Welcome to our fantastic collection of the Top 39 Good Manners Stories, specially designed for kids, children, and toddlers of all ages! These bedtime tales are perfect for your little ones to read online, or you can download the free pdf versions to print and enjoy offline. Our educational short stories aim to teach kids important lessons on proper behavior and good manners through engaging, fun, and entertaining tales. These stories are tailored to suit early years, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students, making learning enjoyable and easy.

Our stories are available with colorful pictures, are easy to tell and read aloud, and are a perfect way to end your kids’ night-time routine. This collection includes famous classic good manners fairy tales, fun tales with both girls and boys in mind, and longer read alouds for those who enjoy a more engaging story time. Each story comes with a unique moral and lesson to encourage children to become thoughtful and well-mannered individuals.

Studies have shown that teaching good manners to toddlers and young children can have lasting benefits in their social development. Our carefully curated collection features stories that are not only entertaining and enjoyable but also educational, making these stories perfect for bedtime, afterschool reading, and the development of essential life skills. So, engage your children in this wonderful journey and let them fall asleep with the valuable lessons of good manners and politeness imprinted in their minds.

Top 39 Good Manners Stories for kids to read online:

1. Riquet with the Tuft: This story is about a young prince called Riquet with the Tuft, who was born ugly but kind and funny. He had been gifted the ability to make the object of his affections as smart as him. A neighbouring queen had twin daughters, one was beautiful but dumb, and the other was ugly but smart. Riquet fell in love with the smart and ugly princess and promised to marry her. She initially forgot about it, and when she met a handsome prince, she thought she had found the one. But as she walked through the forest, she remembered her promise to Riquet and honored it. She discovered that she has a gift to make her loved one the most beautiful person. They got married the next day and lived happily ever after.
2. The Swineherd: In this classic tale, a handsome prince wants to marry the emperor’s daughter. However, the Princess is not impressed by his gifts of a beautiful rose and a nightingale, considering them dirty and strange. The prince then disguises himself as a swineherd and creates magical instruments the Princess desires, demanding kisses from her as payment. After being caught by the emperor and thrown out, the Prince reveals himself and rejects the Princess, who realizes the error of her ways too late. An ebook version is available for download.
3. Prince Darling: In this story, a kind king is visited by a fairy who offers him one wish. The king wishes for his son to become a good person. After the king’s death, the fairy gives the son a ring that pricks him when he behaves badly. However, the son becomes cruel and is transformed into animals that represent his negative traits. He eventually becomes a dog, then a dove, and saves a girl he loves, proving his goodness. The fairy then brings him and the girl to the palace where they rule justly.
4. Mother Holle: In this story, a mother loved her ugly and lazy daughter more than her beautiful and diligent daughter. The youngest daughter did all the household chores and worked so hard that her fingers often bled. One day, while looking for her dropped coil, she ended up in a green meadow and met Mother Holle. She decided to work hard for her and was rewarded with a rain of gold when she left. Her lazy sister tried to follow in her footsteps but failed to work hard. Mother Holle rewarded her with a rain of sticky tar, and she remained lazy and covered in tar for the rest of her life.
5. Toinette and the elves: The story is about Toinette, who encounters a little elf while gathering water. She helps the elf and is given some seeds to become invisible. Toinette tries it out but realizes she doesn’t like being invisible and decides to remove the seeds. She becomes a better person to her family and thinks of others before herself. The following Christmas, Toinette tries the seeds again and enjoys being invisible. The elf and his friends visit her and ask for her help. She makes them broth from fern seeds, and they thank her before leaving. The story ends with Toinette being happy and kind, forever remembering the elfs’ advice.
6. The Tale Of Tom Kitten: The story is about three little kittens called Mittens, Tom Kitten, and Moppet. Their mother Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit expected friends to tea, so she dressed up the kittens before sending them out to the garden. While walking on the wall, Tom Kitten’s clothes burst off, and the Puddle-Ducks helped dress him up in their way. The kittens, naked on the wall, disturbed the tea party, and their mother pretended that they were sick. Later, the Puddle-Ducks were looking for their clothes.
