Culture | Into the woods

Sex and Snow White: how Grimm should children’s books be?

The German authors suggest very, but today trends run the opposite way

Little Red Riding Hood with the wolf, disguised as her grandmother. Illustration by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), c1909.
Photograph: Alamy

Once upon a time there were two little boys who lived in a deep, dark forest. Their name was Grimm, and so was their life. Their father died, and their mother was poor. She slaughtered pigs, while their aunt castrated cocks with a knife. When the boys grew up Napoleon invaded, and one brother travelled to war. He saw villages burned, girls raped and piles of corpses so big the villagers could not bury them.

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Grimm stuff”

From the January 11th 2025 edition

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