Fairy tales

This page lists the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault, Aesop’s fables, and other old stories such as Rip Van Winkle, Baba Yaga and Momotaro, the Peach Boy. Everything is free to read, with no account and no ads.

Each card gives the reading time and the youngest age we suggest, and the filters narrow the list by theme, age and length. On a short evening, choose a fable: The Fox and the Grapes takes a minute or two and closes with its moral.

Older children can manage something longer. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves each take around fifteen minutes, and some tales, Rapunzel and Thumbelina among them, also come in a longer version closer to the old source.

Every tale is retold in modern English from a dated public-domain edition, and the tale page names that edition. The sentences are shaped for reading aloud, each tale has a painted cover, and many also have a coloring page you can print.