7. The ice king and his wonderful grandchild: This story tells the tale of Uller, the spirit of the ice, who was the patron of boys and girls and enjoyed the cold. He was married to Skadi, a huntress, and they had six daughters who all looked alike and were given winter names. Their offspring, Stoom, was a powerful and mischievous fairy who could be harnessed to do work, but would explode and cause damage if mistreated. The story concludes by emphasizing the importance of treating Stoom properly, harnessing his power, and using him to drive ships, locomotives, submarines, and even airplanes.
8. Old Mother Bear’s Happy New Year: The story is about Old Mother Bear who has four naughty bears and on New Year’s Eve she wonders how she can have a happy new year. Lady Wind, Old Mother Moon, and a snowflake Fairy all offer their wishes for a Happy New Year, but Old Mother Bear lists all the misbehaviors of her four bears. Fairy See-It-All takes the bears away to a wee little house in the wood where they learn to be on time, tidy up, say thank you and are polite. After a year, the four bears return better-behaved, making Old Mother Bear happy, and inspiring children to change their own behavior and make others happy too.
9. The tale of the fierce, bad rabbit: The story is about a fierce bad rabbit who takes a carrot from a gentle rabbit without asking nicely, and in the process, scratches the good rabbit badly. A man with a gun mistakes the bad rabbit for a funny bird and shoots him, leaving him without a tail or whiskers. The good rabbit peeps out of its hole and sees the bad rabbit fleeing without its tail or whiskers. The story ends with some download links for the ebook and print versions of the story.
10. The Fairy’s New Year Gift: Two little boys receive a New Year present from a fairy, which turns out to be a beautiful book with white pages. A year later, the fairy comes back to take their books and give them new ones. The boys are curious to look through their old books before giving them up and are amazed to see that each page is a reflection of their good or bad behavior. The fairy explains that the beautiful pages came from their good deeds, while the ugly blots and scratches were made when they were naughty. The boys express regret and wish they could have the books again, but the fairy tells them that they must go back to Father Time’s bookcase. She leaves them each a new book and tells them to make these ones more beautiful.
11. Blanca and Rosalinde: This is a story about an old woman who is kind and generous to a wandering mother she meets in her village. Her youngest daughter impresses the mother with her kindness by giving her an egg, and in reward, she becomes wealthy, while her sister becomes a queen. However, the older daughter’s life becomes unhappy due to jealousy and her lack of contentment, while the younger daughter’s simple life on a farm brings her happiness. Eventually, the wiser sister teaches the queen the value of simple contentment, and the story ends with a lesson on true happiness.
12. The Courteous Prince: A Prince falls in love with a girl who is not of his rank, but the King sends her away. The Prince goes hunting and ends up staying in an abandoned hunting lodge on Halloween night, where he meets a ghostly woman who asks if he is a courteous Prince. He fulfills her strange request, and she turns out to be his lost love, who had been enchanted by a witch. The Prince’s courtesy broke the spell, and they are happily married. The story is available to download as a PDF.
13. Kuratko, the Terrible Chick: The story is about an old couple who finally get their own little chick, Kuratko. The grandmother spoils it with so much food that they go hungry and the grandfather doesn’t like its strange behavior. One day, Kuratko eats the grandmother and grandfather whole and goes on eating other people and animals. Eventually, it eats Kotsor, but the cat scratches its way out of Kuratko’s belly, freeing everyone else that was eaten. Kotsor then eats Kuratko. The moral of the story is to be cautious of strange things and greedy behavior.
14. Little Never-Upset: The story is about Little Never-Upset, a toy that always smiles and remains calm, even when the other toys in the playroom argue with each other. One night, Miss French Doll and Miss Cotton Doll start bickering, and the other toys join in. Little Never-Upset sets a good example, but the old Elephant knocks him off the shelf. Little Never-Upset quickly gets up and laughs it off, showing the other toys that it’s better not to quarrel and miss out on fun times. The toys stop arguing and start having fun again, and the Elephant apologizes to Little Never-Upset. Finally, Little Never-Upset returns to his shelf with a smile on his face. A downloadable ebook (PDF) is also available.
