Chosen because I wanted to see more art by Gustafson. And I was not disappointed. I think my favorite illustration is Tom Thumb taking a bath in an ornately carved mug.

I like that these are indeed classic tales, none stolen from Andersen or Wilde. I like that they're very slightly enriched from the most common versions, giving a little bit of explanation to what's what and why. I like having several of the most famous stories in one collection so your child can indeed learn of our western cultural heritage.

I still don't like animals in clothes, and of course I don't like the lack of diversity.

And so I hope that your children don't love only these tales. I would have loved this as a child, as I loved fairy tales and pretty pictures... but thinking only about princesses etc. did not do me any good. I owned [b:The Red Fairy Book|17622605|The Red Fairy Book|Andrew Lang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1363568145l/17622605._SX50_.jpg|2781420], read it over & over again, and was awfully disappointed to learn that no matter how good & sweet & brave I grew to be, I'd never meet a prince among men.

Add this to a good family library; don't use it as the foundation, much less as the only book needed at home. ( )

Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel & Gretel

I've always been a cultural traditionalist in weird ways--trying to find value in the traditional because it's so easy to dismiss it with an eye roll--but I'm slowly coming around to the idea that the old stories are outmoded and we need a New Soviet Book of Instructive Parables instead. Like, kids need to grapple with death too but the sheer weight of the blood and the gender stuff (winning the princess etc.) and the gold-lust that is a constant motivation at some point makes it hard to deny that these stories just have really bad values. The Hildebrandt brothers art is a great thing in this volume though. ( )

A delightful collection of eight beautifully illustrated classic fairy tales. Each carefully drawn illustration perfectly matches the content of each tale. The sweetness of Goldilocks and her blond curls is in contrast to the civilized and formally dressed three bears who find that Goldilocks has rudely broken into their house. The innocent and pure beauty of Snow White contrasts the hard beauty of the Queen who wished to always be the "fairest of them all". The Queen's transformation into an old woman who visits Snow White three times in order to kill her demonstrates the depths the Queen would go for her vanity. People who favor the Disney versions of this classic fairy tales will be surprised and delighted by the more traditional version of each tale where Snow white is not saved by a kiss but by the dislodging of a piece of poisonous apple in her mouth. The heroes of each tale do live happily ever after as each protagonist triumphs over evil. ( )

I bought this book for two reasons: first, I love fairy Tales and secondly, the artist of the book is so good, everything went alive while I read and watched the pages :) I guess it is an amazing book, if you have kids i am sure they are gonna love it ( )