The transformation in The Juniper Tree is very different than the other human to animal transformations in the stories we've read. The boy is transformed only after he has already died and the form he is transformed into is not just a bird, but a magical singing bird with more capabilities and intelligence than his human counterpart. In the other stories about human to animal transformations, the "animal" version of the person is either completely animalistic and seemingly without human intelligence, or the animal retained its human faculties and nothing more. The son in Juniper Tree goes from a gullibe boy, easily tricked by his step-mother, to a talented singing bird with the cunning to trick people out of presents. He gains beauty, intelligence, singing talent, and the very un-childlike desire for revenge. He is neither completely animal nor completely human. It is almost as if the juniper tree turned him into a magical bird with extra powers.

All of these attributes distinguish him from the other transformed humans, but one thing is the same. The method of transformation has to be by some magical object. The transformation in The Juniper Tree was brought on by the magic in the juniper tree. The tree performed magic on the boy's mother and again on the boy himself. In stories such as The Six Swans and The Twelve Brothers, a witch or stepmother uses magical shirts or the water in a stream to transform the boys. The transformation from animal back to human is different however. In the other stories, a sister has to undergo some trial or test in order to turn the brothers back into humans. In The Juniper Tree the boy is able to turn himself back into a human throught the use of cunning and the completion of revenge on his evil step-mother. The fact that he comes back from the dead is unique, but not inconcievable considering the tree that initially gave him life is what brings him to life a second time.