Grimm Brother's Fairytales

Tales Read: The Girl without Hands, The Brave Little Tailor, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin
Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Publisher: Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales final edition (Couldn't find a publisher)
Copyright: 1857 (for the collection)
Genre: Fairytales
Pages: (Online)
Reading Level: Ages 5 to 10 (for complete collection) (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: In The Girl without Hands a man makes a deal with the devil that the devil can have what's behind the his mill if the devil will make him rich. Believing there was nothing behind his mill but an apple tree, the man finds out later, that his daughter had been standing behind the mill. Because she was so pure and her hands so clean the devil could not get to her so he orders the man to chop off her hands so she couldn't have clean hands. She, being an obedient daughter let her father do this but she cried so hard her stumps were perfectly clean. So the devil knew he couldn't get her and he had to give up. However, he wanted to make her life horrible. She decides she will leave home and says that compassionate people would take care of her. She goes to a garden and the king who owns the garden takes her as his wife. He has silver hands made for her. He soon has to go out to battle and tells his mother that if she has a child while he is gone is to send word. In a few months she has his baby boy. The mother sends word but the devil interferes with the messages that they send back and forth and makes them think that the king's message said to kill his wife. This message comes back multiple time, each time the devil having changed the original message of joy and excitement. The mother sends the wife away with her child so they can fake her death. The wife leaves and finds a place that takes her and her child in. Through the mercy and grace of God, her hands grow back. The king comes back and is distraught at the events that have taken place and goes out to search for his wife. He searches for years and finally finds her. He knows it's her because she still has the silver hands with her.
Who would you recommend this book to? This fairytale was a little graphic so it's one that I wouldn't recommend for children but maybe teens.
Potential problems or conflicts: This story was pretty gory and disturbing. The man making the deal with the devil, her hands being chopped off, and the devil sending the message for murder--it's a pretty graphic story and might be disturbing for young children or sensitive people.
My reaction: Personally, I liked this story. It was a little disturbing but I thought it had a good storyline. It was well written and I think that the plot was excellent. I really liked the ending. It had a good ending despite how disturbing the story itself was.