Discover how and why reading fairy tales benefits children’s development, and explore a list of the best (and most popular) fairy tales for kids from toddlers to teens (with age-appropriate recommendations) in this informative guide.
Reading fairy tales for kids and sharing them from memory is not just a great way to pass the time. Studies show, and great thinkers of our time inform us that sharing fairy tales with children is not only crucial for their intellectual and emotional development, but can also benefit children in several other essential ways. Fairy tales, oral stories, folktales, and other myths and legends have been shared orally to help children develop self-understanding and mature into well-rounded human beings since the beginning of time. Reading fairy tales aloud can help children develop a love of reading, improve vocabulary, strengthen creative thinking, increase intelligence, and more!
This helpful guide starts with a brief overview of fairy tales for kids. It then describes how sharing oral stories and reading popular fairy tales can benefit children not just educationally, but also mentally and emotionally. It concludes with a list of the top fairy tales (with age-appropriate suggestions) for your home, homeschool, or classroom library, suitable for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, elementary school children, and teens. You might also enjoy this list of children’s picture books that teach essential life lessons.
Children’s Fairy Tales:
For children, fairy tales are more than entertainment. They provide a safe space to explore complex emotions like fear, hope, courage, and kindness. Through fire-breathing dragons, lost children, evil witches, kind maidens, and helpful strangers, young listeners can make sense of the world around them in ways that resonate deeply long after the story ends. Sharing these short stories and fairy tales from memory orally is best.
Unfortunately, many of these tales passed down through the generations are not commonly told from memory by most parents today. Reading fairy tales aloud provides the opportunity for parents and teachers to share these stories with children, and commit them to memory so that they can be retold in the future for even greater benefit.
Sharing Fairy Tales from Memory Whenever Possible is Best:
It is the act of telling these stories, not just reading them, that breathes life into them. Sharing fairy tales orally invites an engaged intimacy that reading alone can’t quite capture. The rise and fall of a parent’s or teacher’s voice, the widening of their eyes at a suspenseful moment, or a short pause before a key reveal all create a dynamic rhythm that draws children in. This interactive storytelling captivates young listeners and transforms fairy tales into a shared experience, rather than a mere story.
Oral storytelling also allows for creativity and spontaneity. When shared from memory, fairy tales become more adaptable to the age, needs, and reactions of the children listening to them. Whether it is the exaggeration of a character’s voice for effect, a comforting pause when the plot turns dark, or the ability to share the tale with puppets and other props for children to enjoy, each of these elements contributes to the overall experience.
In other words, fairy tales are best not just read, but lived together. Shared in this way, a fairy tale can spark the imagination, pass on values, and create lessons that ripen at the perfect time. It is in these types of exchanges that fairy tales can fulfill their oldest purpose, not just entertain.
What are Good Fairy Tales for Kids?
A list of popular fairy tales for kids is towards the bottom of this article. Scroll down to find age-appropriate fairy tales recommended for each age group. Toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, elementary school-aged children, and teens have different educational and mental-emotional needs. The recommendations at the bottom of this informative guide to fairy tales for kids can help you pick the best fairy tales for your children or the students in your classroom or at home. You might also enjoy this list of Parenting Books.
Benefits of Fairy Tales for Children:
Research studies prove that sharing these classic tales from memory, or reading fairy tale books aloud to children, is an excellent educational aid for children’s mental and emotional development. These stories, often passed down for generations, open the door to enchanted forests, brave heroes, talking animals, and moral lessons hidden beneath layers of fantasy. They are one of the only types of literature that combine creative symbolism, simple archetypes, and spiritual concepts into stories that help children develop into creative, intelligent, and whole human beings.
As a transpersonal psychologist, I became familiar with archetypes, metaphors, and the patterns of the human psyche when studying Jungian psychology. However, you don’t need to have a doctorate in psychology (or need to know much about the psyche) to begin to understand the beneficial influence that fairy tales can have on young children. Hearing fairy tales shared orally from memory (or hearing them read aloud) can help kids grow and transform into imaginative, self-aware, and intelligent adults. You might also enjoy this list of self-regulation strategies for kids.
