My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (ed. Kate Bernheimer)

A middle-aged woman tries to get water for a dear old friend. A boy-disguised as a cat-works to avenge his witch-mother's death. Half of Rumpelstiltskin walks in this world. These are just a few of the fairy tales that await the reader in My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, an anthology of fairy tales put together by Kate Bernheimer. Written several well-known authors including Neil Gaiman and Joyce Carol Oates, these stories are inspired by fairy tales from all over the world, including but not limited to the tundras of Russia, Denmark (as manifested by H.C. Andersen), and even Japan. With some stories, it is easy to divulge their origin, but, in many cases, it is difficult to determine what fairy tale inspired it. That is not to say that these unfamiliar stories are not enjoyable--on the contrary.

This anthology, while it does provide a fresh outlook on these old, familiar tales, provides fairy tales that are not really for children. That is not to say that there are not stories in here for children--there are-- but many of the stories' protagonists are adults dealing with situations that might be out of the range of a child's comprehension. As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed most of the stories in the book. They were creative and well-written, and I liked the discussion of certain adult topics. Many of these stories are not necessarily traditional fairy tales--there's one based on a Bluebeard tale that is about an older couple trying to work things out that does not fit the traditional fairy tale mold. That isn't important to me though, and I enjoyed this anthology.