Read famous fairy tales. The best modern fairy tales for children
Modern writers for children
The book presents works by Lena Arden, Olga Fadeeva, Ekaterina Burmistrova, Vladimir Blagov, Alexey Oleinikov, Yulia Ivanova, Guy Sever and Olga Kamelina. Modern children's authors present their fairy tales, in which unexpected, fresh plots coexist with the classical traditions of children's literature.
“I was interested in reading something new, unusual, something that would make me want to immediately grab a pencil. I must say that some of the works really gave me a characteristic tingling sensation in my fingertips.”
“As a child, I loved to read, but I don’t think that these books will be very interesting to my children today, because the world has changed so much. And I really want books for children to reach them on time, and not when they are as adults as I am now.”
Lena Arden. Tales of the Magic Chestnut
Chapter first. Chestnut
This magical story took place in the courtyard of the most ordinary house, which stood on the most ordinary street of the most ordinary city. Almost all the space in this city, as in many other cities, was occupied by houses, shops, roads, parking areas and tram tracks. People cut down trees so diligently and filled lawns with concrete that there was almost no greenery left here. By some miracle, in the courtyard of this very house, a small island of green grass was preserved, on which grew an old spreading tree - Chestnut. It had a beautiful thick crown that cast a long shadow on the lawn and walls of an ordinary house. Almost at the very roots, the tree trunk forked, and it towered over the lawn in a huge English letter V.
The lawn on which Chestnut grew was surrounded on all sides by curbs and asphalt roads. They completely cut him off from the outside world. Adults living in the apartments of an ordinary house had no idea what an interesting story was happening right under their noses. But some attentive children, of course, suspected something. They often observed how the ants, lined up one after another, climbed over the curb and crossed the road. At this time, another line was walking in the opposite direction, with coffee beans and grains of sugar on their backs. The ants marched with their legs raised high, looking like little military men on parade. If you listen closely, you could hear the cheerful song they sang along the way.
Under the roots of the Chestnut tree, which spread across the lawn in all directions, there was an entire city with houses, shops, restaurants and cafes. It even had its own library with a reading room, which contained books on the history of the lawn, dating back to time immemorial. Then the Chestnut was still a thin twig that grew in the middle of a beautiful meadow, and there were no houses, borders or cars in sight. Underground was the city hall - a dark palace where the mayor of the lawn, the blind Mole, lived. In addition, the large hollows of Chestnut housed a Coffee and Sugar store, a dance school, and a fire department where firefighter beetles worked. In the smaller hollows there are workshops and newsstands.
In one of these workshops, dishes were made from the shells of those very chestnuts that ripened in abundance on the mighty tree every autumn. For several years now, none other than the hero of our magical story, a master of plates and cups, a gentleman named Mouse, has been working in this workshop. His dishes were bought by all the inhabitants of the lawn, both those who lived at the roots of the Chestnut tree, and those higher up, on its branches and in the hollows. Such fame and love from customers made Mouse not an ordinary resident of the lawn, but one of its most respected citizens.
The Mouse lived in a house with a round blue door under one of the large roots of the Chestnut tree. The houses in this part of the lawn were old. They burned here with fallen leaves and old chestnut bark. If you looked closely, you could see small chimneys among the roots. In cold weather, barely noticeable steam-like smoke came out of them. People, of course, saw it, but mistook it for ordinary fog.
The mouse was a real gentleman. To work, he always wore a top hat, a bow tie, and even took with him a cane cut from a Chestnut branch. In the morning, Mouse did not like to rush. He slowly got up, drank a cup of coffee with milk, read the latest newspaper and only then left the house. He walked slowly, and the road to the workshop was more of a pleasant walk than a necessity. Along the way, Mouse stopped to chat with his acquaintances: the postman Snail, who delivered letters and newspapers, the beautiful Butterfly, who worked as a ballet teacher at a dance school, and Aunt Caterpillar, who ran a bakery at a nearby root.
The road to work went up one of the chestnut trunks. Having reached the third large branch, it was necessary to jump over to another trunk. And there it’s already a stone’s throw to the hollow of the workshop. Previously, the workshop belonged to Mouse’s father, and before him – to his grandfather. When his father died, Mouse had to continue the family business. He was very responsible and could not leave the residents of the lawn without dishes. Although, in truth, Mouse always dreamed of one day handing over the workshop to his assistant Frog and doing something else. What exactly, Mouse did not know. He was busy every day making dishes, and he did not have time to think about a new occupation.
