Authors of the dark and twisted horror stories that, over the years, have been rewritten as charming fairy tales.
When I was little my mother read them all to me. The fairy tales, not the originals. I grew up in a whirl of princesses, poisoned apples and heroic princes. Step mothers scared the heck out of me. So did forests.
At the ripe old age of 20-something I picked up a copy of Snow White in our store, drawn in by the beautiful graphics. I failed to notice at first that it was an original telling. The Brothers Grimm version.
Let me assure you “hi ho hi ho, it’s off to work we go” does not make an appearance in this book. The last line of the story reads,
“She had to put on the red-hot iron shoes and dance in them until she dropped to the ground dead.”
The book I had picked up was a beautifully illustrated hard copy by the artist Camille Rose Garcia. I bought it immediately, as well as an original telling of Little Red Riding Hood illustrated by Daniel Egneus.
Camille Rose Garcia has a tattoo quality to her illustrations:
While Daniel Egneus has a far more gothic style:
Both books are just as dark and twisty as the stories they tell. The books are works of art, each page as beautiful as the next. They illustrate not only with images but with the words too, as you can see in the example above. I am in love with them. I absolutely hope to have a full collection of illustrated Brothers Grimm stories one day. I even bought a copy of Little Red Riding Hood for my best friend’s birthday. In her final year of studying fashion design she based her collection on the Brothers Grimm tales and it seemed like the perfect gift for her.
I would say this is actually a fabulous gift for anyone interested in classic books, in art or in graphic design.
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Little Red Riding Hood
Written by The Brothers Grimm
Illustrated by Daniel Egneus
9780062020512
R143.00 (approximately)
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Snow White
Written by the Brothers Grimm
Illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
9780062064462
R165.00 (approximately)
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The Jolly Jammer 