1. Part of the "Who Was?" series, which consists of over 200 illustrated biographies for young readers featuring significant historical figures, including artists, scientists, and world leaders.
2. Contains illustrations, including a caricature on the front cover, and black and white drawings using the crosshatching technique throughout the book
3. Recommended for young readers that are newly introduced to chapter books - this book contains 10 short chapters
4. This biography explores the lives of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, starting from their early lives, extending past their deaths to demonstrate the mark they left on the world
5. Mentions of death, including the death of the Grimm brothers and some of their family members
6. Outlines the differences between folktales, fairy tales, legends, and fables (pp. 34-35)
7. Lesson plans and activities: https://brothersgrimmpathfinder.weebly.com/lesson-plansactivities.html
8. Craft ideas: https://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/grimm.htm ( )

From the popular Who Was series, this book introduces Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Jacob and Wilhelm, born less than two years apart, grew up as best friends. Their interests and careers often intersected, as they seemed to have a common fascination with stories and language. Although they both began by attending law school, their desires to preserve German oral stories deterred them from their original plan. This illustrated biography does a great job sharing details of the Grimm brothers lives while also giving historical background with maps, timelines, and information on historical figures. One two-page spread even details the different types of stories. This biography is informative and lays a groundwork for learning about oral tradition and fairy tales.

I would use this book as a read-aloud for second and third grades because as a class, we would be able to discuss the different folktales that exists such as: folk literature, fairytales, myths, etc. and would be able to expect the two grade levels to classify different examples given to them using stories from The Grimm Brothers collection. They could create a chart and separate the different examples provided to them in their proper category based on the types of folktales.

I would use this story as an independent read for grades third and fourth. The students will take notes of important events or definitions that they believe are valuable and then use that information to sort various examples of folk literature discussed into categories. To help the students understand the differences between the types of folktales, I will provide an example of each type and a brief summary of what that book is about. With that information combined with the notes they took while reading, I will have the third and fourth graders split into groups of three and decide what type of folk tale belongs in which categories and why. Then I would have the students participate in a writing activity where they will select one of the Grimm Fairy tales and create their own version based on their culture. The students will each read their story to the class and should explain after reading what they changed and why that fit their culture. This activity will have the students understand how different cultures, similar to why the Grimm Brothers only wanted to publish German fairy tales, view things differently. With a fourth grade class, I would have the students independently read this book and then listen to a read aloud of two fairy tales from different cultures. This activity will lead into the students selecting fairy tales that have similar themes, but are from various cultures and they will identify the similarities and differences they see as a class. Then from a list of fairy tales, they will repeat this activity and present to the class their findings. I believe this biography will help introduce a new genre of books to the students. ( )

This would be a great book for introducing folk literature since there stories are the more popular ones. It would also be good for learning how to use a timeline because there are two in the back of the book.