Importance of Fairy Tales and The Development of the Mind or Psyche:
Not only can fairy tales help children develop intelligence and creativity, but they can also assist them in better understanding their emotions and strengthening their moral lives. However, this development takes time. The symbols and archetypes encountered in fairy tales can live inside children as seeds until they bloom years later in the face of adversity.
This is why I like to think of fairy tales as a fine wine, woven of stories crafted by our ancestors and sweetened by time to help us grasp simple truths. These are the wisdom passed down from grandmas, grandpas, mentor to student, and those who came before us since the beginning of time.
With that said, fairy tales consist of metaphors and archetypes, not literal translations, so please don’t take them literally. Instead, see them as magical spells meant to unlock something profound from deep within. Something unknown until it is told, and often lying in wait in the depths of the unconscious. Yet once this magical wine of awareness matures, it blooms into the ability to navigate the dramatic twists and turns of daily life and transforms into the wisdom of experience.
How Fairy Tales Benefit Intellectual and Psychological (Mental-Emotional) Development:
Unlike their name suggests, fairy tales are not primarily about fairies. Instead, they often depict exaggerated struggles between opposing forces, such as dark and light or right and wrong. Or they tell the story of a problem the main character or hero must face and how they overcome it within a metaphorical tale or short story.
Fairy tales are rich with mythical lessons and stories of triumph that mirror the struggles children face in their daily lives. Thus, listening to, hearing, or reading these fairy tales, myths, fables, and short stories helps children overcome their fears and persist through difficult times, as they win battles alongside the main character or through the Hero’s Journey. You might also enjoy these Children’s Books about Anger Management for Toddlers to Teens.
Fairy tales can also help children develop critical thinking skills and better understand the power of consequences. Because no matter how many times they hear it, the same thing happens to the main character, or hero, again and again. As children listen to the story and follow the main characters, they learn that what happens to them ultimately depends upon the choices they make. This understanding gives them the courage, strength, and resolve to face, endure, and overcome the challenges in their own lives. Do you see now how magical fairy tales can be for kids?
Since its publication in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has inspired millions of readers by blending modern psychological insights with Joseph Campbell’s groundbreaking understanding of comparative mythology. Throughout its pages, Campbell presents the Hero’s Journey, a universal theme of adventure and transformation that appears in nearly all of the world’s mythic traditions, as well as most fairy tales and folktales.
The Transformation of the Hero’s Journey:
As children listen to these stories about a crisis or curse that ultimately leads to a transformation, they, too, are psychologically changed. As children continue to work out the pieces of the story during play (and within the deep reaches of their imaginations), and as they hear it repeatedly, the moral of the story begins to help them grow into psychologically whole human beings–scary parts and all.
When children start to understand who they are, they also learn what they are not. This creates space for their intelligence to develop. When a child no longer needs to discover who they are, they can begin to understand or learn more about “the other.” Ultimately, these discoveries can help them reach a deeper understanding of themselves, which is pure magic. You might also enjoy this list of books about emotions that help children understand their feelings.
Bruno Bettelheim’s Fairy Tale Research:
Like Plato before him, Bettelheim, one of the greatest child psychologists in the twentieth century, believed that children’s literacy education should start with storytelling and myths. His book, “The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales,” based on Freudian psychoanalysis, is the first study of how fairy tales can universally benefit child development.
To “Know thyself” is the goal of psychoanalysis, and it is also one of the primary goals (and benefits) of reading fairy tales aloud to children. Fairy tales can help the reader (or listener) gain a deeper understanding of who they are.
In “The Uses of Enchantment“, Bettelheim explains how the fantastical, sometimes cruel, but always significant storylines of classic fairy tales, such as “Sinbad the Sailor” and “Sleeping Beauty,” can help us with our most important human task—finding meaning in life.
