Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales — Free to Read Online: A Guide to Where to Start

Fairy tales have been told for generations as part of an oral tradition, full of magic, wonder and memorable characters. They draw children in, help them relax at bedtime and give them a safe way to explore new ideas. The mission of Ririro is to create the ultimate free collection of fairy tales with beautiful illustrations.

The most popular fairy tales

Based on Google search data and what readers open most on Ririro, these fifteen are the most popular fairy tales in English:

1. The Sleeping Beauty
A frog promises a queen a daughter, and the princess grows up under a curse that puts her to sleep for a hundred years. When a prince wakes her, the whole palace stirs too, right down to the cook, who goes on preparing the meal.

2. Goldilocks and the Three Bears
A girl with hair like spun gold wanders into a house in the woods and tries out the three beds. When the bears come home she leaps out of the window, and Baby Bear cries because he wanted to play with her.

3. Rumpelstiltskin
A miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold, and a strange little man does the spinning for a price: her first child. She can keep her baby only by guessing his name, and his temper does the rest.

4. Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, named for the red velvet hat her grandmother gave her, carries wine and biscuits through the forest to her sick grandmother. A wolf has got there first, and a hunter must save the day.

5. The Three Little Pigs
Their mother cannot feed them, so three pigs set out to build houses of straw, sticks and bricks. The wolf blows down the first two but cannot move the brick house, and he never comes back.

6. Hansel and Gretel
Two hungry children are left deep in the forest and find a house of bread, with sugar windows and a pancake roof. The witch inside means to keep them, but Gretel outwits her, and they carry her pearls and gems home.

7. Thumbelina
A woman plants a barley grain from a witch, and out of its flower steps a girl no bigger than a thumb. A toad, a field mouse and a mole all try to keep her, until a swallow carries her to a home of her own.

8. Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack trades his cow for magic beans, and the beanstalk that grows overnight leads to a giant’s castle, where the giant’s wife hides him in a cupboard. In this telling, the giant has also stolen Jack’s family castle, and Jack wins it back.

9. Three Billy Goats Gruff
Three goats must cross a bridge to reach the green meadow, and a hungry troll waits underneath. The two smaller goats talk their way past, and the biggest sends the troll into the rushing river, never to be seen again.

10. Snow White
Snow White, born with skin as white as snow and hair as black as ebony, hides with seven dwarfs from her stepmother’s poisoned apple. A jolt to her glass coffin, not a kiss, brings her back. The stepmother’s fate is left a mystery.

11. Cinderella
After her mother dies, a kind girl is left with the chores by her stepmother and half-sisters. A hazel twig she plants on her mother’s grave helps her reach the prince’s ball, and a lost shoe does the rest.

12. Beauty and the Beast
A merchant picks a single rose for his youngest daughter, and the Beast who owns the garden demands a life in return. Beauty takes her father’s place, and her kindness breaks the spell an evil fairy cast on the Beast.

13. The Little Mermaid
The Sea King’s youngest daughter longs for a prince she has glimpsed above the waves and bargains with the sea witch to join him. A trick nearly costs her everything, but this gentler retelling ends with a wedding her whole family attends.

14. The Snow Queen
A troll’s cursed mirror shatters, and a splinter turns a boy named Kay cold as the Snow Queen carries him north. Gerda follows, helped by pigeons, a robber girl and a reindeer, and the pair come home grown up but still children at heart.

15. Puss in Boots
A miller’s son inherits only a cat, but the cat has a plan: gifts for the king, a made-up title (the Marquis of Carabas) and a giant’s castle. By the end, his master is a marquis and married to the princess.

These fifteen are classics for a reason, and each is worth reading at least once. They are only the beginning, though. The ten tales below are ones you have probably never heard of, and we think you will love them.

Lesser-Known Fairy Tales

1. The Adventures of Florian
Raised to ride, swim and fence like a son, Isabella sets out as a boy named Florian with three gifts: a charm that sings near danger, a key that opens any door and a sphere that finds the way. A wicked witch and her garden stand in the way.

2. The Kite That Went to the Moon
Tom boasts that the enormous kite Anna painted with a moon and stars will fly all the way to the moon. When it does, an elf calls a comet to carry the two friends after it, and they sail home by morning.

3. The Wonderful Dog and the Miraculous Cat
An old wizard banished from his school by the boastful head wizard Zidoc has only a dog and a cat on his side. Soon both animals are hiding in Zidoc’s castle, hunted by two wizards, with an enchanted king’s fate at stake.

4. The Laughing Prince
Bored by the old courtiers’ dull stories, a tsar’s daughter demands that someone make her laugh. Stefan, a farmer’s youngest son with no talent except stories, takes up the challenge at the urging of his little sister Militza.

