Today, Google is celebrating the 200th anniversary of GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES with its Google Doodle by telling the well-known story of Little Red Riding Hood and her beastly encounter with the Big Bad Wolf.
The story of Red Riding Hood was first featured in a collection of tales written by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The collection was originally called CHILDREN’S AND HOUSEHOLD TALES, but is now commonly known as GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES.
The Brothers Grimm published seven collections of tales and fables which included classics such as CINDERELLA, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS and RUMPELSTILTSKIN. These stories were collected by the brothers from all over Europe and are a staple of almost every person’s childhood.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Brothers Grimm were studying linguistics in Europe and stumbled upon these tales during their research
- They are also the authors of a German dictionary, a number of books on folklore and many scholarly works
- Disney has adapted many of the Grimm fairy tales, but have made many changes like toning down the violence and adding in new characters
- The Nazis used these stories as propaganda after Hitler was elected
- Almost all of the fairy tales celebrate courage, resilience and wit, and end with “happily ever after.”