There is, as readers will know, a world of difference between a 3 year old and a six year old. The Grimm's compendium is not organized in such a way as to recognise this. Nor is it organized to place like stories with like. For these things we must use our own judgment, and perhaps that is better.

The list below is indicative only, and meant as food for thought, rather than as a guide. Only the parent reading is in a good position to say whether a particular story will be right for their child on a particular evening, and sometimes some reflection on the day or meditation can help.

The Grimms are not the only collection of tales in the world. If you have links with cultures other than mid-European, then investigate the riches you can bring to your child and yourself. If your local library fails you, the Central Reference Library in the City will have a good collection.

Don't be in a rush, though. Ask yourself- What age is this story best suited to? If your answer means you have to wait a couple of years, wait.

Many of the tales collected in Grimms are heavily condensed treasure chests of  mythology, folklore and archetypal images. Some, such as 'Jorinda and Joringel' and 'Fundevogel' give the impression that they are centuries older than the others, and come out of a magical time and space. They are like dreams.

When you tell the stories, use steady, quiet speech, and give far less emphasis to the spoken voice dialogue than would be the case in real dialogue. The children will dream the images and do not need to be woken from the dream by your voice. They cannot properly experience the story if you continually bring them back to the surface of it by what you believe is appropriate yelling and knee-slapping.

Don't just read, but imagine the images yourself. You will be drawn to particular passages and descriptions. Take more time over these. A few which have caught me are:

"In olden times, when wishing still helped one…"  (The Frog King)

"Thereupon she went into a quite secret, lonely room, where no one ever came…"  (Snow White)

"…so wretched, so utterly wretched"  (Snow White)

"Oh, shake me! Shake me! We apples are all ripe!"  (Mother Holle)

"Lina said to Fundevogel: 'Never Forsake me and I will never forsake you'"  (Fundevogel)

If you feel you have to leave something out because its too horrible, then either the story is too old for the child or you fail to understand the way your child will accept the rough justice and inwardly feel content at the outcome.

If the latter, you may need to read the story to yourself rather than to the child. But listen to this idea. I suspect that to have the same effect on the soul of an adult, as upon a child hearing the story two or three times, the adult would have to read/hear the story hundreds of times. We simply have too much garbage in the way, too many restraints, hang-ups and preoccupations. [1](We should also appreciate in the same breath the effect of TV on the child, as more critical and destructive than for the adult.)

The original reason for this article was that I was learning Snow White (for the second time) to tell at midwinter for classes 1 to 4. Already I know that the 10 year olds will not reject it, even though it is old hat to them. This is because I am fascinated by the story, and they will inwardly experience that and be interested as to why.

Not the Disney version. Disney destroyed the story as he did so many. These stories were transferred orally and honed over centuries. Any changes that might have occurred would be gradual and by the consensus of tellers. Wholesale and abrupt changes fail. They fail us. Throw out the Disney versions.

Snow White, for me, is the story in Grimms that most holds the winter, the dark time of the soul from which there seems no escape. In teacher training, one of our tutors described Snow White's trials as, firstly, being separated from her feeling life (the laces around her chest), then from her thinking (the comb in her hair) and lastly and finally, her will (the apple, as soon as she brings it to her metabolic system.). It is this loss of will that truly kills Snow White. Her advisors the dwarves are now powerless. When we lose our will we are truly lost. It takes the spirit (prince) to revive us.

As I teach I realize more and more that our task as teachers is to train the will, not merely to balance the intellect and the feeling life. Training the will is not a matter of discipline only. It is a matter of creating situations where the students can become aware that they are effective in the world, that they can create the things they conceive of, that they can do, that they can right wrongs. In the primary school years this confidence arises firstly out of their physical abilities, as these are the things most readily perceptible and understandable for them.

Other stories, I think, carry different influences. Quest stories are so good for Spring. The Michaelic urge to go out and conquer the world, against the odds. The 'going under' stories can suit winter, but I find they are usually better in autumn, when the threat of winter is close at hand and the stories carry the promise of deliverance.( This may be the effect of having had autumn and the Christ story together for many years, here in the Southern Hemisphere.)

The only other thing I would say is that many of the stories have indented verses, and it seems natural to sing these. Keep the same tune for each verse and these will become rhythmical signposts for the child.e.g.:

Looking-glass, looking-glass, on the wall                                                   

A  A    A        G    G   G      2A A   2G

Who in this land is the fairest of all ?                                                         

 A  A  A    G    G   G   A  A  A  2G

Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all.                                                          

 2E        E     D   D    D   E  E   E  2D     

by: Sean Burke, Perth,  Australia

Suggested Stories for various age groups:

3 year olds

The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids  (A)

The Three Spinners

The Straw, the Coal and the Bean

Louse and Flea

The Elves and the Shoemaker  (C)

Sweet Porridge

The Star Money  (C) (W)

4 year olds plus

The Valiant Little Tailor  (S)

Mother Holle  (A)

The Bremen Town Musicians  (S)

Thumbling  (S)

Old Sultan

Briar Rose  (A)

Fundevogel  (A)

Rumplestiltskin

The Golden Bird  (S)

The Queen Bee

Jorinda and Joringel  (A)

How Six got on in the World  (S)

The Poor Miller's Boy and his Cat  (S)

The Four Skillful Brothers  (S)

The Hare and the Hedgehog

5 year old plus 

The Frog King/Iron Henry

Faithful John

Rapunzel  (A)

The Fisherman and his Wife

Cinderella (A)

The Seven Ravens  (A)

Little Red Cap  (A)(W)

The Six Swans  (A)

King Thrushbeard

Snow White  (W)

The Water of Life  (S)

The Shoes that were danced to pieces

Snow White and Rose Red  (W)

The Twelve Apostles  ( C )

6 year old plus

Hansel and Gretel  (W)

The Goose Girl

One eye, Two eyes and Three eyes

A            Autumn(may only be indicative for Southern Hemisphere)

W         Winter

S          Spring

C          Christmas