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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124 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Trade Paperback
Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great
The Knights' Tales Book 1
by Gerald Morris
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
American Fairy Tales
by L. Frank Baum
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Tall Tales
by Adrien Stoutenberg
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$6.99
Andersen's Fairy Tales
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2 Paperback
by Hans Christian Anderson, illustrated by Arthur Szyk
from Grosset & Dunlap
Fairy Tales for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Andrew Lang Fairy Books
by Andrew Lang
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$152.32
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
by Padraic Colum
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-8th grade
$10.99
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)
$7.99
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)
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)
Beowulf
by Robert Nye
from Laurel-Leaf Books
for 6th-10th grade
$5.99
Beowulf
by Michael Morpurgo
from Walker Books
for 3rd-8th grade
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
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
from Memoria Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$11.55
Book of Valor
by Mary Aquinas
2007 reprint from Seton Press
for 6th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Brown Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
by Brian Jacques
from ACE Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
by Brian Jacques
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
PF from Collier Books
for 4th-6th grade
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$10.99
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$10.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Schuster
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Brown
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cow-Tail Switch
by Harold Courlander, George Herzog
Reissue from Square Fish Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
1948 Newbery Honor Book
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 History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$19.99
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 $14.00 (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)
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
Deirdre
by David Guard; illustrated by Gretchen Guard
2nd edition from Celestial Arts
for 4th-6th grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
$9.99
Faerie Gold
Classics for Young Readers
by Kathryn Lindskoog & Ranelda Mack Hunsicker
from P&R Publishing
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 4th-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$17.99
Fairest
by Gail Carson Levine
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 4th-7th grade
$9.99
Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
for 1st-6th grade
Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Weathervane Books
for 1st-6th grade
Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 1st-6th grade
$7.99
Fantasy Stories of George Macdonald - 4 Book Set
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Craig Yoe
from Eerdmans
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Fates of the Princes of Dyfed
by Kenneth Morris
from Newcastle Publishing Co
for 5th-8th grade
Favorite African Folktales
by Nelson Mandela
Reprint from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 5th-7th grade
Favorite Folktales from Around the World
by Jane Yolen
from Pantheon Books
for 4th-Adult
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Favorite Greek Myths
by Bob Blaisdell
from Dover Publications
for 4th-6th grade
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters
by Kathleen Ragan, Foreword by Jane Yolen
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 5th-Adult
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$16.95
Flower Fables
by Louisa May Alcott
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.99
Gifts of the Child Christ - 2 Volume Set
by George MacDonald
from Eerdmans
for 5th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Golden Fleece
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
1922 Newbery Honor Book
$10.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Golden Key
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Sunburst Book
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
$9.99
Golden Key
by George MacDonald
from Chariot Victor Publishing
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
Golden Key
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Craig Yoe
from William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
Greek Myths
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edouard Sandoz
from Houghton Mifflin
Greek Mythology for 4th-6th grade
$10.99
Green Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Grey Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen
from Penguin Classics
for 5th-10th grade
Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories
by Hans Christian Andersen, Translated by Erik Christian Haugaard
1983 Anchor Books Edition from Anchor Books
for 2nd-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$25.00
Holling Clancy Holling's Stories from Many Lands
by Holling Clancy Holling
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
$14.99
Iliad (retold)
by Homer & Barbara Leonie Picard
from Oxford University
for 4th-8th grade
Iliad (retold)
Kingfisher Epics
by Nick McCarty, Victor G. Ambrus
from Kingfisher
for 4th-6th grade
In the Beginning
by Virginia Hamilton, Illustrated by Barry Moser
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-8th grade
1989 Newbery Honor Book
$20.00 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Island of the Mighty
by Padraic Colum
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
$9.99
Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Gregory Alexander
from Pavilion Books
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling
from Dover Publications
for 1st-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling
from Walker Books
for 1st-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Joseph M. Gleeson
from Book-of-the-Month Club
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
King Arthur
by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford
from Dover Publications
for 4th-8th grade
$5.99
Last Olympian
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #5
by Rick Riordan
Reprint from Hyperion/Madison Press
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #1
by Rick Riordan
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #1
by Rick Riordan
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Lilac Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$19.95
Little Bookroom
by Eleanor Farjeon
from New York Review of Books
for 4th-8th grade
1955 Carnegie Medal
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
Miracle On 34th Street
by Valentine Davies
from Clarion Books
Realistic Fairy Tale for 6th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Myths of the Norsemen
by H.A. Guerber
from Dover Publications
for 6th-10th grade
$14.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Olive Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Orange Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Oscar Wilde Stories for Children
by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by PJ Lynch
from Hodder Children's
for 4th-8th grade
Paul Buyan
by Esther Shephard
Reissue from Odyssey Press
for 3rd-7th grade
Pecos Bill
by James Cloyd Bowman, illustrated by Laura Bannon
from Albert Whitman & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
$9.99
Perrault's Fairy Tales
by Charles Perrault, Gustave Dore
from Dover Publications
for 5th-10th grade
$12.95
Pink Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$16.95
Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Princess Academy: Forgotten Sisters
by Shannon Hale
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone
by Shannon Hale
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Red Fairy Book
by Andrew Lang, editor
from Dover Publications
Fairy Tales for 3rd-8th grade
$14.95
Robin Hood
by David Calcutt, illustrated by Graham Baker-Smith
from Barefoot Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$12.99
Rowan Hood
by Nancy Springer
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Fairies
by L. Frank Baum
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.95
Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #2
by Rick Riordan
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Seven Tales by H. C. Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Eva Le Gallienne and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Shakespeare Stories II
by Leon Garfield
1st American Ed from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (retold)
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
Sky Island
by L. Frank Baum
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-7th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Snow and Rose
by Emily Winfield Martin
from Yearling
for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Star of Kazan
by Eva Ibbotson
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Starry River of the Sky
by Grace Lin
Reprint from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-7th grade
Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales
by Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes
by James Baldwin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$11.95
Story of the Iliad
by Alfred J. Church, edited and updated by Cyndy Shearer
from Greenleaf Press
Greek Mythology for 5th-8th grade
Sweet and Sour
from HMH Books for Young Readers
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$8.95
Tale of the Cid: and Other Stories of Knights and Chivalry
by Andrew Lang
from Dover Publications
for 6th-Adult
$9.95
Tales from Japan
by Helen & William McAlpine
from Oxford University
for 4th-6th grade
12