5. How the Bluebird Was Chosen Herald
Arthur, a boy who never stops asking questions, learns from the spirit of the woods how the birds once argued over who should announce spring. An owl’s judgment, a comet and a little blue singer settle the matter.

6. The Good Little Mouse
A jealous king kills his neighbor and locks up the widowed queen, and her daughter is cheered by a dancing mouse. The princess ends up minding turkeys, until a prince with a heart of gold arrives.

7. The Queen of Lanternland
A wandering prince is welcomed to Lanternland by a young queen who has not seen a stranger in a thousand years. Her enemy Dragondel is due to carry her off past a whirlpool that only a talisman can control.

8. Kate Crackernuts
When a jealous queen turns on her stepdaughter Anne, Kate takes her sister away to seek their fortune. At a castle where a sick prince rides off to a fairy ball every midnight, Kate follows him, gathering nuts along the way.

9. The Origin of Rubies
A spoiled young prince follows floating rubies into a whirlpool and finds a palace at the bottom of the sea, where the god Shiva sits with closed eyes. He brings rubies home to a king whose daughter wants to marry him.

10. How Old Witch Neda Stole the Moon and the Sun
Old Witch Neda flies about the sky with her broom, sweeping away cobwebs, until she steals the moon and the sun. The stars are lost without them, and the smallest star volunteers to set them free, earning a brighter shine for good.

Fairy Tales From Around the World

Fairy tales travel well. The clever youngest child, the helpful animal and the impossible task turn up in many cultures. Here is a world tour of fifteen countries, with two stories each to start.

1. Germany:
   1. The Town Musicians of Bremen: A donkey tired of his miller sets off to be a musician and gathers companions.
   2. The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Huge black rats overrun Hamelin until a strange piper offers to lead them all away.
2. Russia:
   1. Baba Yaga: A woman’s cradled stick of wood becomes a boy, until Baba Yaga carries him off.
   2. Vasilisa the Beauty: With a magic doll from her dying mother, Vasilisa must face the witch Baba Yaga.
3. Japan:
   1. My Lord Bag of Rice: A warrior who steps over a sleeping dragon helps the Dragon King against a giant centipede.
   2. The Old Man Who Made Trees Blossom: A kind old man’s blossoming trees make his greedy neighbor jealous, to the neighbor’s cost.
4. Ireland:
   1. The Happy Prince: A golden statue with sapphire eyes asks a swallow to carry his jewels to the poor.
   2. The Giant’s Cliff House: A boy stolen by a cliff-dwelling giant appears in a blacksmith’s dream and begs for rescue.
5. Italy:
   1. Pinocchio: A shoemaker’s wooden doll comes to life and must learn honesty to become a real boy.
   2. Little Piccola: Piccola lives in sunny Italy, and a dear pet swallow brings her great happiness at last.
6. America:
   1. The Gingerbread Man: A freshly baked gingerbread man runs away from everyone who wants to eat him.
   2. The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger: In Oz, a timid lion and a hungry tiger refuse to be cruel to a child.
7. Brazil:
   1. How the Rabbit Lost His Tail: The rabbit once had a long tail until a jealous cat stole it with a knife.
   2. Why the Bananas Belong to the Monkey: An old woman sets a wax trap for a cheating monkey in her banana garden.
8. China:
   1. The Yellow Dragon: A thoughtful farm boy shows kindness to a noble stranger who is secretly the yellow dragon.
   2. The Bird With Nine Heads: A storm sweeps a princess away, and her rescuer must face a monstrous nine-headed bird.
9. Denmark:
   1. The Emperor’s New Clothes: Two swindlers sell a vain emperor invisible clothes, and nobody dares admit they see nothing.
   2. The Princess and the Pea: A prince wants a real princess, and a single pea under twenty mattresses decides it.
10. France:
    1. Riquet with the Tuft: A witty but very ugly prince offers a beautiful, dull-witted princess the gift of cleverness.
    2. Bluebeard: A wealthy man with a frightening blue beard marries a young wife and forbids one room.
11. England:
    1. Dick Whittington and His Cat: A poor orphan boy walks to London, and his clever cat helps him find fortune.
    2. The Three Sillies: A suitor sets out to find people even sillier than his sweetheart’s family before marrying her.
12. India:
    1. The Elephant and the Tailor: A tailor pricks an elephant’s trunk with a needle and gets a trunkful of muddy water.
    2. How the Son of a Raja Married Princess Labam: A prince hears about Princess Labam from talking parrots and sets out to win her.
13. Netherlands:
    1. Reynard the Fox: Summoned before King Noble the Lion, the wily fox must answer for his many crimes.
    2. The Gnomes: In old Cologne, helpful gnomes work through the night for the townsfolk until they disappear.
14. Norway:
    1. The Princess on the Glass Hill: Three brothers try to climb a glass hill to win a princess and half the kingdom.
    2. The Building of the Wall of Asgard: A stranger with a remarkable horse offers to build the gods a wall against giants.
15. Scotland:
    1. The Three Crowns: A tiny man in an enchanted boat sails off with a king’s three daughters.
    2. The Hoodie-crow: A hoodie crow marries a farmer’s youngest daughter, but their little sons keep vanishing.

