When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, aka the Brothers Grimm, set out to collect stories in the early 1800s, their goal was not to entertain children but to preserve Germanic folklore. Once the brothers saw how the stories entranced young readers, however, they began softening some of the harsher aspects to make them more suitable for children. A cornerstone of Western culture since the early 1800s, Grimm’s Fairy Tales is now one of the world’s most beloved books.