ATU 327

Tale Summary Once upon a time there was a set of twins, a boy and a girl, whose father remarried after their mother’s death and had several more children. The stepmother was cruel and decided to send them to a wicked witch in the woods, telling them it was her...

Tale Summary Once upon a time, there was a poor man and his wife, wood makers by trade, who had seven young boys (the oldest being ten, and the younger being seven years of age). This youngest boy was very small, only being the size of a thumb when he...

Tale Summary George Cruikshank participated in the Temperance movement, and like other tales in this volume (Cinderella), this version of Hop O’ My Thumb denounces the evils of “strong drink” (alcohol). He also omits the violent scene in which the Ogre kills his own children after being tricked by Hop...

Tale Summary Seven siblings are born no more than three years apart into a poor family in which the youngest boy, named Hop-O’-My-Thumb, is deemed a weakly little fellow, but in fact, is actually the smartest in the group. His woodcutting parents are too poor to keep all of the...