Friendship & Loyalty
Companions share food, knowledge, shelter and danger in these stories, while betrayal and unequal obligations can test their relationships. Look at how help moves between characters: who gives it, who receives it and who is forgotten when the reward arrives. Friendship is a subject to explore here, not a guarantee that every companion acts well.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Tyr and the Binding of Fenrir
The gods of Asgard fear the growing wolf Fenrir, and when he will only wear their magic ribbon if one god puts a hand in his mouth, brave Tyr steps forward.
Aesop's Fables
Ages 6-8
The Oak and the Reed
After a gale uproots an oak, it asks the reeds how their frail stems survived. Their answer contrasts bending with resisting the wind.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 9-12
The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats
A mother goat warns her seven kids of the wolf; he softens his voice and whitens his paws—yet the youngest, hidden in the clock, helps undo him.
Celtic Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Salmon of Knowledge
Young Finn is told to cook the magic Salmon of Knowledge for his teacher and not taste a bite, but a burnt thumb changes everything for him.
Celtic Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Voyage of Bran
A silver branch and a stranger’s song call Bran across the sea to the Land of Women, but the journey home holds a terrible surprise for his crew.
Chinese Folk Tales
All Ages
The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea
The Eight Immortals ride across the ocean on a crutch, a fan, a paper mule and more, until a greedy dragon prince steals a musical instrument and starts a war.
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Issun-boshi, the One-Inch Boy
A boy no bigger than a finger paddles to Kyoto in a soup bowl, fights off two oni with his needle sword, and uses their lucky mallet to grow tall.
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Snow Woman (Yuki-Onna)
Spared by a ghostly woman of the snow on the night his master freezes, a young woodcutter keeps her secret for years, until he tells his own wife.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Apples of Idun
When a giant in eagle form traps Loki, the price of his freedom is Idun and her golden apples, and without them the gods of Asgard start to grow old.
Japanese Folk Tales
All Ages
The Star Lovers
The Weaving Lady and the ox-herd love so much they neglect their work, so her father sets the Celestial River between them, letting them meet one night a year.
The Holy Quail
Left behind in the nest by his frightened parents as a forest fire roars closer, a young quail who cannot yet fly turns the flames back with an Act of Truth.
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.