As a result, the reader or listener undergoes significant mental, emotional, and spiritual changes, as do the characters in each story. Even if that transformation does not occur until much later. As previously mentioned, a fine wine takes time. The time investment involved is one of the magical benefits of fairy tales for kids.
Fairy Tales Can Help Children Develop Creativity and Intelligence:
Like Bruno Bettleheim, Albert Einstein also recognized the value of sharing fairy tales aloud with children and openly praised it. He believed that reading fairy tales, rhymes, and other mythical short stories and fables aloud paved the way toward intelligence and intellectual growth in young girls and boys. As he said,
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
~ Albert Einstein
Einstein believed that developing creativity and imagination was crucial for intelligence and intellectual growth. As evidence, he was known to say that the essential tool for any true scientist was a “fully developed imagination.” As such, he thought that hearing fairy tales helps children develop creative thinking skills.
Einstein also stated that reading fairy tales aloud to children was the fastest way to boost a child’s intellect. He believed that children could learn to think creatively and expand their intellect through the transformative power of the metaphors and imagery typically found in fairy tales.
Related: Best Positive Discipline Books for Parents and Educators
Fairy Tales in Education: How Do Fairy Tales Help Children Learn?
Storytelling and rhyme are essential components of early literacy in Waldorf schools and homeschools around the world. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, utilized fairy tales in his teaching philosophy to help children grow into emotionally balanced, intelligent, and creative individuals.
“The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility–these are the very forces which are the very nerve of education.”
~Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner’s Thoughts on Fairy Tales, Education, and the Development of Intelligence:
Steiner believed that oral storytelling could enhance a child’s ability to create mental images. Around the turn of the 19th century, he was well-known for giving lectures in large, crowded halls (with no seats left and barely room to stand) about developing the imagination and the mind’s inner eye. He viewed these skills as the most important for fostering creative thinking and intelligence. Later, he based many of his Waldorf or Steiner Education theories around these same concepts.
“If you have small children and have avoided reading fairy tales to them because you thought they were silly stories made up out of whole cloth, because they might scare your children, because you couldn’t answer their questions about the stories, you are cheating them from learning about what it is to be a human being. You are shielding them from the great mysteries of life which are preserved in fairy tales specifically to help us understand these mysteries as we mature. Take away fairy tales from your children and they will likely grow up into fine, rational adults living in a desolate world which contains no magic, no mysteries, just one bland thing after another.”
Rudolf Steiner (Founder of Waldorf Education)
The Reason Fairy Tales are Shared from Memory in Waldorf Education:
Waldorf educators primarily share fairy tales and stories orally from memory rather than reading from picture books in early education. Teachers in Steiner and Waldorf Schools worldwide use storytelling to introduce key lessons to this day.
Like many myths and folk tales, fairy tales originally existed as an oral tradition. In other words, stories with colorful characters such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf were passed down and shared orally from grandparent to grandchild, and teacher to student, across generations until people began writing these legends and stories down. In other words, fairy tales were transmitted orally to children and students for many generations before authors like the Brothers Grimm traveled from town to town collecting them and committing them to paper.
Similarly, instead of reading from books, Steiner encouraged early childhood Waldorf educators to share these same fairy tales, myths, legends, folk wisdom, and nature stories the way our ancestors did—from memory. For this reason, Waldorf kindergartens are full of oral storytelling, story baskets, and puppet shows.
Children from kindergarten through 12th grade also enjoy short plays performed by their teachers and classmates for similar educational and developmental purposes. They also get to observe performances by other classes and grades within their school. Sharing fairy tales with children from toddlers to teenagers exemplifies Steiner’s belief that educating children through storytelling and drama can help “educate children to change the world.”
