As the dark nights are drawing in and the weather becomes increasingly more horrific, theres never been a better time to grab a seat next to a nice roaring fire with a hot chocolate on the go and indulge yourself in a nice big chunk of classic literature. Don’t let the moniker ‘Fairy Tales’ frighten you off, the legendary stories of German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm make Pan’s Labyrinth look like an episode of Scooby Doo. Taschen’s new translations from the orignal versions of Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin and Puss n’ Boots et al. are a lot grittier than the Disney-fied versions we’ve been mollycoddled with over the past 60 years. These 27 tales delve far deeper into the dark complexities of the human psyche and provide a much clearer insight into moralistic European folk lore than Walt and co. ever managed yet still more than capable of charming and amusing readers of any age, however really young kids you might want to avoid hearing about ‘The Devil with Three Golden Hairs’ just before bed time. Amazing stories aside the illustrations are pretty awe-inspiring too, featuring work from some of the most famous illustrators of the 1820s through to the 1950s with some beautiful silhouettes culled from original publications, making the book feel like it’s come from a magical tale itself. Ideal as present for a clued up youngster or just for yourself if you want the stories straight from the horse’s mouth and not from a load of saccharine-coated singing gnomes…
