Talking animals, wicked stepmothers, valiant tailors, cruel witches! Sixty-two stories that feature familiar figures like Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Snow-White and Rose Red as well as lesser-known characters like The White Snake, Sweetheart Roland and Clever Elsie are contained in this volume of Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
The original volume published in 1812 contained more than 85 tales and this number kept increasing till it got to the seventh edition which contained more than two hundred stories. Initially the authors meant the collection to be read not just by children, but also adults and was meant to be a compilation of folk-tales that had been passed down orally for generations. The first edition was packed with scholarly foot-notes and interesting information about the cultural connotations of each story. Later, the authors were persuaded to change the format and make it suitable for children.
