Monroe Free Library

Linguists, philologists, and restorers of ancient texts, the Brothers Grimm practically invented the science of folklore with the publication of Kinder-und Hausmarchen (1812-1815), which became popularly known as Grimm's Fairy Tales. Comprising 120 of their best-loved tales, this new Barnes & Noble Classics edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales includes criticism, reception, discussion questions, and legacies, to appeal to readers of all ages. --from Publisher's...

Snow-White, fair-haired, quiet and shy and Rose-Red, dark-haired, outspoken and lively, are two little girls living with their mother in a small cottage by the woods. They give shelter on a winter night to a kindly bear, who treats them gently and returns every night. In the summer the girls encounter a wicked dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. Freeing the dwarf, the girls are met with loud ungrateful recriminations for cutting his beard. More...

A little girl walks to the end of the world to find her seven brothers and free them from enchantment.

To win a bride and a kingdom, a soldier endeavors to discover why the dancing shoes of the king's twelve daughters are worn to pieces every morning.

In The Golden Bird a king who has been robbed of a golden apple commands his gardener's sons to watch the tree. Seeing that the thief is a golden bird, the youngest son tries to shoot it, but only knocks a feather off. Fascinated by the feather, the king decides he wants the whole bird. The gardener's son and his two brothers must make fateful choices in what turns into a fearsome quest to capture the bird. It is Aarne-Thompson folktale type 550,...

In The Goose Girl a princess' maid turns on her mistress while traveling and forces her to switch roles with her. The False princess then kills the princess' horse to keep it from talking and forces the real princess to herd geese with the boy Conrad. Conrad begins to notice strange things about the new goose-girl and informs the king. The king coaxes the truth out of the real princess and the false princess is duly punished.