Fairy Tale Authors Worth Knowing

Finally, a short list of writers to follow, some obvious and some more surprising. Each name opens that author’s page on Ririro, and the stories beside it are good places to start.

1. Brothers Grimm:
   1. Rapunzel: A girl locked in a tower by a witch lets down her long hair for visitors.
   2. Snow-White and Rose-Red: Two kind sisters named for their rose-trees befriend a bear and rescue a bad-tempered dwarf.
   3. The Twelve Dancing Princesses: Twelve princesses wear out their shoes nightly, and a clever soldier sets out to solve it.
2. Hans Christian Andersen:
   1. The Red Shoes: Karen’s longing for red shoes becomes a curse that will not let her stop dancing.
   2. The Ugly Duckling: A duckling hatches larger and odder than his siblings and must find where he belongs.
   3. The Steadfast Tin Soldier: A one-legged tin soldier loves a little dancer, and a paper boat carries him away.
3. Andrew Lang:
   1. The Groac’h of the Isle of Lok: In Brittany, a young man must outwit the Groac’h, an enchantress who turns husbands into fish.
   2. The Lady of the Fountain: At King Arthur’s court, the knight Owen wins the hand of the Lady of the Fountain.
   3. The Battle of the Birds: A king’s son goes to watch a great battle between the creatures of earth and air.
4. Louise M. Alcott:
   1. Sunshine and Her Siblings: Mother Nature struggles to manage her unruly children, Sunshine among them, until spring finally arrives.
   2. Goldfin and Silvertail: Forbidden to swim, Nelly wishes she were a fish and discovers what the sea is like.
   3. The Violets of the Princes: Sick in bed, Marianne hears how disguised princes became the Merciful Brothers, helping the poor.
5. L. Frank Baum:
   1. The Man In The Moon: The nursery-rhyme Man in the Moon tumbles down and asks the way to Norwich.
   2. The Laughing Hippopotamus: An ancient Congo hippo family grows worried about its jolliest member, who laughs at everything.
   3. The Magic Bonbons: A Boston chemist’s magic bonbons give a rich young lady exactly the talent she craves.
6. Charles Perrault:
   1. Little Thumbling: Smallest of seven brothers, Little Thumbling outwits a giant after being abandoned in the forest.
   2. Diamonds and Toads: Two sisters meet a poor woman at a fountain, and their manners decide their fortunes.
   3. Donkeyskin: A princess flees her father’s court in a donkey’s skin, carrying her magnificent dresses.
7. Henry Beston:
   1. The Enchanted Elm: A prince lost in the forest meets the King of the Trees and a wizard.
   2. The Lost Half Hour: Bobo, a widow’s foolish youngest son, is noticed by Princess Zenza, and his adventures begin.
   3. The Invisible Prince: Furious at losing a quarrel with the king, a goblin curses the newborn prince.
8. Madame d’Aulnoy:
   1. Princess Goldilocks: A young king falls madly in love with Princess Goldilocks without ever having met her.
   2. The White Cat: A king sets his three sons tasks, and the youngest is helped by a white cat.
   3. The White Doe: A queen wishes for a daughter, and Princess Desirée ends up transformed into a white doe.
9. Oscar Wilde:
   1. The Selfish Giant: A giant keeps children out of his lovely garden, and winter refuses to leave it.
   2. The Devoted Friend: Little Hans the gardener gives everything to his friend the miller, who gives only fine words.
   3. The Nightingale and the Rose: A student needs a red rose to win a dance, and a nightingale sings for him.
10. Joseph Jacobs:
    1. Molly Whuppie: Left in a wood with her sisters, clever Molly outwits a giant over and over.
    2. Tom Tit Tot: A girl strikes a bargain with a strange creature and must guess his name.
    3. The Old Woman and Her Pig: An old woman’s pig won’t budge, setting off a chain of dogs, sticks, fire and water.

Every story here is free to read online, and come with a printable PDF and audio narration, ready for the classroom or the bedtime routine.