15. The Revenge of the Gnomes: The story is about a Fairy party in the woods, to which they invite the Goblins but forget to invite the Gnomes. The Gnomes get angry and plot revenge. The party is ruined by the Goblins’ greed as they destroy the tablecloth and cause the Fairies to have to work all night to make amends. The Goblins demand breakfast, blaming the Fairies for their lost dinner, and the Queen and her Fairies teach them a lesson with their wands. There are downloads available of the story in PDF format.
16. The History of the Five Little Pigs: The story tells the tale of five little pigs in different situations. One pig is hard-working and thoughtful, another is mischievous and gets punished, while another is stubborn and gets sick. Another pig goes fishing where he’s not allowed and gets whipped, and the last pig takes care of the fire and learns his lessons, earning himself some roast beef. A downloadable PDF of the story is available.
17. The Worthy One: After the death of a poorly ruling King, his four sons quarrel over the crown. The King’s advisors and wise old men gather and declare that only the Worthy One can be King. They ask the princes to list their father’s crimes, and whoever confesses the most and avoids them is the Worthy One. The first three princes speak ill of their father and list a growing number of sins but fail to impress the council. The fourth prince, however, speaks honorably of his father and refuses to list his wrongdoings, thus earning the council’s recognition and becoming the Worthy One and King.
18. The Black Bowl: This is a story about a poor girl who wears a black wooden bowl on her head and faces much ridicule from the villagers. Despite this, she remains content and works hard. She is eventually hired by a rich farmer and becomes happy and content, but still wears the black bowl on her head. When the farmer’s son returns from Kyoto, he falls in love with her but the townspeople and his parents disapprove. On their wedding day, the black bowl explodes and brings forth a rain of jewels. The groom declares that none of these jewels shine as beautifully as his bride’s eyes.
19. The Three Piglets: In this story, a mother pig builds houses for her three children to live in, but warns them about the sly fox who might try to harm them. The eldest pig, Browny, loves rolling in mud and chooses a mud house, the second pig, Whitey, is greedy and chooses a cabbage house, but the youngest and smartest pig, Blacky, chooses a brick house. When the fox tricks Browny and Whitey to take them to his den, Blacky saves them by boiling the fox in a kettle. They all live happily ever after, and Browny and Whitey learn from their mistakes.
20. The Half Chick: The story is about a Spanish hen who has a brood of chicks, one of which is born with half of its body missing. Despite its appearance, the chick, named Medio Pollito, has a strong desire to explore and wander. He sets out on a journey to Madrid, but along the way he is asked for help by a stream, fire, and wind, which he ignores. When he arrives in Madrid, he is caught by a cook and thrown into a pot of soup. After being blown away by the wind, he ends up stuck on top of a church spire in Madrid.
21. The Bronze Ring: In this story, a king with a neglected garden hires a talented gardener who has a handsome son. The king wants his daughter to marry the son of the prime minister, but the princess loves the gardener’s son. The king sends both men on a journey, and the one who comes back first will marry the princess. The gardener’s son receives help from an old beggar woman and uses a magical bronze ring to get a ship filled with treasure and return before the minister’s son. The king learns the truth and allows the gardener’s son to marry the princess.
22. Diamonds and Toads: The story is about a kind and polite younger daughter who is mistreated by her mother and elder sister because of her mother’s prejudice. One day, a fairy grants her a gift to make flowers or diamonds come out of her mouth when she speaks. Her jealous sister is also given a gift by the fairy to make snakes or toads come out of her mouth. The younger daughter finds love and marries a prince with her gift while her sister, being rude, is hated and dies alone in the end.
23. Daffy-down-dilly: The story is about a brave little daffodil named Daffy-down-dilly who taught a curious little girl named Lily about the importance of kindness, gentleness, and modesty through the beauty and message of nature. Lily took these lessons to heart, spreading her gentle nature throughout her village, and inspiring others to visit the meadow and learn from the wisdom of Daffy-down-dilly and the other flowers. Through their teachings, the once ordinary meadow becomes a magical place filled with love, light, and wisdom.
