- The Great Refusal. Studies of the romantic hero in German and American literature (1970)
- Political plays for children: the Grips Theater of Berlin (1976) translator
- Breaking the Magic Spell: radical theories of folk and fairytales (1979).
- Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: the classical genre for children and the process of civilization (1983)
- The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood :versions of the tale in sociocultural context (1983) ISBN 0-415-90835-3
- Germans and Jews since the Holocaust: the changing situation in West Germany (1986) editor with Anson Rabinbach
- Victorian Fairy Tales (1987) editor
- Don't Bet on the Prince (1987)
- The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (1987) translator
- The Brothers Grimm: from enchanted forests to the modern world (1988) biography
- Fairy Tales and Fables from Weimar Days (1989)
- Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantment: classic French fairy tales (1989) translator
- The fairy tales of Frank Stockton (1990) editor
- Spells of Enchantment (1991)
- Arabian Nights: (1991) adaptation
- The Operated Jew : two tales of anti-semitism (1991) translator
- “Adorno May Still Be Right”. Telos 101 (Fall 1994). New York: Telos Press.
- Fairy Tale as Myth; Myth as Fairy Tale (1994)
- The Outspoken Princess and the Gentle Knight (1994)
- The Complete Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse (1995)
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales, Children, and the Culture Industry (1997) Routledge
- The Wonderful World of Oz (1998) editor
- When Dreams Came True (1999)
- The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales (2000) editor
- The Great Fairy Tale Tradition (2001) editor
- Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children's Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter (2001)
- Hans Christian Andersen : The Misunderstood Storyteller (2005)
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (2006) editor
- Why Fairy Tales Stick (2006)
- Brothers(Vintage)Grimm the complete fairytails (2007)
Mass Degradation of Humanity and Massive Contradictions in Bradbury's Vision of America in Fahrenheit 451 (1983)