Comment by Aloisius

Sure, but classic folktales weren't intended for children. They were stories largely for adults.

Indeed, the Grimm brothers did not intend their books for children initially. They were supposed to be scholarly works, but no one seems to have told the people buying the books who thought they were tales for children and complained that the books weren't suitable enough for children.

Eventually they caved to pressure and made major revisions in later editions, dropping unsuitable stories, adding new stories and eventually illustrations specifically to appeal to children.