Welcome to the online fairy tales page!

Below you will find a list of magical and captivating bedtime stories for kids written by some of the best known fairy tale authors.

People have been telling each other stories about talking animals, magic, witches and giants, kings and heroes since ancient times. A very significant literature genre, fairy tales are present in all cultures around the world. In comparison to myths and legends, the time and place of occurrence in fairy tales are unknown.

Good and evil in fairy tales is usually clearly separated, often in the form of good and evil characters. The main themes in these stories usually include a hero, a conflict between good and evil, natural and supernatural forces. At the end, the good is rewarded and evil punished.

Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 - 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, and literary critic. Born in Selkirk, Lang was the oldest among eight siblings. After graduating, he began to publish his works, showing he was a gifted journalist, poet, and writer.
His books contain stories from around the world collected from various sources and translated mainly by his wife and other enthusiasts.

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The Blue Fairy Book

Notes: The first in a collection of twelve books gathered by Andrew Lang from various sources. Published in 1889, the Blue Fairy Book contains 37 bedtime stories to read online.

Author: Various
Editor: Andrew Lang
Published: 1889
Publisher: Langmans, Green, and Co., London; New York

1.The Bronze Ring

2.Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess

3.East of the Sun and West of the Moon

4.The Yellow Dwarf

5.Little Red Riding Hood

6.The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

7.Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper

8.Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

9.The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn what Fear Was

10.Rumpelstiltzkin

11.Beauty and the Beast

12.The Master-Maid

13.Why the Sea is Salt

14.The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots

15.Felicia and the Pot of Pinks

16.The White Cat

17.The Water-Lily. The Gold-Spinners

18.The Terrible Head

19.The Story of Pretty Goldilocks

20.The History of Whittington

21.The Wonderful Sheep

22.Little Thumb

23.The Forty Thieves

24.Hansel and Grettel

25.Snow-White and Rose-Red

26.The Goose-Girl

27.Toads and Diamonds

28.Prince Darling

29.Blue Beard

30.Trusty John

31.The Brave Little Tailor

32.A Voyage to Lilliput

33.The Princess on the Glass Hill

34.The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou

35.The History of Jack the Giant-Killer

36.The Black Bull of Norroway

37.The Red Etin

Check out other books by the Andrew Lang below

The Green Fairy Book

Notes: The third book from Andrew Lang's collection was first published in 1892 and contains 42 stories.

Author: Various
Editor: Andrew Lang
Published: 1892
Publisher: Langmans, Green, and Co., London; New York

The Red Fairy Book

Notes: The second book from Andrew Lang's collection was first published in 1890 and contains 37 stories.

Author: Various
Editor: Andrew Lang
Published: 1890
Publisher: Langmans, Green, and Co., London; New York

The Brothers Grimm are probably the best known storytellers in the world. Many years have passed since the time Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm released their "Children's and household tales". The first edition and was very modest, both in appearance and capacity - there were only 83 stories, compared to the 200 we know today.

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Grimm's fairy tales

Notes: Translated by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes. Contains 62 stories.

Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Translator: Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes
Published: 1876
Publisher: R. Meek & Co., London
Ages: 3-10+ years

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1.Ashputtel

2.Briar Rose

3.Cat And Mouse In Partnership

9.Frederick And Catherine

14.Jorinda And Jorindel

15.King Grisly-Beard

16.Lily And The Lion

17.Little Red-Cap ( Little Red Riding Hood )

