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.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Ages 6-8
The Bremen Town Musicians
An old donkey, dog, cat, and rooster set out to be town musicians; their midnight “concert” scares robbers from a cottage for good.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Ape Sun Wu Kung
A stone ape learns magic, steals Heaven’s peaches and pills of life and defeats whole armies of gods, until he makes a bet with Buddha he cannot win.
The Firebird, the Horse of Power, and Princess Vasilisa
A young archer ignores his wise horse and picks up a firebird's feather, and his greedy Tzar sends him on ever deadlier errands to the edge of the world.
Norse Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Thor and the Giant’s Kettle
Thor and Tyr travel to the giant Hymir’s hall to bring back a kettle a mile deep, and on the way Thor goes fishing for the Midgard serpent.
Russian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka)
A childless old couple build a snow girl who comes to life, but when they cheat the fox who saved her, she hears that a hen matters more and melts away.
Arabian Nights
The Tale of the Merchant and the Genie
A genie accuses a merchant of killing his son with a thrown date-stone; three travellers’ stories gradually win the merchant’s release.
African Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
Tink-Tinkje
The birds agree that whoever flies highest will be king, and tiny Tink-tinkje rides on the vulture’s wing to win, then escapes the angry birds.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
Tokgabi’s Menagerie
When the magic stone that keeps old Tip Pul’s wine bottle full goes missing, his dog Snap and his cat Mee Yow both set out to find it.
Korean Folk Tales
The Plucky Maiden
The most feared governor in Pyong-an Province orders a deputy to hand over his beautiful daughter, but she greets him holding a sword instead of a fan.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
The Great Stone Fire Eater
A hungry Fire Spirit and the South Wind burn down the king’s new palace in Seoul, and the king’s wise men try a dragon, a pond and a stone beast to stop him.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
Sir One Long Body and Madam Thousand Feet
A millipede and an earthworm are matched by a go-between, but village gossip about shoes for a thousand feet and one-legged trousers sets both of them worrying.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
Prince Sandalwood, the Father of Korea
A bear and a tiger try to become human by living on garlic in a dark cave, and the patient one’s new life leads to the birth of Korea’s first king.