24. Mabel on Midsummer Day: The story is about a young girl named Mabel who helped her grandmother with chores. While fetching water, gathering fagots, and milking the mother ewe, she encountered fairies and followed her mother’s advice to not disturb them. The fairies were impressed by Mabel’s kindness, respect, and gratitude, and granted her three blessings: to do everything well, to always be loved, and to fulfill one wish. Mabel wished for her sick sister, Amy, to recover, and the fairies granted her wish. From that day on, Mabel continued to be a kind and loving girl, and her family noticed that Amy had made a miraculous recovery.
25. How the Monkey Became a Trickster: The story is about a garden with fruit trees, and the beasts could eat from them as long as they remembered to be polite, call the tree by its name, and not be greedy. One tree was particularly tempting but nobody knew its name. A monkey tricked an old lady into telling him the name and made up a tune to help remember it. He went to the tree and ate its fruit, which turned out to be bitter. The monkey never forgot the tree’s name and would give the fruit to other animals to watch them make sour faces.
26. Amy’s mission to Recycle, Reuse and Reduce: This is a story about a family who learns about recycling, reusing, and reducing waste. Amy’s schoolteacher teaches her class the importance of these principles, and Amy proudly shares this knowledge with her family. They set up a recycling station, reuse old items creatively, and make smarter choices when shopping. Together, they lead by example and teach others the benefits of working towards a healthier planet.
27. Naughty Jocko: The story is about a mischievous monkey named Jocko who is owned by a cruel man. Jocko is mistreated and is always trying to escape. He ends up with a kind boy named Neddy and his aunt who nurse him back to health. Despite their efforts, Jocko continues to cause trouble, such as throwing candy in a store and creating chaos at home. Eventually, Jocko gets himself killed, and the family learns to behave better because of their experience with him.
28. Cockyloo: This is a story about a hen who has ten chicks, with one of them named Cockyloo. Cockyloo was a helpful and brave chick who looked out for his sisters and became the king of the farmyard. Later, he helped the farmers catch robbers by crowing loudly and scaring them away. The people in the town admired him so much that they made a weather-cock in his image for their courthouse. However, his good deeds eventually cost him his life.
29. The Piggy Girl: The story is about a little girl named Betty who hates being washed and wishes to live with the pigs. She sneaks out at night to sleep in the sty with the pigs, plays with them, and eats their food. She keeps doing this for a long time and becomes dirty and lazy like a pig. But one day she overhears that the pigs will be killed, and she panics. She runs back home, takes a bath, and goes to bed. The next day, she realizes that it was all a dream and decides to love being clean and not to resist when her mother washes her.
30. A Walk In The Garden: A boy named Frank and his mother stumble upon a garden, and the gardener kindly allows them to take a walk through it. Frank takes care not to touch anything, and the gardener is pleased as he shows Frank the seeds and tells him the names of many of the flowers. While admiring a flower, another boy comes to the gate and asks to be let in, but the gardener refuses, as the boy had meddled with the garden the day before. Frank sees how much happier a boy may be by not interfering with what doesn’t belong to him.
31. Emborg And The Animals: In this story, Emborg sets out to find a birthday present for her mother for the first time in her life. She meets various kind animals on her journey who offer her gifts without accepting her luck penny. With the help of a horse, Emborg manages to take all the gifts home to her mother. The story teaches children the importance of being kind and generous towards one another.
32. The Tree of Swords: A king’s daughter is turned into a brindle cow by a wicked witch because the king only invites her to the servant’s hall when the princess is born. The only way to break the spell is to get a pear from a tree under the control of a three-headed troll in a mountain of ice. The king promises the peasant who retrieves the pear the princess’s hand in marriage and a barrel of gold. The peasant risks his life and succeeds with the help of some fairies and a magic belt provided by the troll. The princess is restored to her true form, but the peasant asks for the brindle cow instead of the princess. The peasant and the princess get married to other people and the troll is changed into a pear tree on the side of the mountain.