Related: 7 Reasons to Add the Waldorf Color of the Day to Your Daily Rhythm
Fairy Tales, Illustrations, and the Value of Frigtening Stories:
Many people think that the dark, scary, and sometimes violent fairy tales are horrific and unnecessary because they cause children to have nightmares. So they often mistakenly believe that providing children with less scary stories is better. However, the watered-down, overly illustrated Disney versions of these classic fairy tales do not help children begin to imagine or create anything on their own.
These fairy tale movies and TV shows also can’t help children develop the roots of self-understanding in the same way that the original dark versions made familiar by the Brothers Grimm can. Believe it or not, most childhood fears linked to fairy tales often come from the sanitized versions where the frightening characters like the wolf, wicked witch, evil queen, and wrathful king are not properly overcome.
Are you ready for the good news? A child will only imagine what they can handle. This means that children can only create images that they are prepared to see in their minds. In other words, when fairy tales and other short stories, myths, and fables are shared orally, children get to create their own inner imaginings and versions in their mind’s eye. These internally created images don’t give them nightmares.
Instead, hearing these stories helps children grow into whole human beings who are aware of both the dark and light sides of themselves, what makes us human, and even more importantly, what makes them unique. They not only help children learn to self-regulate but also assist them in becoming more conscious and self-aware.
Please Don’t Share Violent Fairy Tales with Young Children:
Of course, children should not hear the more violent fairy tales until they are mature enough to handle them. Young children are better served with lighter, heartwarming tales that have happily ever after endings. In contrast, older children can listen to the more frightening stories to help them develop mentally and emotionally. Please scroll down to the section on choosing age-appropriate fairy tales for children to learn more.
Why shouldn’t children watch fairy tale movies or television programs?
In addition to recommending that parents share fairy tales and other oral stories with their children. Waldorf educators also encourage parents to help their children avoid watching too many television programs, including fairy tales made into movies, for the same reason.
As mentioned above, watching pictures on TV and filling a child’s mind with adult images does nothing to help our children develop the ability to imagine and create these images for themselves. However, when parents and teachers read fairy tales to children, share fables and myths from memory, or make up short stories on the spot, we allow them to imagine and co-create the world as they want it to be. And that’s pure magic–but there’s more!
What’s missing from The Movie versions of fairy tales?
Something is missing from these bright, overproduced “Dysnified” movie and television versions of children’s fairy tales. It’s usually something dark and frightening. The original oral versions of most fairy tales are psychologically crafted to help young children grow mentally, socially, and emotionally. So, when you remove these elements of the story, you also leave behind some of the important lessons.
Why not tell these stories as they were originally meant to be, just like grandma and grandpa did? Read fairy tales aloud to your children, or share them from memory if you can. This concept also highlights one of the main reasons children benefit more from hearing fairy tales orally (or reading them on their own), rather than watching images they’re not yet ready to handle on a giant television or movie screen.
Why Stories Shared Aloud and Fairy Tale Books with Fewer Illustrations are Better than Movies and Television Programs:
Please don’t misunderstand; although illustrations are charming and some are even wonderful, they don’t allow children to create their own mental images in their mind’s eye. How can we expect children to develop their imagination or learn to think creatively when we fill their minds with the images we produce?
Listening to fairy tales aloud can help children develop the habit of creating and imagining pictures themselves. Developing an active imagination in this way can help them learn to solve problems, think independently, and uncover life’s mysteries. This alone should give pause because so many children don’t have this chance today.
When we read fairy tales and other books to kids with too many illustrations or watch the movie version, we may be forcing them to look at an image that they aren’t ready for, or that is too frightening for them to look at. Even worse, seeing these images prevents children from creating a mental picture of how things look. In other words, children can’t imagine Cinderella’s appearance when we force Disney’s version upon them.
For example, if I asked you to close your eyes right now and imagine Snow White. How would you describe her? What does she look like, and what color is her hair? Be honest with yourself when you do this. You will most likely see the Disney version of Snow White in your mind’s eye, just as I did the first time I was asked this question. Not an image of Snow White that you imagine for yourself. That’s a pretty convincing reason to share fairy tales with kids.