23.Snow-White And Rose-Red

24.Sweetheart Roland

25.The Adventures Of Chanticleer And Partlet

26.The Blue Light

27.The Dog And The Sparrow

28.The Elves And The Shoemaker

29.The Fisherman And His Wife

30.The Four Clever Brothers

31.The Fox And The Cat

32.The Fox And The Horse

38.The King Of The Golden Mountain

39.The Little Peasant

40.The Miser In The Bush

41.The Mouse, The Bird, And The Sausage

42.The Old Man And His Grandson

43.The Pink

44.The Queen Bee

45.The Raven

46.The Robber Bridegroom

47.The Salad

48.The Seven Ravens

49.The Story Of The Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was

50.The Straw, The Coal, And The Bean

51.The Three Languages

52.The Travelling Musicians

53.The Turnip

54.The Twelve Dancing Princesses

55.The Twelve Huntsmen

56.The Valiant Little Tailor

57.The Water Of Life

58.The Wedding Of Mrs Fox

59.The White Snake

60.The Willow-Wren And The Bear

61.The Wolf And The Seven Little Kids

62.Tom Thumb

Check out other books by the Brothers Grimm below

Household tales by the Brothers Grimm

Notes: Translated by Margaret Hunt, this is the only book that contains the complete collection of the Brothers Grimms' Children's and Household Tales - 200 fairy tales and 10 legends.

Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Published: 1884
Translator: Margaret Hunt
Publisher: George Bell and Sons, London
Ages: 10+ years

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Grimm's Fairy Stories

Notes: This book contains 25 stories by the Brothers Grimm.

Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Translator: Unknown
Published: 1922
Publisher: Cupples and Leon Company, New York

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Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm

Notes: This fairy tale collection contains 52 of the Grimms' tales.

This new Dover edition, first published in 1963, is an unabridged republication of the work first published by Macmillan and Company in 1886.

Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Translator: Lucy Crane
Published: 1963 (1886)
Publisher: Dover Publications, New York (Macmillan & Co, London)

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Charles Perrault was a French writer who lived in the second half of XVII century. He was one of the first writers in European literature who turned his eyes to folklore. Born in 1628 in a clerical bourgeois family, Perrault received legal education and had high royal office. In the second half of XVII century there was a dispute amidst French writers about the advantage of modern writers compared to the writers of antiquity. Charles Perrault played an important role in...

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The Tales of Mother Goose As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696

Notes: The first edition of Perrault's famous collection of fairy stories.
Author: Charles Perrault
Translator: Charles Welsh
Published: 1901
Publisher: D.C. Heath & Co., Boston; New York; Chicago

1.Cinderella, Or The Little Glass Slipper

2.The Sleeping Beauty In The Woods

3.Little Thumb

4.The Master Cat, Or Puss In Boots

5.Riquet With The Tuft

6.Blue Beard

7.The Fairy

8.Little Red Riding-Hood

Hans Christian Andersen, born April 2, 1805 in Odense, was a Danish writer and poet. In his early days, Andersen wanted to become an opera singer. In 1819 he went to Copenhagen to pursuit that dream. His voice, however, was too weak and he was accepted as a dance student at the Royal Theater.
In the style of the German romantics Andersen did a lot of travelling - to find himself in the world and the world in himself. In 1840-41, after visiting Germany, Italy, Malta and Greece, he came to Istambul and returned home through the Black Sea and the Danube.

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Andersen's fairy tales

Notes: "Andersen's fairy tales" contains 18 of H.C.Andersen's most notable fairy stories. This is not the original cover.

Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Translator: Unknown
Published: Unknown
Publisher: Unknown

1.The emperor's new clothes

2.The swineherd

3.The real princess

4.The shoes of fortune

12.The story of a mother

13.The falce collar

14.The shadow

15.The little match girl

16.The dream of little Tuk

17.The naughty boy

18.The red shoes

Check out the complete collection of Hans Christian Anderesen fairy tales below

Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales

Notes: This is the first of two volumes of Andersen's fairy tales edited by J. H. Stickney.

Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Editor: J. H. Stickney
Published: 1914
Publisher: Ginn and Company - Boston; New York; Chicago; London

Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales Second Series

Notes: This is the second volume of Andersen's stories edited by J. H. Stickney.

Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Editor: J. H. Stickney
Published: 1915
Publisher: Ginn and Company - Boston; New York; Chicago; London

Ludwig Bechstein, born on 24 November 1801 in Weimar, was a German writer and collector of folk fairy tales.

Bechstein published many works and was a successful author of his time. His German Fairy Tale Book was even more popular than the Brothers Grimm's collection when it was first published in 1845. He published several collections of folk tales, and also published romances and poems.

Go to Bechstein's fairy tales