Old School

I know I've mentioned in class that I grew up with both sides of fairy tales: fairy tale books full of "original" versions of stories as well as the Disney versions. Last night I called my little brother and asked him a question and a favor.
"Blaise, name a fairy tale."
"Robin Hood."
"Ok, interesting answer, I like it. Now, go look in the nursery...there's a big red book of fairy tales. I want you to take a picture of it and send it to me, and then read the stories and tell me what you think, OK?"
"OK!" He was stoked. He found the book and immediately started asking me questions about it, like how old I was when I was reading it, where we got it, etc.

I wanted him to read this book because my sister and I used to spend a lot of time reading, and I explicitly remember a few fairy tale books from when we were in that five-to ten-years-old range. In general, kids these days have way more technological toys and games and activities to keep them occupied...furthermore, when my miniature adult of a brother reads, he chooses interesting reading material for fun. For instance, I caught him reading "What's Wrong With Democracy?" on spring break. That was my text book from a class last year. No joke. He's twelve years old.

Blaise is going to report back to me soon about the fairy tales. I'm excited to hear what he has to say. I didn't give him any bias going into it--no comments about Disney or happy endings, and no explanations about fairy tales or their origins. I want to see what happens, and how he reacts. I'm betting he likes these more "original," non-American versions of stories even though he probably hasn't experienced them much until now.