Fairy Tale: Stories for Children

Fairy tales are generally fictional stories that are indented for both adults and children, but are mostly associated with the latter. Most fairy tales make use of implausible and improbable situations while the characters utilized are mostly mythical and folkloric such as giants, witches, fairies, and talking animals. Most fairy tales are also popularly known to begin with "Once upon a time" and end with "Happily ever after."

Fairy tales were known to be first passed by oral means and were later found in different literary works. These kinds of stories have been around for thousands of years in almost every part of the world. Every culture has a fairy tale that is still being told as well as written.

One of the best known published collections of fairy tales was attributed to brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, more commonly referred to as the Brothers Grimm.

The Brothers Grimm named their collection of fairy tales “Children's and Household Tales.” This collection was later rewritten and altered, including the deletion of sexual references so it could be read to children. An instance of this can be traced in the first edition of Rapunzel, in which the prince's visit was revealed when the witch deduced that Rapunzel was pregnant as her clothing had grown tight.

Although sexual references were removed, many individuals criticized fairy tales for their violence, particularly in the parts when the villains are being punished. However, in spite of the presence of violence, fairy tales are continuously being told to children as it is intended to examine the human behavior and at the same time to teach a moral lesson.

In contemporary times, fairy tales continue to remain popular, especially among children. Walt Disney continues to adapt fairy tales in most of their animated movies. These movies were intended solely for the children’s market. Among their most popular adaptation of fairy tales were "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Sleeping Beauty."