Grimm's Fairy Tales - Saviour Pirotta, official website of the children's author

I have always been fascinated by witches and, I must admit, a little scared of them too. In the little village where I grew up there were quite a few women who, in my imgaination, were as wicked as Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty or Baba Yaga, the Russian witch with iron teeth. They always dressed in black with their heads wrapped in moudly scarves, had bad teeth and frequently bought piles of herbs and garlic from the greengrocer. One of them, rumour had it, used to rub her cheeks with red crepe paper to hide her deathly palour. And another one kept a mouse up her sleeve.

No wonder then, that I grew up to write and adapt fairytales with lots of witches in them. They feature quite large in my various adaptations of Grimm's stories.

THE ORCHARD BOOK OF GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES was orginally published in 2002 as THE SLEEPING PRINCESS AND OTHER FAIRY TALES FROM GRIMM. There were also edtions in Spain and Italy and, more recently, in Greece. Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, it had some great reviews and is still in print. In 2011 a new edition, with a brand new cover was published to bring the book in line with the very succesful 'Orchard Book Of...' series.

2012 saw the launch of GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES - the series. Eight of the stories in the origonal book have been rewritten for younger children, with simpler text and with the scary bits a little less scary. Cecilia Johansson provided the illustrations, which manage to capture the essence of the stories but give them a cosy, non-threatening feeling.

‘Retold with energy and with humourous and richly coloured illustrations… a very memorable introduction to Grimm for the very young reader.’ Books For Keeps

Books In The Series

HANSEL AND GRETEL

Hansel and Gretel are desperate to survive - despite their stepmother's efforts to abandon them in the forest. But when they stumble upon a delicious house made of gingerbread, will they be able to escape the wicked witch who lives inside?

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

A beautiful princess is cursed by a wicked fairy - when the princess is fifteen years old she will prick her finger on a needle and die... Can the king and queen prevent such a tragedy? Or will the princess fall asleep for ever?

RAPUNZEL

Rapunzel was taken by an evil witch when she was a baby, and now she's locked up in a tower. Rapunzel's hair is so long the witch can climb up it to visit her - but will she ever be saved?

SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED

Snow White and Rose Red befriend a bear who comes to listen to their mother's stories every night. But when he disappears, who will save the girls from a nasty dwarf?

LITTLE MOUSE AND LAZY CAT

When a lazy cat moves in with a little mouse, they decide to save some food for the winter. The cat shouldn't be trusted - but will the mouse find out too late?

THE FROG PRINCE

When a princess makes a promise to a frog, her father, the king, makes sure she keeps her word. The princess must eat, sleep and live with the frog... But what will happen when she kisses it?

THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES

The king wants to solve the mystery of his daughters - the twelve princesses escape from their locked room every night to go dancing. Will he find a man who can discover their secret and inherit the kingdom?

RUMPLESTILTSKIN

When a girl's father tells the king she can spin straw into gold, she is sent to work right away. Of course, she can't really spin gold, but will a goblin be able to help her?

Original covers