Fairytales too scary for modern children, say parents The poll found a quarter of parents polled wouldn't consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions from their offspring. And 52 per cent of the parents said Cinderella didn't send a good message to their children as it portrays a young woman doing housework all day. Steve Hornsey, General Manager, Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to soothe children and send them off to sleep soundly. But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it's understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children. As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five year old with an over active imagination could take things too literally. Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story. When it comes to bedtime reading, over a third of parents don't like to tell their children about 'The Gingerbread Man' as he gets eaten by a fox. And 'Queen Bee' features a character called 'Simpleton,' which 35 per cent of mums and dads deemed unsuitable. The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares. However half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids' books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr Men books. Hansel and Gretel - Details two kids abandoned in the forest and likely to scare young children Jack and the Beanstalk - Deemed too 'unrealistic'. Gingerbread Man - Would be uncomfortable explaining gingerbread man gets eaten by a fox Little Red Riding Hood - Deemed unsuitable by parents who have to explain a young girl's grandmother has been eaten by a wolf. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - the term dwarves was found to be inappropriate Cinderella - Story about a young girl doing all the housework was outdated. 7.Rapunzel - Parents were worried about the focus on a young girl being kidnapped. 8.Rumplestiltskin - Wouldn't be happy reading about executions and kidnapping 9.Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Sends the wrong messages about stealing 10.Queen Bee - Inappropriate as the story has a character called Simpleton ENDS