Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children

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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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Parent Categories

Fiction & Literature

Fiction by Genre

Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children

Subcategories

Aesop's Fables

American Tall Tales

Andersen's Fairy Tales & Stories

Asian Myths & Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

53 Items found Print

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7th grade (Ages 12-13),

Used Books & Materials

	Aeneas: Virgil's Epic Retold for Young Readers by Emily Frenkel(translator and reteller), Virgil (original text), illustrated by Simon Weller 2015 Reprint from Bloomsbury Publishing for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $15.00 (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) $4.80 (1 in stock)
	Arctic Twilight Old Finnish Tales by Samuli Paulaharju 1982 Edition from Finnish American Literary Heritage Foundation for 7th-Adult in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $9.60 (1 in stock)
	Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum by Ashley Bryan from Aladdin Paperbacks Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.49 $4.40 (3 in stock)
	Beowulf (retold) by Michael Morpurgo from Candlewick Press for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Black Ships Before Troy The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff from Laurel-Leaf Books Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $7.64 $4.00 (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) $9.60 (1 in stock)
	Children of Odin The Book of Northern Myths by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany from Macmillan Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $32.00 (1 in stock)
	Children's Homer Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany from Aladdin Paperbacks Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $9.34 $4.80 (3 in stock)
	Cow-Tail Switch And Other West African Stories by Harold Courlander, George Herzog Reissue from Square Fish Publishing for 5th-7th grade 1948 Newbery Honor Book in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $15.29 $4.80 (1 in stock)
	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) $16.99 $11.20 (2 in stock)
	Dance Me a Story Twelve Tales from the Classic Ballets by Jane Rosenberg from Thames and Hudson for 3rd-8th grade in Dance (Location: ELE-DANCE) $10.00 (4 in stock)
	Ella Enchanted - Special Read-Aloud Edition by Gail Carson Levine from HarperCollins for 3rd-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Kay Nielsen from Viking Press for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $9.60 (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) $7.20 (1 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 in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $14.40 (1 in stock)
	Gilgamesh the Hero by Geraldine McCaughrean from Eerdmans for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $17.00 $9.60 (1 in stock)
	Golden Fleece And the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany from Aladdin Paperbacks Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade 1922 Newbery Honor Book in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $9.34 $4.80 (1 in stock)
	Heroes by Charles Kingsley from Yesterday's Classics for 4th-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $11.01 $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Heroes by Charles Kingsley from Living Book Press for 4th-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.49 $5.60 (2 in stock)
	Heroes & Monsters Of Greek Myth by Bernard Evslin, Dorthy Evslin, ned Hoopes from Scholastic Inc. for 5th-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $2.00 (1 in stock)
	In Search of a Homeland The Story of The Aeneid by Penelope Lively & Ian Andrew from Delacorte Press Picture Book/Mythology for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $17.50 (1 in stock)
	In the Beginning Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton, Illustrated by Barry Moser from Houghton Mifflin for 3rd-8th grade 1989 Newbery Honor Book in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $17.00 $8.80 (1 in stock)
	In the Beginning Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton, Illustrated by Barry Moser from Harcourt Brace Jovanich for 3rd-8th grade 1989 Newbery Honor Book in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $11.20 (1 in stock)
	It's Perfectly True and Other Stories 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) $6.40 (1 in stock)
	Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery 1^st edition from Harcourt for 3rd-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	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) $9.60 (1 in stock)
	Myths Every Child Should Know Junior Deluxe Editions by Hamilton Wright Mabie, illustrated by Colleen Browning from Junior Deluxe Editions for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	People Could Fly American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton 1^st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	People Could Fly American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Robin Hood The Prince of Outlaws 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) $16.00 (1 in stock)
	Sampo by James Baldwin from Yesterday's Classics for 5th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $12.71 $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield X from Sandpiper Books for 7th-12th grade in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET) $9.00 (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) $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Stories For Young People: Leo Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise & Aylmer Maude, edited by Donna Tussing Orwin, and illustrated by Herve Blondon from Sterling Publishing Co. for 4th-12th grade in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Stories of Siegfried Told to the Children by Mary MacGregor from Yesterday's Classics for 3rd-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.46 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Swallowing the Golden Stone Stories and Essays by Walter Wangerin, Jr. 1st Ed. from Augsburg Fortress for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Sweet and Sour Tales from China from HMH Books for Young Readers in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH) $7.61 $4.80 (2 in stock)
	Tales from Shakespeare Puffin Classics by Charles & Mary Lamb from Puffin Books Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, introduction by Marina Warner from Penguin Classics for 7th-12th grade in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $11.90 $6.40 (2 in stock)
	Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger 1971 printing from Doubleday & Company for 4th-8th grade 1925 Newbery Medal winner in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Tales of the Greek Heroes Puffin Classics by Roger Green from Puffin Books Greek Mythology for 6th-9th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Tales of the Greek Heroes Puffin Classics by Roger Green from Puffin Books Greek Mythology for 6th-9th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.64 $3.20 (2 in stock)
	Tanglewood Tales Dover Evergreen Classics by Nathaniel Hawthorne from Dover Publications for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Ten Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb from Dover Publications Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $3.60 (1 in stock)
	Titan's Curse Percy Jackson & the Olympians #3 by Rick Riordan from Hyperion/Madison Press for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.34 $4.40 (1 in stock)
	Treasury of Greek Mythology Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, & Monsters by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Christina Balit from National Geographic for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat Khan from Inner Traditions International for 4th-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $5.20 (1 in stock)
	Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine from HarperCollins for 4th-7th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $6.40 (1 in stock)
	Water Babies (abridged) Puffin Classics by Charles Kingsley from Puffin Books Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $2.40 (1 in stock)
	Water Babies (retold) by Charles Kingsley, retold by Josephine Poole, illustrated by Jan Ormerod from Millbrook Press Fantasy for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.20 (1 in stock)
	Wise Words by Peter Leithart from GCB Publishing Group for 3rd-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $6.40 (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)

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