Once upon a time, the world was without electronics, and people had to come up with entertainment on their own. One of the ways they did this was by telling stories: funny stories, sinister stories, cautionary tales, all sorts of narratives that they passed along one person to another, one generation to another. Today we encounter folk and fairy tales mostly in written form, thanks in part to the diligence of folklorists who sought to collect as many stories as possible before the tradition of oral storytelling died away. Of these, the most famous are Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, but as a tranche of wonderful new collections reminds us, the Brothers Grimm had lots of company.

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