Related: Social-Emotional Development Games for Kids
How is Reading Fairy Tales Good for Children?
Fairy tales are full of vivid metaphors and archetypes that can help children develop into intelligent, whole human beings. The descriptive words aim to spark a child’s imagination, while the conflict between dark and light can teach children to understand themselves better as they learn to self-regulate. But the real magic happens as children hear the story told aloud repetitively over time. Sound familiar?
The Reason Hearing the Same Story or Fairy Tale Repeatedly is a Good Thing:
When children hear a story repeatedly, they can focus on understanding every detail. Each time they listen, they strengthen their connection with the story’s hero as they reconsider the choices they would make in each retelling. As they continue to listen, children can fill in the gaps with their creative imaginings, and this allows them to develop mentally and emotionally.
Do you see why telling or reading stories repeatedly is beneficial? Want to hear another reason hearing the same story repeatedly is beneficial for a child’s education and growth? Hearing short stories, fairy tales, and other myths, folk tales, and legends told repeatedly can also help build a child’s vocabulary through repetition and context. In other words, children will start to understand what some of those unfamiliar big words mean within the stories they hear multiple times.
Every time a story, fable, legend, myth, or fairy tale is shared, it offers yet another opportunity for children to improve their vocabulary, creativity, critical thinking skills, moral compass, and Self-awareness. For these reasons, Plato recommended these stories for intellectual development, and Bettelheim aimed to prove their value for developing children.
It is also the reason Einstein shared his infamous views, and Steiner built an entire educational philosophy around these ideas. Reading fairy tales aloud to children is an excellent way to prepare them for school and life in general. That’s not just magical thinking, but is supported by some of the great thinkers of our time, research, and facts.
Related: Household Rhythms: The Power of Routine in the Home
Choosing Age-Appropriate Fairy Tales for Kids:
In many fairy tales, the main character follows the classic “Hero’s Journey.” And thus is often faced with a “problem” that must be “solved” or “confrontation” with something “dark or evil.” An example would be the evil stepmother and stepsisters that Cinderella was forced to face.
So, lighter stories with mild problems, such as “The Three Little Pigs” or “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” are the best fairy tales for young children, such as preschoolers, kindergarteners, and young elementary school-aged kids. In contrast, the dark and scary problems made famous by the Brothers Grimm are more appropriate fairy tales for older children, tweens, and teens.
Best Fairy Tales for Toddlers Under Three Years Old:
Simple nursery rhymes, nature tales, classic folktales (such as the Three Little Pigs), and short stories are best for babies and toddlers, or children under three years of age. A short story about nature, elves, magic boots, or a frog prince made up by Mom or Dad is perfectly fine. Toddlers and preschoolers do not yet have an imagination developed enough to handle fairy tales with complex imagery and scary themes.
There is no need for dark imagery at this age because the young child is not mentally or emotionally mature enough to handle those imaginings. If you are not that fond of making up your own stories, try reading or memorizing a few of the wonderful stories found in “Tell Me a Story,” one of our family favorites! Please see my recommendations below.
The Best Fairy Tales for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners (3 and Up):
Preschool and kindergarten-aged children, aged three to six years old, can begin to be introduced to myths, folk stories, and gentle fairy tales with simple, light-hearted themes and “happily ever after” endings, such as “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “The Princess and the Pea.” However, I recommend sharing these simple stories from memory with this age group, rather than reading picture books with sweetened-up text and heavy illustrations.
With that said, this age group can enjoy meaningful picture books with simple illustrations. Still, fairy tales and classic folktales are best shared orally to allow children to create the characters and scenes in their mind’s eye to develop their imaginations. Please scroll down to see the recommended fairy tale book list for preschoolers and kindergarteners below.
