to read my dd aged 4.5 the Grimm's Fairy Tales even though some of the stories are so gruesome?

[Portofino]

The one we read on the bus this morning involved a vengeful sparrow, a run-over dog and 3 horses killed with an axe!!! Some of the stories are obviously familiar and some are lovely but there's a worrying amount of cruelty to animals and princes. Dd seems remarkably unfazed by the blood fest but I wonder if I'm causing lasting damage in my attempt to replace Dora the Explorer with the Classics.....

I have Penguin editions of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. There has certainly been so Disneyfication - In fact Grimm's Hansel and Gretel is completely different from the version that i remember. There seems to be a lot of death. I can see why i really preferred Enid Blyton....

My son (5) loves the Hilaire Belloc poem about Henry King who chewed string and died and untimely death he cant get enough of it. Im planning on reading the rest of the cautionary tales to him like the one about Matilda who told lies and was burned to death and Jim who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion

My son (5) loves the Hilaire Belloc poem about Henry King who chewed string and died and untimely death he cant get enough of it. Im planning on reading the rest of the cautionary tales to him like the one about Matilda who told lies and was burned to death and Jim who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion

Oh wow - sounds like I need to get a copy! And some Roald Dahl...

My two dds loved this poem at that age too (one of them has Isobel as part of their name).

Isable met an enormous bear

The fairy tale guy was Bruno Bettelheim; his book was called "The Uses Of Enchantment" - I used it as part of my thesis; it is weird!

Blimey, am clearly old and befuddled Bettelheim still isn't ringing any bells for me, although I clearly remember writing bloody essays on fairy stories and their cultural purpose etc. etc. etc.... (actually it was fascinating, just having to write essays was a bit of a drag).

Vaguely recall that a common factor in a lot of fairy stories is going on a journey and it's really about the journey of growing up and so on. Which is fairly obvious, really, but I think it was a new and exciting concept for yer intellectual types.

I LOVE things like Grimm - I've directed a lot of their stories adapted for stage for children and we always get such a brillaint response, from children aged 3 upwards...especially when Ashputtel (Cinderella)'s ugly sisters get their comeuppence at the wedding when birds swoop down and peck their eyes out...

children can generally take much more blood, guts, gore and melancholy than adults give them credit for - I find the writing tends to be so much better as well

Can't wait to get our baby reading the brilliant old classics...oooooh and Perault's Sleeping Beauty goes beyond the initial happily ever after - Prince Charming's mother is an ogre and tried to eat Beauty's babies...genius...