Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children

Not that these are "soft" versions of the fairy tales we know and love—they're just not quite as jarring as the original material. Whereas the Brothers Grimm didn't hesitate to include excessive violence, genuine terror and even (on occasion) sexual references, authors like Andrew Lang opted to gentle the stories a bit so as not to spook the youngsters too much. While we certainly encourage you to read the originals and introduce them to your kids at some point, the books you'll find in this section are a great place to start small children on traditional tales and folklore.

It's not so much that fairy tales offer kids a new way of seeing the world, it's more that they are already in line with the way kids do see the world. For a child, monsters really do lurk in the shadows, pumpkins can turn into vehicles, and animals really do have rational thoughts and can even (at times, if you listen closely enough) talk. To force children into an adult world where only the unavoidable and routine can take place is to rob them of not only their youth, but their ability to imagine.

More than any other kind of story, fairy tales are only a segue to genuine creativity. Kids read about Princes Charming, Princesses in Distress, Dragons, Dragon-Fighters, dwarfs, elves and pixies—and then become each of these things in turn in the backyard. Not that most children need inspiration, but it certainly can't hurt, nor can it hurt for them to realize they aren't the first ones to imagine fairies in the trees and gnomes in the garden. We've chosen the books you'll find here for the quality of artwork, faithfulness of adaptation, and overall appeal both to kids and their parents (who may have missed out on good fairy tales themselves).

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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72 Items found Print
Active Filters: Picture Books, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Used Books & Materials
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Heidi Holder
1st edition from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Barefoot Book of Buddhist Tales
by Sherab Chodzin & Alexandra Kohn (retellers), illustrated by Marie Cameron
from Barefoot Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum
by Ashley Bryan
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-7th grade
$9.99 $5.50 (5 in stock)
Beauty and the Beast
by Deborah Apy, Michael Hague (illustrator)
from Henry Holt and Company
Fairy Tales & Fables for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Beowulf
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Black Heart of Indri
by Dorothy Hoge; illustrated by Janina Domanska
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Brer Rabbit and His Tricks
by Ennis Rees; illustrated by Edward Gorey
from Young Scott Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Buckwheat
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Story Book
by Kay Chorao
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Cinderella
by Marcia Brown (translator)
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1955 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Clod Hans
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Contest
by Nonny Hogrogian
from Greenwillow Books
Armenian Folktale for 1st-3rd grade
1977 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Dance Me a Story
by Jane Rosenberg
from Thames and Hudson
for 3rd-8th grade
in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE)
$12.00 (3 in stock)
Emperor's New Clothes
by Hans Christian Andersen as told by Various Authors
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fables
by Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Preschool-3rd grade
1981 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Fin M'coul
by Tomie dePaola
from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
by Arthur Ransome, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
from Sunburst Book
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade
1969 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Gilgamesh the King
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 1st-4th grade
$8.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Gingerbread Man
by Jim Aylesworth
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Book of Fairy Tales
by Translated by Marie Ponsot, Illustrated by Adrienne Segur
from Golden Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Hansel and Gretel
by Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader
from Weiser & Weiser
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hercules, the Gentle Giant
by Nina Schneider; illustrated by Tomie DePaola
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Higglety Pigglety Pop!
by Maurice Sendak
from Harper & Row
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Images of God
by John and Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Alexander Koshkin
1st edition from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
King's Chessboard
by David Birch & Devis Grebu
Reprint from Puffin Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Last Quest of Gilgamesh
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 1st-4th grade
$8.95 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Little Claus and Big Claus
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from PaperStar Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade
1990 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Macbeth
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
by Leon Garfield (Abridgement), William Shakespeare
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Magic Fish
by Freya Littledale
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.99 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Many Moons
by James Thurber
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Misoso
by Verna Aardema
illustrated edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
by John Steptoe
1st edition from Amistad Press
for 2nd-5th grade
1988 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen; retold by Stephen Mitchell and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Old Stories from Denmark
from Kaj Elle-Ebeltoft
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Once a Mouse
by Marcia Brown
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1962 Caldecott Medal Winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Opossum and the Great Firemaker
Legends of the World
by Jan M. Mike; illustrated by Charles Reasoner
from Troll Publishing
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Paul and the Wolf
by Margo Lemieux, Illustrated by Bill Nelson
from Silver Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Paul Bunyan
by Steven Kellogg
from William Morrow & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Paul Bunyan the Work Giant
by Ida Virginia Turney
from Unknown Publisher
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Pegasus
by Marianna Mayer & K. Y. Craft
1st ed from Morrow Eagle
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Peter Bull
by Helen Oechsli, illustrated by Kelly Oechsli
from Viking Press
Danish Folk Tale for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Pigkeeper
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Read Me Another Fairy Tale
by Andrew Lang, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Revenge of Ishtar
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 1st-4th grade
$8.95 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Robin Hood
by Jane Carruth, Illustrated by Chris Higham
from Award Publications, Limited
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Salmon's Journey and More Northwest Coast Stories
by Robert James Challenger
from Heritage House Publishing Company
for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Shadow
by Marcia Brown
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Fairy Tales & Fables for 3rd-5th
1983 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
She Was Good for Nothing
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Snowdrop
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Song to Demeter
by Cynthia & William Birrer
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sooner Hound
by Harvey Weiss
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Strega Nona
by Tomie dePaola
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Sun, Moon, and Stars
by Mary Hoffman
from Dutton Children's Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Swamp Angel (Library rebind)
by Anne Isaacs
Library Binding from Dutton Children's Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tale of Two Rice Birds
by Adapted by Clare Hodgson Meeker, Illustrated by Christine Lamb
from Sasquatch Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Tales from Indian Classics Book III
by Savitri (reteller), illustrated by Sukumar Chatterjee
from Children's Book Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Tatterhood and the Hobgoblins
by Lauren Mills
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Theseus and the Minotaur
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
by Eugene Trivizas
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
To Everything There Is a Season
by Diane Dillon, Leo Dillon
1st edition from Blue Sky press
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Traveling Companion
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams Bianco, illustrated by Donna Green
from Smithmark Publishers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
What the Old Man Does Is Always Right
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky
by Elphinstone Dayrell
Reprint from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
1969 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Wild Swans
Scandinavia Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Word Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Swans
by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
from Dial Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You (Fairy Tales)
by Mary Ann Hoberman, Illustrated by Michael Emberley
from Little, Brown & Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You (Fairy Tales)
by Mary Ann Hoberman, Illustrated by Michael Emberley
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)