Best Fairy Tales for Elementary-Aged Kids (6 and up):
When children enter elementary school, at around age six or seven, continue reading fairy tales with heartwarming themes. For this age group, its best to re-read or introduce fairy tale stories such as: “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Gingerbread Man,” “The Elves and the Shoemaker,” “Stone Soup,” a gentle less violent version of “Little Red Riding Hood,” or even “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” (although not technically a classic fairy tale), are recommended.
As children progress through the lower grades, they become ready to hear fairy tales with darker storylines and more difficult struggles, like those found in the original Grimm fairy tales, such as a darker, more frightening version of “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Hänsel and Gretel.” Please see the list of fairy tale books for elementary school-aged children below.
Related: Magical Waldorf Alphabet Books for Kids
Best Fairy Tales for Kids:
Although many of these myths, fables, stories, and fairy tales come as individual books, I recommend purchasing the complete collections of fairy tales for kids I share below, and in the corresponding Rhythms of Play Amazon Store booklist by the most influential authors of these stories for your home or school library.
The overly illustrated single volumes and “Little Golden Books” are sweet for young children, but as mentioned previously, these will not serve children’s development over time. Instead, I recommend purchasing collections of stories by the original authors to memorize and share with children as they grow. Children are better off hearing the original versions of fairy tales (using language and words they can easily understand) and minimal illustrations, to stir their imaginations and encourage the development of the psyche.
In other words, sharing fairy tales from memory whenever possible can lead to a higher gain in creativity and emotional intelligence. However, sometimes the stories are written with words that are not commonly used in modern times, or were originally written in another language, so children do not easily understand them. Please feel free to modify the stories slightly by using words and phrases that make more sense and are easier to share from memory.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, reading fairy tales aloud to children is the next best thing. Please read the story beforehand so you can easily read it, and act out the parts to bring the characters to life. Remember, fairy tale books with minimal illustrations are best; it’s better to use puppets or other props when sharing these stories for visual aids if desired.
Recommended Story Book Editions and Collections:
This list shares collections of rhymes, folk tales, fairy tales, and stories with the top fairy tales of all time. Each of these classic volumes includes the most popular fairy tales by the best authors, with several more tales included to enjoy!
1. The Real Mother Goose for Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Kindergarteners, and Young Elementary-Aged Children:
Although they are not fairy tales, Mother Goose rhymes form an essential part of childhood and pre-literacy, so I recommend starting with them. The simple rhythmic verses in “The Real Mother Goose” can help prepare young children for the more complex characters and themes found in fairy tales later in life. Start sharing Mother Goose rhymes with children when they are babies. Your baby may not understand what you are saying, but the rhythms and rhymes will work their pre-literacy magic on an infant’s brain, no comprehension needed!
“The Real Mother Goose” is filled with a classic collection of rhymes written as told and passed down from generation to generation by grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers, and fathers to their young children since the days of old. But feel free to skip any that you don’t like.
Be prepared to read this book several times over several months. There may even be a time when it is all your child wants to hear, as it was for our daughter. But don’t worry; it will not last forever. I promise that this, too, shall pass, and your child will benefit immensely from the experience of hearing these rhythms and rhymes repeated over and over again. I have read it so many times, I know it by heart and can recite it page by page on a road trip. True story!
2. Aesop’s Fables for Preschoolers, Kindergarteners, and Elementary-Aged Children:
Fables are short stories and tales. Aesop’s Fables is a collection of moral stories by the renowned storyteller from ancient Greece. The goal of these tales is to teach readers essential moral lessons. Many of these fables give human traits to animal characters and place them in human-like situations to highlight both good and bad qualities. A few of Aesop’s most well-known fables include: “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg.”