33. Nardo and the Princess: The story tells of twin brothers, one kind and one greedy, and how the kind brother Nardo received a magic ring from an old beggar. The ring granted wishes that money couldn’t buy. When Nardo fell in love with a beautiful princess, he wished for her love and forgot about the ring. However, his greedy brother Stephen also loved the princess and sought to get the ring to win her love and become king when her father died. He eventually succeeded with the help of an old witch who cast a spell on Nardo. The story sees the princess rescuing Nardo with the help of a fairy who was previously a nightingale.
34. The Gingerbread Rock: Two hungry children, Hans and Lisbeth, discover a gingerbread house in the forest, which turns out to belong to a kindly wizard. They help him fix his house and in return, he reveals the location of a treasure hidden by their miserly uncle. The uncle eats too much of the gingerbread and turns to stone when he tries to move the treasure. The children live happily ever after with their newfound wealth and never forget the kindness of the wizard and the delicious Gingerbread Rock.
35. Greta and the Black Cat: In this story, a woodsman called Peter finds a baby girl in a bundle while he is chopping a tree. His wife Martha does not want the child, but Peter insists on taking her in and they name her Greta. Martha treats Greta poorly, and as they grow up, Robert, Peter and Martha’s son, treats Greta like a servant. One day, Robert tells Greta to chop wood, but she runs away because she cannot do it. While running away, she meets a talking black cat who leads her to a witch’s cave. The witch tries to harm Greta, but the black cat reveals herself to be a prince who the witch had turned into a cat. The witch begs for mercy, and the prince tells the fairy who saved him that he wants to marry Greta. The fairy grants his wish, and the two get married after a great feast. They give Peter a bag of gold, but he does not recognize Greta. The prince tells Peter the truth about Greta later, and they send him many gifts and take care of him in his old age.
36. The Story of the Silver Box: Two orphans, Hans and Nella, take in an old man seeking shelter, and Nella selflessly gives up her bed. The next morning, the old man disappears, leaving behind a silver box that they bury in their garden. To their surprise, a tree grows right above it with a door that leads to a tunnel, which takes them to a mountain of gold. They gather enough to buy a cottage and live comfortably. The tree whispers blessings to them and protects them, leading them to believe that it’s the old man they helped and that he now watches over them.
37. Gray Hen’s Strategy: A group of hens are tired of Chicken Young stealing worms from their bills and decide to teach him a lesson. They bury a piece of rope in the ground to fool him into thinking it’s a worm. Chicken Young swallows the rope, choking him. The hens work together to help him dislodge it, and he learns his lesson, starting to scratch for himself. The hens are pleased that he got a good scare and won’t forget the experience easily.
38. Nim-Nim’s Golden Wings: The story is about a little fairy named Nim-nim who wants to win her golden wings, but she can’t find any good deeds to do that the Queen deems worthy. The Queen takes Nim-nim to the streets where there is sorrow and suffering, and she gives her three opportunities to perform acts of kindness. Even though Nim-nim initially thinks these deeds are beneath her, she begins to find happiness in doing good and forgets about her desire for golden wings. Finally, the Queen rewards her for her good deeds with golden wings that shine as bright as the sun.
39. The Vanity Of Annie: Annie is a very vain little girl who spends a lot of time admiring herself in the mirror. One day, an elf pops out of nowhere and tells her that she is too proud of her looks. The elf warns her that if she doesn’t change her ways, he will take away her good looks. Annie ignores him, and the elf casts a spell on her, leaving her with a plain and unpleasing face. Annie becomes a better person, and the elf returns to restore her good looks. The elf teaches her that true beauty comes from within and that kindness and politeness are more important than having a pretty face.

In conclusion, the Top 39 Good Manners Stories for kids offer a delightful and engaging way for children to learn the importance of good manners and respectful behavior. As they read these captivating tales, children are not only entertained but also enriched with valuable life lessons on politeness, kindness, and courtesy. Imbued with memorable characters and practical examples, these stories help instill essential social skills in young readers that will serve them well throughout their lives. So, let your child explore this fantastic collection and watch as they grow into considerate, well-mannered individuals who enrich the lives of those around them.