The Seven Ravens

Written by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

Narrated by Anastasia Bertollo

The Seven Ravens is a fairy tale collection written by German brothers, academics, linguists, and cultural researchers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. There are two versions of the tale: Greek and German, which are slightly different in some things. The story tells us about a peasant, that has only seven sons. One day a daughter was born, but she is sickly. The father sends his sons to bring some water from a healing spring for her. But they dropped pitcher in the well. When they don’t return, father thinks they gone off to play and curses them so they become ravens. When the sister is grown she attempts to find her brothers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SmartTouch Media
• Release date: Jan 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781467606738

Jacob Grimm

With his brother Wilhelm, Jacob Grimm collected and published Germanic and European folk and fairy tales during the early to mid 19th century. Some of the world’s most classic and beloved stories have been published by them, including “Rumplestiltskin,” “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Rapunzel,” “Cinderella,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and many more.

Reviews for The Seven Ravens

[ecosborne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A little girl discovers she has seven brothers who were turned into ravens when her father cursed them for being too loud when she was sick. the little girl goes on a quest to find her brothers and bring them back. This is a good tale of perseverance against many odds.

[aridy_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this classic tale by the Brothers Grimm, a young girl must go out into the world and find her brothers who have been transformed into ravens by her father's curse. Meets the Sun, Moon, and Stars in her journey to save her family.

[nzfj_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Library Thing Part C # 8 Traditional LiteratureGrimm, Jacob, Wilhelm Grimm, Henriette Sauvant, and Anthea Bell. The Seven Ravens: a Fairy Tale. New York: North-South, 1995. Print. The Seven Ravens has a dream quality and the illustrations certainly follow that thought. Henriette Sauvant uses oils to paint scenes with haunting images surrounding the young sister. The style of art is surrealistic with bold images contrasting a young innocent dainty girl. The folktale begins with a father of seven sons wishing to have a daughter. She is conceived and born but in a frail condition and her father fears she will die. He sends his sons to bring water from the well so he can baptize the baby and they drop the pitcher in the well by accident. The father curses the boys for not bringing the water and realizes in his rage the curse was fulfilled and they have turned into ravens. The baby survives and at a young age, probably 8 years learns about her brothers and is filled with guilt that their disappearance was connected to her birth. She leaves home with a ring, a pitcher, and a chair, in search of her brothers. She travels to the sun and the moon and finally receives some comfort and guidance from the stars. One star gives her a bone to use as a key to open the door at the glass mountain. She loses the bone and sacrifices her smallest finger to use in place of the lost bone. Once inside the mountain she finds a table prepared with food and drink. She nibbles on some of the food and drops her ring inside one of the cups. The ravens return home hungry and thirsty and find their food has been bitten and when the seventh raven drinks from his cup he finds the ring. The little girl runs from behind the door and as soon as they see her, the spell is broken and they regain their humanity. They all return home. The pattern of 3 objects is seen by the things the girl has with her throughout the journey. Other folktale elements would be the spell, transformation from human to animal, the journey, and the sacrifice of a limb. The number 7 is symbolical and is found in the Bible as well as in myths from various cultures. This title should be in a folktale collection and I would recommend buying this book. Curriculum connection would be grades 3rd through high school for language arts.