All Stories
Browse our complete collection of folk tales, Panchatantra stories, and moral stories from around the world.
Indian Folk Tales
The Son of Seven Mothers
After a king blinds and imprisons his seven queens, the one surviving son sustains them. A princess who can read the deadly messages he carries helps him recover their sight and confront the hidden past.
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.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Thanksgiving of the Wazir
A wise old wazir gives thanks when his king cuts off a fingertip, and is thrown in prison—until that missing fingertip saves the king from sacrifice.
Indian Folk Tales
The Three Calamities
Minister Bodhaditya hears Kali weep over three threats to the king; he averts arrows, poisoned rice, and a serpent, then proves loyalty.
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
The Wonderful Mango Fruit
A pet parrot fetches youth-giving mangoes from beyond seven oceans; a rash king’s cruelty costs the bird, though age and sight are restored.
Indian Folk Tales
The Wonderful Ring
A spendthrift uses his wife's last jewel to buy four animals. A serpent's ring brings a palace and a new marriage, but recovering the abducted princess requires the animals' help.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Valiant Vicky, the Brave Weaver
A weaver mistakes a lucky hit on a mosquito for proof of heroism. Further accidents bring him fame, though the reader sees the fear behind his boasts.
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.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 3-5
The Lion and the Mouse
A lion laughs when a tiny mouse promises to repay his mercy, until hunters trap him in a net and the mouse gnaws the ropes to set him free.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 3-5
The Fox and the Grapes
A hungry fox jumps again and again for a bunch of grapes hanging out of reach, then strolls off insisting they were sour all along.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 3-5
The Ant and the Grasshopper
On a winter day a hungry grasshopper asks ants for grain. Their question about her summer singing leads to a sharp answer about winter dancing.