THE BROTHERS GRIMM

by Brothers Grimm ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1997

In nearly three dozen Mãrchen--""strange little tales""--newly translated and illustrated, Alderson mixes the usual suspects--""The Bremen Town Musicians,"" ""The Frog King,"" ""Little Snow White,"" ""The Twelve Dancing Princesses,"" etc.--with less common entries, such as the gruesome, peculiar ""Fitcher's Bird"" and a variant on ""The Three Sillies"" called ""The Sad Tale of Clever Elsie,"" in which the suitor later repents of his marriage and tricks the foolish girl into running off. The translations are unusually readable; Alderson is formal without being stiff, scattering earthy details (""The Fisherman and His Wife"" begins and ends in a pisspot), and occasionally breaking into evocative dialect, most notably in a cluster of tales called ""Lazy 'Arry; Sunny Jim; and Skinny Lizzie."" Foreman contributes amusing, Rackhamesque full-color paintings and black-and-white vignettes to the tales, and the collection closes with a brief section of comments and source notes. A nicely balanced, mid-sized gathering.

Pub Date: March 15, 1997

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Victor Gollancz--dist. by Trafalgar

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997

Categories: CHILDREN'S