Courage & Bravery
Stories in which characters face fear, danger or pressure. Their choices invite discussion of preparation, help and responsibility as well as bold action. Ask what each character risks, who else bears the consequences, and whether a dramatic victory resolves the original problem. Consult the story’s audience guidance before choosing.
Arabian Nights
Ages 6-8
Sinbad the Sailor: The First Voyage
Sinbad lands on a green "island" that is a whale's back, survives alone, and later reclaims his cargo from a captain who thought him drowned.
Arabian Nights
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
A false uncle sends Aladdin into a treasure cave for a lamp; genies raise a palace—until "New lamps for old!" carries it to Africa.
Norse Folk Tales
The Widow’s Son
A poor widow’s son goes to work for a stranger who forbids him four rooms, and behind the last door he finds a black horse fed on burning coals.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Three Princesses of Whiteland
A fisherman unknowingly promises his unborn son to a head that rises from the sea, and years later a runaway boat carries the boy off to Whiteland.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Princess on the Glass Hill
Every Midsummer Night something eats a farmer’s meadow bare, and only Boots, the youngest son, is brave enough to stay in the shaking barn and find out what.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Lad Who Went to the North Wind
When the North Wind blows away his poor mother’s flour three times running, a stubborn boy sets off on a long walk to the North Wind’s house to get it back.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body
Boots sets out to find his missing brothers; animal helpers and a captive princess lead him to the hidden egg containing a giant’s heart.
Norse Folk Tales
The Blue Belt
A beggar woman’s little boy secretly picks up a blue belt lying where two paths meet, and as soon as he ties it on, he feels strong enough to lift a hill.
Korean Folk Tales
The Voice of the Bell
King Tai Jo wants a bronze bell so huge that its music will roll over every street of Seoul and for miles across the hills, yet each casting cracks.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Fearless Captain
A soldier who scoffs at fear sits calmly as lightning rolls through his house, then moves into a haunted office where three hungry devils hop toward him.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Brave Magistrate
A soldier with no powerful friends takes the post a hundred men refused, in a county where every magistrate dies within ten days of a foul-smelling goblin.
Celtic Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Story of the McAndrew Family
Seven foolish McAndrew brothers lose their cows, their gold and their land, field by field, to neighbours ready to cheat them, until only begging is left.