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.
Celtic Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Beth Gellert
Prince Llewelyn comes home to find his faithful greyhound Gellert covered in blood and his baby’s cradle overturned, and he acts before he knows the truth.
Celtic Folk Tales
A Legend of Knockmany
The giant Fin M’Coul dreads a fight with the mighty Cucullin, so his clever wife Oonagh disguises him as a baby and bakes iron griddles into the bread.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
The Water of Life
Three princes seek the Water of Life for their dying father; only the youngest asks the dwarf kindly—and still faces his brothers' envy.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
A king’s twelve daughters wear out their shoes each night; a soldier with an invisible cloak follows them to an underground ball and wins the eldest.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
A youth who cannot shudder survives frightening encounters and a haunted castle, then finally trembles when cold fish are poured over him.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Snowdrop
A jealous queen hunts Snowdrop with lace, comb, and apple; seven dwarfs guard her glass coffin until a stumble frees the poisoned bite.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
Jorinda and Jorindel
Jorinda becomes a caged nightingale in a fairy's castle; Jorindel frees her—and seven hundred others—with a purple flower from a dream.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Fundevogel
A bird-snatched child and the forester's daughter flee a cook's kettle, shifting into rose, church, and pond until the witch drowns.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
Doctor Knowall
A poor peasant named Crabb buys an ABC book, hangs out a sign calling himself Doctor Knowall, and must find a rich lord's stolen money.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
How Partlet Died and Was Buried, and How Chanticleer Died of Grief
When Partlet chokes on a nut, Chanticleer seeks help through a chain of requests, followed by a disastrous funeral journey.
Chinese Folk Tales
The Three Evils
A wise new mandarin tells the district bully about its three evils, a dragon, a tiger and the bully himself, and the young man sets out to end all three.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Queen of Heaven
A devout Fukien girl becomes the Queen of Heaven, guardian of sailors, who calms storms with her sword and pulls a lost ship out of the Black Whirlpool.