Of all the rich fairy tales that exist in countries throughout the world, few are better known than those collected almost two centuries ago by a pair of German brothers -- Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm -- in their Children's Stories and Household Tales. Forever recast and reimagined in literature, movies, opera, and even advertising, these stories are etched in our imagination. Here, in The Annotated Brothers Grimm, Maria Tatar collects these timeless stories in a sumptuous and visually powerful presentation that promises to reshape our understanding of the Grimms. Drawing from the authoritative version first published in 1857, Tatar, a leading scholar in the field of folklore and children's literature, has gathered over forty Grimm stories, judiciously selecting tales that both resonate with a modern audience and reveal the broad thematic range of the Grimm canon. Readers -- parents, children, students -- will come to see old favorites anew, including "Little Red Riding Hood," "Cinderella," "Snow White," and "Rapunzel," while discovering some of the lesser-known yet equally captivating stories such as "The Star Talers," "Mother Holle," and "The Seven Ravens."

The stories -- newly translated by Tatar -- are accompanied by her insightful annotations, hundreds in all, which cover the tales' historical origins, their cultural complexities, and their psychological effects. Over 150 absorbing illustrations -- many of them in color -- by painters and illustrators such as George Cruikshank, Walter Crane, Kay Nielsen, and Arthur Rackham are reproduced alongside the stories. Including an introduction by A. S. Byatt, the original prefaces of the editions published by the Grimms, a collection of reminiscences about "The Magic of Fairy Tales," and two essays by Tatar -- one tracing the lives of the Brothers Grimm, the other examining the history and cultural effects of their collection -- The Annotated Brothers Grimm captures the magic and irresistible pull of the tales while unlocking the potent mysteries many of them contain. Perhaps most noteworthy is Tatar's decision to include tales that were excised from later editions, including a few bawdy stories that were removed after the Grimms realized that children relished these tales as much as adults did. In restoring the tales, Tatar is able to -- in the tradition of Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment -- examine what has kept the Grimms' fairy tales alive in our imagination and our culture: their ability to speak to our anxieties and fears, our desires and our passions, and our unconquerable belief in happy endings. Enchanting and magical, The Annotated Brothers Grimm will cast its spell on children and adults alike for decades to come.