Ages 9-12
Complex tales exploring justice, courage, and wisdom. Ideal for developing critical thinking.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Legend of Nian
The Legend of Nian: Long ago, before the dynasties grew great and the kingdoms sprawled across the land, there existed a creature of terror known as Nian.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Dragon’s Pearl
The Dragon's Pearl: In the shadow of mountains that touched the clouds, there lived a poor boy named Wei. His family owned nothing but a small cottage and a
Bengal Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Hermit and the Mouse (Panchatantra Retold)
The Hermit and the Mouse (Panchatantra Retold): In a cave high in the mountains, where the air was thin and the silence profound, there lived a hermit who had
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Magic Grove of Wishes
The Magic Grove of Wishes: There existed, in the regions beyond the mapped world, a place that legends spoke of but few had ever found - a grove of trees so
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Blind Men and the Elephant
The Blind Men and the Elephant: In a city famous for its universities and temples, there lived six blind men who were considered among the most learned in the
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
King Shibi and the Dove
King Shibi and the Dove: In a kingdom known throughout the ancient world for the justice and compassion of its ruler, there reigned a King named Shibi. joins a
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Clever Monkey and the Crocodile
The dual-rooted Indian fable of Raktamukha — "Red-Faced," the rhesus macaque of the jambū tree — and his crocodile friend Karālamukha, "Hideous-Mouthed," who carries him out into the river to be eaten on his wife's orders. The tale comes to us through two ancient traditions at once: the Buddhist Pali Canon as Suṃsumāra-Jātaka 208 (with two further variants, Vānarinda 57 and Vānara 342), and the Hindu Panchatantra as the FRAME story of Book IV, Labdhapraṇāśam. It is not, as is often claimed, a tale of Aesop. The Sanskrit names are restored, the Buddhist Devadatta frame is explained, the jambū rose-apple tree replaces the modern misattributed mango, and the story's two-thousand-year journey through Pahlavi, Arabic (where the crocodile becomes a tortoise), Persian, Hebrew, Latin, and finally into European folklore is traced. ATU 91.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Green Frog Son
The Green Frog Son: In the land of cascading waterfalls and misty mountains, there lived a widow with one peculiar son. The boy, named Jin, had been born under
Aesop's Fables
Ages 9-12
The Bundle of Sticks
The Bundle of Sticks: There was an old man who lived to see his five sons grow into manhood, yet their constant quarreling troubled him more deeply than any
Aesop's Fables
Ages 9-12
The Oak and the Reed
The Oak and the Reed: Along the banks of a slow, meandering river, there grew two very different plants in close proximity to one another. One was a mighty oak
Aesop's Fables
Ages 9-12
The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf: In a valley where green meadows rolled like gentle waves beneath endless sky, there lived a young shepherd boy named Thomas.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 9-12
The Donkey in the Lion’s Skin
The Donkey in the Lion's Skin: In a time when the beasts of the earth still held council and wisdom was sought from all creatures, there lived a donkey of