Showing results by author "Brothers Grimm" in All Categories

A poor shoemaker prepares his last piece of leather to work on before turning in for bed. In the morning, he is amazed to find the shoes already made. Selling these to a grateful customer, his financial obligations are met, and he is able to buy enough leather for two more pairs. When these are completed overnight in a similar fashion, he stays awake to solve the mystery. Learning that a team of naked elves are responsible for the fine shoes, the shoemaker and his wife create tiny clothes for the elves to thank them.

A miller's careless boast that his clever daughter can spin gold from straw is forced by the king to deliver on this claim. A little man arrives to help the miller's distraught daughter in exchange for her firstborn child. Later, when the daughter, now the queen, gives birth to her first child, the little man comes to collect. He agrees to release the queen from her promise if she can learn his name.

A lonely couple hopes for a child, even, the wife says, if it were no bigger than my thumb. To their delight, their wishes come true, and the boy is named Tom Thumb for his diminutive stature.

The boy is crafty and helps his father by directing the family horse to haul firewood by standing in his ear and whispering commands. Embarking on several adventures, Tom displays a knack for tricking the slow-witted people who attempt to take advantage of Tom's unique size.

A spoiled princess grudgingly befriends a frog after a chance meeting at a pond. Forced against her will to spend time with the creature, he is ultimately revealed to be a handsome prince under a spell when she hurls him against the wall. In many other versions of the story, the curse is broken by a kiss or a night spent on the princess' pillow.

A collection of short stories for younger listeners, brought to life by Nicki White and Matt Stewart.

Jorinda and Jorindel, two lovers engaged to be married, went for a walk in the forest. They came too near to the witch's lair. She turned Jorinda into a nightingale and petrified Jorindel to the ground. Once she had carried away the bird, she freed Joringel, laughing that he would never see Jorindel again.

What's it like to be a sister with 12 brothers? In this story it's pretty good, until she makes a mistake, and puts a spell on them for seven years, and she's speechless.... This story by the Brothers Grimm has an interesting spin, as told and acted by Kathy Verduin.

A selection of the finest children's stories including The Little Matchseller, Rumpelstiltskin, The Frog Prince and The Little Gingerbread Man.

Parents are poor and want to leave Tom Thumb in forest. But Tom Thumb is clever and marks his way by stones. Second time he is unsuccessful - he has only bread-crumbs and birds eat them. Tom Thumb finds a Giant and a beautiful princess in his entrapment, and is determined to free the princess.

The Valiant Little Tailor, also known as the Brave Little Tailor, is a well-known tale of trickery and cunning in which the underdog comes out on top. The story tells the tale of a little tailor who is offered a reward from the king if he is able to complete several difficult tasks.

In a sometimes meandering, intermittently rhyming narrative, Page retells the Brothers Grimm tale about four animals who set out to make a new life for themselves after their masters reject them.

A wolf and a bear walk together in the woods, discussing the beautiful singing of the willow-wren. After the bear offends some baby birds, there is a war called between the creatures of the air and the creatures of the land. The birds send in a gnat to spy on the creatures of the land and learn their battle secrets. The birds win the war. The bear apologizes to the baby birds.

A king was dying. An old man told his sons that the water of life would save him. Each one set out in turn. The two older ones, setting out in hopes of being the heir, were rude to a dwarf on the way and became trapped in ravines. When the youngest son went the dwarf asked where he was going, and he told him. The dwarf told him it was in a castle, and gave him an iron wand to open the gates and two loaves to feed to the lions inside. Then he had to get the water before the clock struck 12 when the gates would shut again.

The Twelve Huntsmen" starts right where many fairy tales end, with a prince and princess in love, planning their wedding. This happy event is cancelled by the sudden death of the king's father, who, on his deathbed, requests his son to marry another bride.

An old woman has some beans that she intends to cook over her fire. Being in a hurry, she grabs some straw to make the fire light faster. She pours the beans in the pot and, being in a hurry, she drops one on the floor which lands next to a piece of straw.

A father had two sons. The dimwitted younger son, when asked by his father what he would like to learn to support himself, said he would like to learn how to shudder (as in, learn to have fear). A sexton told the father that he could teach the boy. After teaching him to ring the church bell, he sent him one midnight to ring it and came after him, dressed as a ghost. The boy demanded an explanation. When the sexton did not answer, the boy, unafraid, pushed him down the stairs, breaking his leg.

In the forest, a man heard a raven tell him she was an enchanted princess, and he could deliver her if he went to a certain cottage and accepted no food from the old woman there. The raven would drive by in a carriage every day for three days. If he remained awake, he would break the spell.

The King of the Golden Mountain: a evil stepmother kills her stepson and makes her daughter think that she killed him. The stepmother than cooks him for dinner for the rest of the family. Her daughter finds her stepbrother's bones and puts them underneath the juniper tree.

A man comes upon great wealth and luck, and he then becomes upon betrayal and loses everything. So he then turns those who betrayed him into an ass (donkey) with magic salad leaves, and has all but one abused by someone else. One of these asses is a beautiful lady he fell in love with.

The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage live happily together. The Bird brings home wood from the forest; the Mouse delivers water, makes the cooking fire, lays the table; and the Sausage cooks. One day, the Bird has a chat with some other birds. They make fun of the Bird, saying that it was doing all the work and that he was like a slave. The next day, the Bird suggests that they switch roles and refuses to go to the forest.