As much as I enjoy the Grimms' fairytales and Maurice Sendak's illustrations, this book fell a little flat for me. Likely this was because each story only had one illustration from Sendak, so the balance between potential illustrations and text felt quite off. Sendak's work is most fruitful when he's illustrating a whole story, and even though there is a certain value in condensing a story down into one powerful image it really doesn't give Sendak his usual freedom to develop the intimate details that make his pictures so stunning. ( )

Best for scholars and completists, not so much for children. Some of the tales were all too familiar, others were brand-new (at least to me, and I've read quite a bit). I did like some little bits, as for example the variation of the chant the fisherman uses to call the flounder, or the revelation that the dwarfs kept their cottage quite tidy and did cook, so didn't need Snow White but took her in out of kindness. It was interesting that some of the translations revealed a graceful and poetic storyteller's voice, and others were awkward and incomplete. Overall I'm glad this was a library book and I didn't pay for it. It would make a good companion to [b:I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book|380645|I Saw Esau The Schoolchild's Pocket Book|Iona Opie|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326665s/380645.jpg|1488774] on a scholar's shelf. ( )

This boxed set is one of my most prized possessions. I love the Sendak illustrations and old Grimm fairy tales. ( )

I enjoyed this book. Some of the tales I knew others I did not. A few were very bleak. The illustrations were well done. I will be looking out for Vol I for this was Vol II. ( )

Grimm's folktales retold in a vibrant and engaging manner. This was my first time reading the tale called "The Juniper Tree", and it struck me as having that morbid edge that so many folktales contain. ( )