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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143 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), 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)
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)
Adventures of Ulysses
by Bernard Evslin
from Scholastic Inc.
Greek Mythology for 4th-6th grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Harry Rountree
from Gallery Books
for 3rd-9th grade
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories
Dover Children's Thrift Classics
by Philip Smith, editor
from Dover Publications
Eastern Fairy Tales for 3rd-6th grade
$3.00 $2.00 (2 in stock)
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)
All About Story Book
by Watty Piper (editor), illustrated by Symeon Shimin
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Fairy Tales
by L. Frank Baum
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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
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)
Andersen's Fairy Tales
Windermere Readers #8
by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Valdemar Paulsen and illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Arabian Nights
by Wafa' Tarnowska
from Barefoot Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Bag of Moonshine
by Alan Garner, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
from Delacorte Press
for 3rd-6th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Baktar
by Laurie J. White
from Shorter Word Press
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Basher History: Mythology
from Kingfisher
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (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)
Beautiful Blue Jay and Other Tales of India
by John W. Spellman, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Big Book of Fables
by Walter Jerrold (editor), illustrated by Charles Robinson and Jane Harvey
from Portland House
for 3rd-6th grade
$8.00 (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)
Black Ships Before Troy
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Laurel-Leaf Books
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Valor
by Mary Aquinas
2007 reprint from Seton Press
for 6th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Brave Cloelia
by Jane Curry
1st edition from J. Paul Getty Museum
for 4th-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
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
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$6.99 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
PF from Collier Books
for 4th-6th grade
$2.50 (1 in stock)
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, 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 (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)
Cinderella
by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-8th grade
$9.50 (1 in stock)
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)
Deirdre
by David Guard; illustrated by Gretchen Guard
2nd edition from Celestial Arts
for 4th-6th grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ella Enchanted - Special Read-Aloud Edition
by Gail Carson Levine
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
$9.00 (1 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)
Every Common Bush
by Hilary C. J. Boyle, illustrated by Caryll Houselander
from Sheed & Ward
for 3rd-6th grade
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales and Stories
by Hans Christian Andersen, Edited by Signe Toksvig, Illustrated by George and Doris Hauman
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm - Comprehension Guide
by Emily Fischer
from Veritas Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Veritas Press Literature Guides (Location: LITSG-VP)
$19.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Kay Nielsen
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales: The Brothers Grimm
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 2nd-6th grade
$19.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Faun and the Woodcutter's Daughter
by Barbara Leonie Picard, illustrated by Charles Stewart
from Criterion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Favorite Children's Stories from China and Tibet
for 3rd-6th grade
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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 Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Favorite Greek Myths
by Bob Blaisdell
from Dover Publications
for 4th-6th grade
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Favourite Tales from Grimm and Andersen
by Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Jirí Trnka
1983 Printing from Paul Hamlyn
for 4th-8th grade
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Favourite Tales from Hans Christen Andersen
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Anastasiya Archipova
from Floris Books
for 4th-6th grade
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Folk Tales and Fables of the World
by Barbara Hayes, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
First Edition from Portland House
for 1st-6th grade
$9.50 (1 in stock)
God Beneath the Sea
by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen, illustrated by Zevi Blum
from Pantheon Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$30.00 (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)
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)
Greek Gods
by Bernard & Dorothy Evslin, Ned Hoopes, illustrated by William Hunter
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
$2.00 (20 in stock)
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)
Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and Other Stories
by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Octopus Books Limited
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-6th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Heroes
by Charles Kingsley
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-7th grade
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Heroes & Monsters Of Greek Myth
by Bernard Evslin, Dorthy Evslin, ned Hoopes
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
$2.50 (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)
I Saw Esau
by Iona & Peter Opie
First U.S. Edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$9.00 (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)
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)
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)
Jack Plank Tells Tales
by Natalie Babbitt
First Edition (first thus) from MDC Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Jack Tales
by Richard Chase
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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, 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 and the Green Angelica
by Isabel Wyatt and Joan Rudel
from Lanthorn Press
for 1st-6th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Sir Thomas Malory, edited by Sidney Lanier and illustrated by Florian
from Grosset & Dunlap
British Fairy Tales/Prose Epic for 4th-8th grade
$12.50 (1 in stock)
Land of the Long White Cloud
by Kiri Te Kanawa, illustrated by Michael Foreman
from Pavilion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Legends of Paul Bunyan
by Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht, illustrated by Kurt Werth
from Crowell-Collier
for 3rd-6th grade
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Legends of the United Nations
by Frances Frost, illustrated by Karl M. Shultheiss
from Whittlesey House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Leprechaun Tales
by Kathleen Green; illustrated by Victoria De Larrea
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Little Bookroom
by Eleanor Farjeon
from New York Review of Books
for 4th-8th grade
1955 Carnegie Medal
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Little Mermaid and Other Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Neil Philip, illustrated by Isabelle Brent
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
$10.00 (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)
Mr. Yowder and the Train Robbers
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Yowder, the Peripatetic Sign Painter
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Myths Every Child Should Know
by Hamilton Wright Mabie, illustrated by Mary H. Frye
from Garden City Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Myths of the Norsemen
by H.A. Guerber
from Dover Publications
for 6th-10th grade
$14.95 $7.50 (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)
Odin's Family
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Maryclare Foa
from Orchard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Odyssey (retold)
Puffin Classics
by Geraldine McCaughrean retells Homer
Puffin Classics from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$6.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Odyssey (retold)
by Gillian Cross
from Candlewick Press
for 6th-9th grade
$12.00 (1 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 the Hodja
by Alice Geer Kelsey, illustrated by Frank Dobias
from Hale-Cadmus
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Pecos Bill
by James Cloyd Bowman, illustrated by Laura Bannon
from Albert Whitman & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
People Could Fly
by Virginia Hamilton
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
People Could Fly
by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Pepper and Salt
by Howard Pyle
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Princess and the Goblin
Puffin Classics
by George MacDonald
from Puffin Books
Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99 $4.00 (9 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)
Robin Hood
Dorling Kindersley Classics
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Nick Harris
2000 Paperback from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
by Sarah Hayes, illustrated by Patrick Benson
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
by Carola Oman, illustrated by S. Van Abbé
1984 Reprint from J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
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