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.
Did you find this review helpful?
361 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
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)
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)
Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by ??
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Charles Folkard
from David McKay Company
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Puffin Classics
by Roger Green, illustrated by Arthur Hall
from Puffin Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by Roger Green, illustrated by Walter Crane
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
$20.00
Adventures of Robin Hood
Puffin Classics
by Roger Green, illustrated by Arthur Hall
from Puffin Books
Legends and Folklore for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Aeneid for Boys and Girls
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
Roman Mythology for 5th-8th grade
$11.95
Aeneid for Boys and Girls
by Alfred J. Church
from Living Book Press
Roman Mythology for 5th-8th grade
$6.99
Aeneid for Boys and Girls
by Alfred J. Church, illustrated by Eugene Karlin
1st Printing from Macmillan
Roman Mythology for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Harry Rountree
from Gallery Books
for 3rd-9th grade
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.99
Aesop's Fables and Life of Aesop
by Aesop, Mons. De Meziriac, R. Dodsley
from Rand McNally
for 6th-12th grade
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights
by Anonymous, illustrated by William Heath Robinson
from Everyman's Library
for 6th-9th grade
$20.00
Alex O'Donnell and the 40 CyberThieves
by Regina Doman
from Chesterton Press
for 7th-10th grade
American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
from Paul Hamlyn
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Tall Tales
by Mary Pope Osborne, Michael McCurdy
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fairy Tales & Fables for 4th-8th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Andersen's Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Valdemar Paulsen
from Barnes & Noble
for 3rd-8th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Andersen's Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Kay Nielsen
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
Andrew Lang Fairy Books
by Andrew Lang
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$170.72
Animal Stories
by Edited by Walter de la Mare
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Annotated Hans Christian Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Annotated Hans Christian Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Anpao
by Jamake Highwater
from HarperCollins
for 5th-9th grade
1978 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Arabian Nights
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Earle Goodenow, illustrator
from Grosset & Dunlap
Eastern Fairy Tales for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Earle Goodenow, illustrator
from Grosset & Dunlap
Eastern Fairy Tales for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Earle Goodenow, illustrator
from Grosset & Dunlap
Eastern Fairy Tales for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
Calla Editions
by Rene Bull (Illustrator)
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 4th-9th grade
Arabian Nights
Children's Classics
by Rene Bull, illustrator
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 4th-9th grade
Arabian Nights
by Padraic Colum
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-8th grade
$10.99
Arabian Nights
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Earle Goodenow, illustrator
from Grosset & Dunlap
Eastern Fairy Tales for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
Books of Wonder
by Brian Alderson, illustrated by Michael Foreman
from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Earle Goodenow, illustrator
from Grosset & Dunlap
Eastern Fairy Tales for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Lynd Ward
for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights / Aesop's Fables
by Mamoru Funai, Aesop
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-7th grade
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
Arctic Twilight
by Samuli Paulaharju
1982 Edition from Finnish American Literary Heritage Foundation
for 7th-Adult
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ardizzone's Hans Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
from Atheneum
for 3rd-8th grade
Arthur Rackham Fairy Book
by Arthur Rackham
from Lippincott
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Arthur the Always King
by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Chris Riddell
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
$29.99
At the Back of the North Wind
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fairy Tale for 4th-Adult
$20.00
At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Colleen Browning
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
Fairy Tale for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Frank C. Pape
from Living Book Press
for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from David McKay Company
Fairy Tale for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories
by Jane Yolen & Heidi E.Y. Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay
from Barefoot Books
for 2nd-8th grade
in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE)
Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #4
by Rick Riordan
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
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 (4 in stock)
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
by Edith Nesbit
from Yesterday's Classics
Shakespeare/Drama for Children for 4th-8th grade
$13.95
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
by Edith Nesbit
from Living Book Press
Shakespeare/Drama for Children for 4th-8th grade
Beautiful Stories of Life
by Cynthia Rylant
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
$17.99
Beauty
by Robin McKinley
First Paperback Edition, 2018 from Greenwillow Books
Fantasy/Retold Fairy Tale for 5th-8th grade
$7.99
Beowulf
by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman
from Walker Books
for 3rd-8th grade
Beowulf (retold)
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Beowulf (retold)
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$8.99
Beowulf the Warrior
by Ian Serraillier
from Bethlehem Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.95
Beowulf: A New Telling
by Robert Nye
from Laurel-Leaf Books
for 6th-10th grade
$5.99
Better Known as Johnny Appleseed
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, illustrated by James Daugherty
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 5th-9th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Big Tree of Bunlahy
by Padraic Colum
from Macmillan
for 5th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
Black as Night
by Regina Doman
2nd edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Black Ships Before Troy
by Rosemary Sutcliff & Alan Lee
from Frances Lincoln
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$24.99
Black Ships Before Troy
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Laurel-Leaf Books
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
$8.99
Blue Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$16.95
Blue Fairy Book - Selections
by Andrew Lang
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$11.55
Book of Dragons
by Michael Hague
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
Book of Myths
by Helen Sewell
from Macmillan
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Brown Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Canterbury Tales (retold)
by A. Kent & Constance Hieatt, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Press
for 5th-9th grade
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
by Brian Jacques
from ACE Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Celtic Fairy Tales
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Isabelle Brent
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$10.99
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
from Macmillan
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$10.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Schuster
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Cinderella
Calla Editions
by C. S. Evans, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Dover Publications
for 4th-8th grade
Cinderella
by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-8th grade
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Classic Tales of Oscar Wilde
by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Egmont
for 3rd-8th grade
Complete Fairy Tales
Penguin Classics
by George MacDonald
from Penguin Classics
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$17.00
Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Jack Zipes
3rd edition from Bantam Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$25.00
Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
from Bantam Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Cow-Tail Switch
by Harold Courlander, George Herzog
Reissue from Square Fish Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
1948 Newbery Honor Book
$17.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Crimson Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$16.95
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
Greek Mythology for 4th-9th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$29.99
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Audio CD
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
$25.00
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$29.95
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)
Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural
by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Yearling
for 4th-7th grade
1993 Newbery Honor Book
$7.99
Day It Snowed Tortillas
by Joe Hayes
3rd edition from Unknown Publisher
for 5th-7th grade
East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon
Junior Deluxe Editions
by P. C. Asbjornsen, illustrated by Walter Seaton
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
ECL: Arabian Nights (abridged)
Educator Classic Library #8
by Andrew Lang (selections and edits), illustrated by William Dempster
from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Book of King Arthur
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Ron King
for 4th-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Pinocchio
Educator Classic Library #3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Joseph Walker and illustrated by William Dempster
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
$9.99
Ella Enchanted - Special Read-Aloud Edition
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Eyewitness Classics: Odyssey (adapted & annotated)
by Homer
1st edition from DK Children
for 3rd-8th grade
in Adapted or Abridged (Location: SER-ABR)
Fables of Leonardo da Vinci
by Leonardo da Vinci, interpreted & transcribed by Bruno Nardini, illustrated by Adriana Saviozzi Mazza
from Hubbard Press
for 3rd-8th grade
1234