Ages 9-12
Complex tales exploring justice, courage, and wisdom. Ideal for developing critical thinking.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Lion’s Whisker
An Amhara wisdom tale from Ethiopia: a young stepmother, desperate to win her grieving stepson's love, is sent by a wise hakim to pluck a whisker from a living lion - and learns that patience, not magic, is the cure.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky
An Efik pourquoi tale from southern Nigeria: the Sun and his wife the Moon welcome their friend the Water too well, are flooded out of the great house they built, and are driven up to live in the sky forever.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom
The Akan (Ashanti) trickster tale of how Kwaku Anansi the spider tried to hoard all the wisdom of the world in one clay pot - and how his own small son taught him the lesson that scattered wisdom across the whole earth.
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Crane Wife (Tsuru no Ongaeshi)
The Crane Wife (Tsuru no Ongaeshi): In a small mountain village, where winter snow fell like blessings from heaven and spring brought cascades of pink
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow: A Japanese Folktale
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow: A Japanese Folktale: In a village set among the gentle mountains of old Japan, there lived a kind-hearted old man named Takehiro and
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Urashima Taro and the Dragon Palace
Urashima Taro and the Dragon Palace: In a village by the Seto Inland Sea, where fishing boats bobbed like lotus blossoms upon gentle waves, there lived a young
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Princess (Kaguya-hime)
The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Princess (Kaguya-hime): In the time when Japan was young and still learning to speak its own language, there lived in a village
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Momotaro: The Peach Boy
Momotaro: The Peach Boy: In the days when Japan was still finding its own voice, there lived in a small village nestled between rice paddies and gentle hills
Russian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Firebird, the Horse of Power, and Princess Vasilisa
The Firebird, the Horse of Power, and Princess Vasilisa: In the days when the Russian steppes stretched endless as the sea, there lived a poor archer named
Russian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Sadko the Rich Merchant: Echoes from the Deep
Sadko the Rich Merchant: Echoes from the Deep: In the ancient city of Novgorod, where the Volkhov River flowed like a ribbon of silver through the land, there
Russian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Frog Princess: A Tale of Love and Redemption
The Frog Princess: A Tale of Love and Redemption: In the days when magic still dwelt in the forests of ancient Russia, there lived a noble archer named Ivan
Russian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Morozko: The Frost King’s Test
Morozko: The Frost King's Test: Morozko: The Frost King’s Test In a remote village nestled among white birch forests, there lived a widower with two daughters.