This page explains how Indian Folk Tales chooses, retells and checks the stories in its library, and how to tell us when something is wrong.
Where our stories come from
We retell traditional tales from published collections that are in the public domain in the United States, including the older editions named on our source page. Public-domain status depends on the edition and jurisdiction. Most are free to read at Project Gutenberg or the Internet Archive. They include Arthur Ryder’s Panchatantra, Edwin Arnold’s Book of Good Counsels from the Hitopadesha, Flora Annie Steel and R. C. Temple’s Tales of the Punjab, Natesa Sastri and Mrs. Howard Kingscote’s Tales of the Sun, Lal Behari Day’s Folk-Tales of Bengal, Joseph Jacobs’s Indian Fairy Tales and Celtic Fairy Tales, and James Scarth Gale’s Korean Folk Tales. The full list is on Sources, Rights & Reuse.
Every story page names its source in a section called “Where this story comes from” or “About this story”, and links to a free copy of the original wherever one exists online. Attribution should identify the version used, rather than claim that a printed collector invented an oral tradition. Where a source is uncertain or disputed, the note should make that uncertainty clear.
How a retelling is made
- We start from the source text. The retelling follows the events, characters and ending of the version we cite. Commentary and discussion activities are separate from the narrative. They may question a traditional moral or a character’s choices, but should not invent historical background.
- We write in our own words. Old translations can be hard going for children, so the language is modern and plain. Our review aims to preserve the complete sequence of the cited telling, correct plot errors and distinguish a retelling from a quotation.
- We identify difficult content. The library includes tales with cruelty, violence, coercion and adult themes. Reading guidance should flag these features. Darker tales may be labelled for older readers and excluded from child age collections. A tale’s presence in the library does not mean it suits every child.
- We keep the culture in. Names, places, foods and customs stay as they are in the source, with a short explanation where a reader might need one. When a source reflects prejudice or an outdated belief, commentary should distinguish that historical viewpoint from a factual claim about people today.
- We offer reading guidance. Suggested child age bands reflect language and subject matter. Older-reader stories may carry no child age band. Adults should preview the whole page rather than rely on a label alone.
We use software tools, including AI writing tools, to help draft retellings. The review standard is the same however a draft was produced: preserve the cited plot, identify the source honestly, correct unsupported claims and provide useful interpretation. AI output is not itself evidence for a historical or cultural claim.
Reviewing older pages
We review older pages against this policy. When a page cannot be traced to a reliable source, makes claims we cannot support, or duplicates another story, we rewrite it, merge it into the better page or take it down. If you followed an old link and landed on a different story, that is usually why.
Corrections
If you find a factual error, a wrong source, a broken link or a passage that does not seem right for children, please email support@asiansparrow.com with the page address and a short description. When we agree that a page is wrong, we correct it, and if the correction changes the source information we update the note on that page.
Independence
Indian Folk Tales is seeking advertising support, including Google AdSense approval. Advertising support does not determine which traditional version a page follows or what its commentary says.