Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two young men from Germany who loved a good story. As university students, they became interested in folktales-traditional stories that people memorized and told again and again. They began to collect traditional folktales from storytellers a over Germany in order to record old German poems and to preserve history. Many were similar to stories told in France, Italy, Japan, and other countries. Between 1812 and 1814, the brothers published two books in German. The collections became known in English as Grimm's Fairy Tales. It includes some 200 stories, most of which were adopted from oral sources. The best-known tales include "Snow White," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "Sleeping Beauty".

The Grimm brothers' tales reflected traditional life and beliefs. For example, forests are common in Germany, and this image often appears in the Grimms' stories. In the past, many people believed forests were dangerous places. In the Grimms' stories, a forest is the home of evil witches (女巫), talking animals, and other magical beings.

Although most people today think of these stories as fairy tales for children, the brothers first wrote them mainly for adults. Many of their early tales were dark and a little scary. Later, the brothers changed the text of some of the original stories. They "softened" many of the tales and added drawings. Ims made them more appropriate for children. Like the early tales, though, each story still has a moral (道德准则): work hard, be good, and listen to your parents.

The Grimms believed that the most natural and pure forms of culture were based in language and history. Their work influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that the fairy tales of a country were particularly typical of it.