Ages 6-8
Stories suggested for ages 6–8, including short adventures and trickster encounters. They can be read together or independently according to reading confidence. Check the individual guidance, and leave room to discuss whether a clever character’s actions were also fair.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Dragon after His Winter Sleep
On a rainy day a scholar finds a glowing little creature scorching his book, bows to it in his ceremonial robes, and watches it fly off as a dragon.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Fox-Fire
A farmer swallows the glowing elixir a fox breathes toward the moon, gains spirit powers for thirty years, and then the fox comes to take it back.
Russian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Dimian the Peasant
Bossy Dimian forces gifts on his guests to make them refuse, until a sly visitor accepts his supper, his best coat and finally his finest horse.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Bear’s Bad Bargain
A bear carries a huge load of wood for a promised share of khichri, but the couple eat it all. A sneeze later leaves them with his wood and a pot of pears.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Brahmarakshas and the Hair
A greedy landlord calls up a giant demon servant who must always have work, and when the work runs out, only his wife knows how to keep it busy.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
A Lesson for Kings
Two good kings, each searching for someone to tell him his faults, meet head-on in a narrow lane where neither chariot can get out of the way.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 6-8
The Lamb and the Wolf
A lamb escapes a wolf by entering a temple. The wolf warns of sacrifice inside, but the lamb refuses to step back into its pursuer's reach.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Wrestlers: A Story of Heroes
A giant wrestler sets out to fight India's strongest man, but meets a girl who sweeps away an elephant and an old woman who lets them wrestle on her palm.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Three Deaf Men
A deaf husband, his deaf wife and a deaf shepherd talk at cross purposes over cabbage and a lost cow, until a sharp stranger walks off with the calf.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal
A Brahman releases a tiger that immediately threatens to eat him. A jackal pretends to be confused and persuades the tiger to demonstrate the story inside the cage.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Sparrow and the Crow
Before the crow can share the sparrow’s khichri, he must wash, and so begins a long chain of asking, from pond to deer to cow, grass and blacksmith.
Panchatantra Stories
Ages 6-8
The Lion and the Crane
A white crane pulls a stuck bone out of a lion's throat, propping his jaws open with a stick, then asks what thanks he will get for saving the king of beasts.