Best Aesop’s Fables Collection of Stories:
“Aesop’s Favorite Fables:” This edition of Aesop’s fables features over 130 classic stories for children. These tales are ideal for sharing with preschoolers, kindergarteners, and young elementary school kids. This collection of Aesop’s Fables includes some of the most popular and beloved children’s stories of all time, such as:
The purpose of these tales is to teach readers critical moral lessons in the same way fairy tale stories do. Many of these fables assign human traits to animal characters and place them in human situations to emphasize desirable and undesirable characteristics. This collection of Aesop’s Fables represents some of the most well-known and beloved children’s literature of all time, including:
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- The Goose and the Golden Egg
- The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
- The Wolf and the Kid
- The Tortoise and the Ducks
- Belling the Cat
- Hercules and the Wagoner
- The Kid and the Wolf
- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
- The Lion and the Mouse
- The Sheep and the Pig
- The Travelers and the Purse
- The Frogs Who Wished for a King
- The Owl and the Grasshopper
- The Monkey and the Camel
- The Wolf and the Lamb
- The Travelers and the Sea
- The Farmer and His Sons
- The Farmer and the Snake
- The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
- The Rose and the Butterfly
- The Fox and the Monkey
- The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle
- And dozens and dozens more!
3. Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales for Preschoolers, Kindergarteners, and Elementary-Aged Children.
Andersen’s initial attempts at writing fairy tales were revisions of stories he heard orally as a child. Later, Hans Christian Andersen adapted his stories into something that was his own, unlike the Grimm brothers, who were most known for collecting, retelling, and printing the stories that they had heard as children on paper.
Today, his stories surrounding the unconscious and the transformation of the true self have become roadmaps for our children on their path toward self-discovery. Some of Hans Christian Andersen’s most popular fairy tales include:
- The Ugly Duckling
- The Little Mermaid
- The Emperor’s New Clothes
- The Snow Queen
- Thumbelina
- The Princess and the Pea
- And many more!
Best Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Collections:
An Illustrated Treasury of Hans Christian Andersen: This beautifully illustrated collection of Andersen’s best-loved fairy tales includes: “Thumbelina,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Snow Queen,” “The Brave Tin Soldier,” “The Emperor’s New Suit,” “The Little Match Girl,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “The Christmas Tree.”
“Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tales of foolish emperors, lonely mermaids, icy queens and clever princesses have delighted children and adults alike for nearly two centuries. The stories’ unique magic and wonder make them essential reading for any childhood.”
Hans Christian Andersen Complete Fairy Tales: This leather-bound collector’s edition features Hans Christian Andersen’s most beloved fairy tales without illustrations to help young minds develop their inner picturing abilities. It is a much more extensive collection of his stories that includes: “The Ugly Duckling,” “Thumbelina,” “The Red Shoes,” “The Princess on the Pea,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” along with each of his other classic stories. Also included is “The Tallow Candle,” one of Andersen’s earliest and lesser-known stories.
4. Grimm Fairy Tales for Older Elementary-Aged Children, Tweens, and Teens.
“Grimm’s Fairy Tales” is a collection of orally shared folktales and fables written by the famous Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm). First published in 1812, this fairy tale collection included 86 fairy tales known as “Children’s and Household Tales.” Today, the complete Grimm’s fairy tales collection has 216 stories!
The Grimm brothers were not the original authors of the fairy tales in their complete collection. Instead, they traveled from town to town to collect each of the fantastical stories and fables they heard to include in their massive collection. Before these famous stories were published as Grimm’s fairy tales, they were passed down orally from grandmother to grandchild, from generation to generation.
Like the telephone game, these classic folktales were sometimes slightly different, depending on who told them, and their titles varied accordingly. This volume contains the versions of these classic stories as the Grimm Brothers wanted to share. Many people think some of them are too frightening for young children. So please use your discretion when sharing them.
