I don't think children need to be sheltered from everything.

Well, I don't advocate restricting kids from accessing material simply because they're young, but people need to be aware that original fairy tales are seriously gruesome. Little Red Riding Hood was originally a violent tale about the wolf erotically making her strip and burn her clothes before eating her. Not appropriate for bedtime stories!

Originally, the fairy tales were not meant for children. And thus, are not appropriate for most of them.

But of course, this choice is up to the parents. I just know I will be reading my children the tame versions. The other ones they can read themselves later.

I don't think little kids would understand the meaning.

I UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY WERE SCARY AS FUDGE!

They. Are. EVIL.

*shudder*

Most little kids don't even find out the real messages or meanings of them until later on and plus they can't live in a bubble.

All children are different. But as a blanket statement? No. I definitely wouldn't say the originals are appropriate for children.

I love fairytales (Once Upon a Time ftw!) and hate censorship. Kids are gonna learn about death greed and lust in some way or another so there's no point in trying to delay the inevitable. Odds are they aren't going to even connect the adult themes, I didn't when I was little, I was just impressed by the cute little fairies and the cool Pumpkin made stage-coach. Not to mention they spark creativity and inspire the imagination in the young mind. It's always good to create creativity and a healthy love for reading at a young age, especially in this day and age.

It really depends on what nursery rhyme.
Fact: In the original Fairy Tale of Sleeping Beauty the prince actually rapes her and she births two children all while she's still asleep.
Even if they might not understand, I would not want my children exposed to such stories. It seems a little too mature for such a young mind. I know that if I was read that along with other original stories when I was so young I would be completely horrified. Reading the originals even now disturbs me.

Odds are they aren't going to even connect the adult themes
My problem is that some of those "adult themes" are things like gruesome torture. It's extremely hard for anyone to miss Esmeralda's torture scene, or Ariel melting into sea foam.

That's true, but do kids really understand death is my question. I would think that most kids would look at Ariel turning into sea foam is just that, turning into sea foam. They may or may not think there's a chance for her to 'turn normal'.

From what I know, definitely not. Some things really need to be kept away from the eyes of children until they are old enough to see it and not cringe... I mean, would it really be any different from children playing games like Grand Theft Auto, where you drive around running people over and shooting prostitutes and gang members? Not really, the game just happens to be R18 and you get the visual on a TV, rather than a picture in a book.
However, I can see where Zanhar is coming from on this. It is true that kids can be very naive about death, but I don't really think it is worth the potential risk involved. Kids are sensitive creatures and mostly they are sheltered for a reason.

@Cassie.

I don't think children need to be sheltered from everything.

Really? Define 'everything' for me. Is there not a line that needs to be drawn? Would you let your hypothetical kid, aged 5, 6 or whatever to play Grand Theft Auto and drive around killing people, even if it is R18?

do kids really understand death is my question
I think way too many people underestimate what children do and don't understand. They may not be able to link concepts to certain vocabulary, but children do understand that sometimes people leave and don't come back. A child doesn't have to understand what death is in order to be upset over their favorite character melting into something else.

@Bri-marie. That's a very good point. I do think that people tend to under-estimate childrens' level of understanding sometimes... Just because their brains haven't fully developed, doesn't mean they are incapable of thinking about, as you said, their favorite character disappearing and not returning and being upset over it and the same in real life, too. I'll give an example (of a real-life situation): When my grandmother died, my brother was about 4-5 and, while he found it hard to take in that she had passed away, he still understood that he wouldn't see her again and was tremendously upset about it.

@Bri That's kind of what I was saying; kids don't necessarily know what death is but they know the character is gone. Of course they'd be upset I get upset when characters I love die. But it's just a fairy tale, made up. If an actual parent died before them then I'd say they need to be sheltered. But I don't think exposure to the topic is particularly harmful. In fact it may get the child to be more...accepting of death. I'm not saying like they'd enjoy death but they'd be more willing to embrace the fact that no one lives forever and don't fear it as much. I was read such stories as a young child and I was never really bothered by it at all. I know everyone is different but there are kids who simply don't mind the topic.
On top of that I'm not a fan of censorship at all. I don't see the point in trying to keep a child from finding out about something like sex and cussing when it's inevitable that they'll come across it eventually. Which is why I personally would like to be the one to teach my kid (if I have one) about these things earlier on so they will handle the topics more maturely and understand what's wrong and right so to speak. That being said I agree with cassie, I also don't think children need to be sheltered from everything--that everything being topics like sex violence and death. They are going to come across it one day or another so in my opinion they best be familiar with it before they find out 'the hard way'.

But I don't think exposure to the topic is particularly harmful.
It's not the topic itself that's the problem, it's the way it's handled in the storyline. It's not "oh, Pierrat hit Quasi Modo" we're talking "Pierrat whipped his thongs sharply through the air, like a handful of adders, and they fell with fury upon the wretch's shoulders.A second blow followed the first, then a third, and another and another, and still others. The wheel did not cease to turn, nor the blows to rain down.Soon the blood burst forth, and could be seen trickling in a thousand threads down the hunchback's black shoulders." They, literally and descriptively, spin Quasi around and whip him until he passes out.

I don't think children should be sheltered either. But there's a difference between not sheltering a child and exposing them to every single thing ever.

That's kind of where I question just how much details a kid actually picks out and remembers. Not that a child doesn't have the capability. I'm no toddler so I can't say for certain but as a kid I don't think I would've been able to put the pieces together. I would have had to ask my dad a bunch of questions. I get what your saying though, some of them get graphic. In which case it wouldn't hurt to skip parts or skip certain stories. I myself would read the whole thing to my kid though, he/she is going to hear it or something like it eventually; heck, I did a research paper on stoning people (this was an assignment).

The thing is, as I said, they will be exposed to everything eventually. On the news, watching tv, and surfing the net, if not first hand. Which is why I'd like to be the one to expose them to it so I could teach them how to handle what they see, so I can teach them not to fear it as much. I hope this isn't getting too off topic.