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?
61 Items found Print
Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Hardcover
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, Isaac Bashevis Singer
from International Collectors Library
for 6th-10th grade
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
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
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights
by Anonymous, illustrated by William Heath Robinson
from Everyman's Library
for 6th-9th grade
$17.95 $10.00 (2 in stock)
American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
Annotated Brothers Grimm
by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Bicentennial from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Annotated Classic Fairy Tales
by Maria Tatar
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 8th-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)
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 Amabel Williams-Ellis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Blackie & Son LTD.
for 9th-Adult
Arabian Nights
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Book-of-the-Month Club
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
Arctic Twilight
by Samuli Paulaharju
1982 Edition from Finnish American Literary Heritage Foundation
for 7th-Adult
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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)
Canterbury Tales
by A. Kent & Constance Hieatt, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Press
for 5th-9th grade
Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Wilhelm Grimm, Jacob Grimm
from International Collectors Library
for 5th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Anderson
from Avenel Books
for 8th-Adult
Complete Illustrated Stories of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by E.H. Wehnert
Redesigned Edition (1st Edition in this form) from Chancellor Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
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
Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights
Dent & Dutton Illustrated Series
by E. Dixon, illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
by Gennady Spirin
from Marshall Cavendish Education
for 9th-Adult
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Myths: A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Walter Crane
from Barnes & Noble
Myths for 5th-10th grade
Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales
Calla Editions
by Grace James
from Dover Publications
for 7th-10th grade
Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Lucille Corcos
from Heritage Press
for 4th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Windermere Readers #4
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Hope Dunlap
1954 printing from Rand McNally
for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Windermere Series 1
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Hope Dunlap
from Rand McNally
for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Windermere Series 2
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Hope Dunlap
from Rand McNally
for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Windermere Series 3
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Hope Dunlap
from Rand McNally
for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Windermere Series 4
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Hope Dunlap
from Rand McNally
for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Iliad and the Odyssey (retold)
by Jane Werner Watson, illustrated by Alice & Martin Provensen
from Golden Books
for 5th-9th grade
Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: Legends of Charlemagne
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Macmillan
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
It's Perfectly True
by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Paul Leyssac and illustrated by Richard Bennett
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-12th grade
King Arthur and His Knights
by Sir James Knowles, illustrated by Louis Rhead and other artists
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Washington Irving
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Sterling Classics
by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Merry Ballads of Robin Hood
by Laurabelle Dietrick, assisted by Joseph Franz-Walsh and illustrated by Edna Reindel
from Macmillan
Songs and Ballads for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Miracle on 34th Street
by Valentine Davies
from Harcourt
Realistic Fairy Tale for 6th-9th Grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.99
Miracle On 34th Street
by Valentine Davies, illustrated by Tomie DePaola
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
Realistic Fairy Tale for 6th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Myths and Folk Tales Around the World
by Robert R. Potter
from Globe Book Company
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Odyssey (retold)
by Gillian Cross
from Candlewick Press
for 6th-9th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Questionable Creatures
by Pauline D. Baynes
from Eerdmans
for 5th-9th grade
Rip Van Winkle
Calla Editions
by Washington Irving
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
Rip Van Winkle
Books of Wonder
by Washington Irving (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth)
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-9th grade
Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Macmillan Classics
by Washington Irving, illustrated by David Levine
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Saint George
by Katherine Miller, illustrated by Wallace Tripp
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Scottish Fairy Tales
from Bracken Books
for 3rd-Adult
Shakespeare Stories
by Leon Garfield
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-12th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Stories from the Arabian Nights
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Retold by A.E. Housman, illustrated by Girard Goodenow
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-9th grade
Stories from the Arabian Nights
by Laurence Housman, illustrated by Edmund Dulac
from George H. Doran Company
for 9th-Adult
Stories from the Arabian Nights
by Naomi Lewis (reteller), illustrated by Anton Pieck
from Methuen
for 4th-9th grade
Stories from the Arabian Nights
Junior Deluxe Editions
by A.E. Housman (reteller), illustrated by Edmund Dulac
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-9th grade
Stories of King Arthur's Knights Told to the Children
by George MacDonald
from T.C. & E.C. Jack
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Story of King Arthur and His Knights
Howard Pyle's King Arthur series book 1.
by Howard Pyle
from Barnes & Noble
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-10tth grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tales from the Arabian Nights
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Andrew Lang, with Edmund Dulac illustrations
from Reader's Digest
for 4th-9th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Treasury of Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Thomas Bewick, with Oliver Goldsmith
from Avenel Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Twelve Dancing Princesses
Calla Editions
by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
from Dover Publications
for 4th-9th grade
Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves and Other Little People
from Avenel Books
for 7th-Adult
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Young Oxford Book of Folk Tales
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
from Oxford University
for 4th grade-adult
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$9.00 (1 in stock)