I recommend sharing the gentler fairy tales with younger children, and saving the more violent stories for older kids, if you decide to share them at all. A few of the original titles have been changed to reflect the modernized versions of these classic fairy tales. The fairy tales in this comprehensive collection include some of the Grimm brothers’ most popular fairy tales, such as:
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Cinderella
- Snow White
- Sleeping Beauty
- Rapunzel
- Hänsel and Gretel
- The Elves and the Shoemaker
- Rumpelstiltskin
- The Bremen Town Musicians
Recommended Edition of Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tale Collection:
Grimm’s Complete Collection of Fairy Tales: Pantheon Addition is the translation that Waldorf educators prefer and the copy I recommend most. This comprehensive volume of the Grimm fairy tales contains all 216 stories collected as originally written by the Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. This edition of the classic Grimm’s fairy tales includes a treasure trove of engaging stories you and your child can read and treasure long past childhood. It is also a fantastic fairy tale book for elementary, middle school, high school, and even college teachers.
“The stories of magic and myth gathered by the Brothers Grimm have become part of the way children—and adults—learn about the vagaries of the real world. Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow-White, Hänsel and Gretel, Little Red-Cap (Little Red Riding Hood), and Briar-Rose (Sleeping Beauty) are only a few of the more than two hundred enchanting characters included in this volume. The tales are presented just as Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm originally set them down: bold, primal, just frightening enough, and endlessly engaging.”
Excellent Collections of Myths, Folk Tales, and Short Stories for Children from Around the World:
Several collections of children’s literature can be used in the same way as fairy tales to teach, prepare for learning, and inform, including myths, folk stories, and adventures. There are so many that it’s hard to know which fairy tales, myths, folktales, and short stories are best to memorize or read aloud to your children. Here are a few more popular compilations of these fantastic tales:
Best Folktales, Myths, and Fairy Tale Books from Around the World:
A Treasury of Children’s Literature: This collection of stories is an excellent starter edition for young children from preschool to third grade. It contains a variety of literary works, including rhymes, poems, stories, legends, folk tales, fables, and fairy tales, from several authors, including those recommended above. This comprehensive volume of classic literature for children also includes excerpts from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, “Pinocchio,” “The Wind in the Willows,” “The Nutcracker,” and “Peter Pan.” It has limited, yet beautiful, illustrations, making it suitable for a family looking for a well-rounded book of fairy tales for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and young elementary school-aged children.
Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales. This volume shares the traditional stories of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales, transporting readers to the fantastical world of Celtic folklore.
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales: Award-winning children’s author Theresa Breslin has collected the best-loved tales and enchanting stories from all over Scotland in this collection of folk and fairy tales.
There are so many more excellent fairy tale books from around the world to share; it would take too long to share them all here. Explore a diverse collection of folktales, fairy tales, short stories, myths, and legends from around the world, including China, Japan, Greece, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, Ukraine, Africa, Russia, North and South America, the UK, and more in the Rhythms of Play Amazon Store. The recommended book list includes the fairy tale collections recommended above, and has two books written by Nelson Mandela with his favorite African folktales.
Related: Gratitude Books for Children that Inspire Thankfulness
The Best Fairy Tales for Children:
Sharing classic fairy tales, folktales, myths, and legends from around the world with our children has numerous benefits. First, they can aid child development by helping children develop into creative, intelligent, and emotionally whole human beings.
Fairy tales shared with a group of children, or read aloud in the lap of a caring adult, can instill a love of reading, improve vocabulary, develop imagination, increase intelligence, and more! You may also like this collection of children’s books that teach important life lessons.
Learn more about Nell Regan Kartychok, author of this comprehensive guide to fairy tales from children of all ages, HERE and Rhythms of Play HERE!
I’m looking for the poster with below quote and girl walking on path with teddy.
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ❤️ ~Albert Einstein
Hi Nadia! I do not have a poster made of the photo of the girl walking on the path with her teddy and the quote from Albert Einstein, but it is a fantastic idea! I will see if I can it made into a poster.
Hi,
I was looking to purchase the poster of the little girl reading to the sitting dragon. Who is the artist?
Thank you,
Donnalynn
Hello Donnalynn,
Great question, unfortunately, I don’t know who the artist is. It is a stock image that I purchased. I will do a bit of research to see if I can find out and get back to you.