large collection, but I ended up not worrying too much about the grisly ones.

 

Btw I find the Fairy Books by Lang as published by Lang to be a bit small and dense in print. I wish they would have spaced it out more. I find it a bit tiresome to read from them. I must be getting old.

 

If you can find Provensen's book of Fairy tales, the volume is beautiful but the stories are not the traditional ones, but literary fairy stories written by famous authors (new stories, not reworkings of the old faves).

http://www.amazon.com/Provensen-book-fairy-tales/dp/0394821211/

 

I also think the Scandinavian stories are interesting. I have this Dover edition, but there are plenty of others, including online because Asbjornsen/Moe/Dasent's book is old. http://www.amazon.com/East-West-Peter-Christen-Asbjornsen/dp/0486225216/

I also have Great Swedish Fairy Tales by Bauer, which has lovely color illustrations. Lots of troll stories - some are creepy.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Swedish-Fairy-Tales-Bauer/dp/0440030412/

 

My library has a series written for kids, of stories retold by Virginia Haviland, one volume from various countries. None are too scary, and the size and style are good for elementary school aged kids. They're all titled Favorite Fairy Tales Told in ---. Your child is 4, but an older kid could read them independently.

[three4me]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will continue my search for the perfect fairy tale book and report back when I find it :)

[stripe]

I remembered the collection called Young Years, mentioned in this thread by kalphs

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=237595

 

I found a cheap copy and it is not bad. It's an enormous collection of stories. There are other good suggestions in this thread (linked).

[Aurelia]

The Oxford Book of Fairy Tales has pretty mild versions of fairy tales, with some pictures. Most of the Andersen fairy tales are not gruesome, though they can be very sad. I remember hating The Little Match Girl as a child, but I LOVED The Snow Queen, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and The Little Mermaid. We have a couple of different versions of Andersen, one illustrated by Michael Hague and one by Anistasiya Archipova. The Archipova one has prettier illustrations, but the Hague version tells the stories better.

[Laurie4b]

When my children were little, I bought a fairy tale book and started reading some of the stories to myself. I thought, "Why would I read this to my children?" I had nightmares as a child from Disney movies and stuff in fairy tales would often bother me as I was trying to fall asleep. So in our household, we skipped fairy tales when they were little. They found them about age 8-10 or so and "ate them up" and they went through their childhoods not being afraid of the dark.

[TranquilMind]

For example, the story of Cinderella has the stepsisters cutting off their toes to get their foot into the shoe. The story of Rapunzel has the prince get his eyes poked out, and then Rapunzel turns up with twin babies. In other stories people are devoured by beasts and witches are thrown into great fires, etc.

 

I understand that these are how the original stories were written, and that they weren't necessarily written for children at the time. But I guess I'm wondering where other parents draw the line between keeping these details from their young kids and exposing them to good literature. At what age are these stories appropriate?

 

 

I read the gentler versions to young children. When they were older like 8 or 9, we did do some of these. I had one who was pretty sensitive.

[three4me]

UPDATE in opening post!!

[stripe]

Hooray!