In the workshop, Mouse usually turned on the record player and, enjoying the music, began working on the next cup or saucer. The mouse selected the chestnuts for the dishes himself. In autumn they ripened and fell to the ground. Fallen chestnuts often cracked and were no longer suitable for cups and plates. Therefore, the Mouse had to collect the chestnuts that were ripe but had not yet fallen. Then he left them in the workshop to dry in order to turn them into the highest quality dishes until the following autumn. Picking chestnuts has always been hard work. The mouse had to get up very early and run through the branches of a large tree in search of selected chestnuts. In addition, this activity was quite dangerous. A chestnut warning was even announced on the lawn, which the Woodpecker loudly tapped out in Morse code. Then all the shops closed, and residents, with airbags tied to their heads, hurried home and did not go out unless absolutely necessary.
Chapter two
I'm looking for a travel companion!
One morning Mouse was about to enjoy his coffee with milk and read the newspaper. But, to his surprise, there was no milk on the doorstep where the messenger Grasshopper usually left it. Then the Mouse took a fresh newspaper from the mailbox and went to the bakery to see Aunt Caterpillar. In good weather, she placed several tables near the bakery and opened a small outdoor cafe where one could have breakfast.
- Good morning, Aunt Caterpillar! The grasshopper disappeared somewhere today, and I can’t drink coffee without milk.
Fairy tales are poetic stories about extraordinary events and adventures involving fictional characters. In modern Russian, the concept of the word “fairy tale” has acquired its meaning since the 17th century. Until that point, the word "fable" was supposedly used in this meaning.
One of the main features of a fairy tale is that it is always based on an invented story, with a happy ending, where good defeats evil. The stories contain a certain hint that enables the child to learn to recognize good and evil and to comprehend life through clear examples.
Read children's stories online
Reading fairy tales is one of the main and important stages on your child’s path to life. Various stories make it clear that the world around us is quite contradictory and unpredictable. By listening to stories about the adventures of the main characters, children learn to value love, honesty, friendship and kindness.
Reading fairy tales is useful not only for children. Having grown up, we forget that in the end good always triumphs over evil, that all adversity is nothing, and a beautiful princess is waiting for her prince on a white horse. It’s quite easy to give a little good mood and plunge into a fairy-tale world!
Is it a fairy tale for children? Initially, no. The first books of fairy tales were collections of folklore stories, and it was impossible to call them children's books, even if one wanted to. Only later did fairy tales, adapted by writers, become reading material for children. In Russia, the first fairy tale written specifically for children appeared only in 1829. It was the well-known “Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants” by Anthony Pogorelsky.
It is unlikely that today anyone will seriously begin to argue that fairy tales are a useless atavism, but at the dawn of the Soviet era they were recognized as harmful. Many people got it back then, and especially Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky for “Crocodile”, “Cockroach” and “Tsokotukha Fly”. Books with folk tales were removed from libraries, and fairy-tale “mysticism” was considered nonsense that interfered with the education of the working class. But the fairy tale survived just like the New Year.
Today the fairy tale lives in a variety of genres and book formats. The choice is huge: folk and original, modern and ancient, translated and Russian, adapted and unadapted, “uncut.” Connoisseurs of authenticity can purchase reprinted editions of ancient books, and fans of everything modern can purchase fairy tales dressed in the most conceptual literary and design form.
Fairy tales for the little ones
When should you start learning about fairy tales? Yes, actually, when you don’t know how to read yet! Many fairy tales are intended to be told to children who have not yet fully mastered oral speech skills.
“Teremok”, “Kolobok”, “Turnip” have a simple plot and gradually introduce the child to the world around him. The main characters - animals and objects - acquire human thoughts and voices and act just like people: sometimes wisely and nobly, sometimes stupidly and cruelly. Usually such fairy tales are read not two or three, but many times, and the lessons that the heroes receive are remembered by the child for life.
Author's fairy tales that three-year-olds happily listen to include adapted fairy tales by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and funny stories by Chukovsky, Marshak, Suteev, and Sladkov. There are also many children's books that have long been considered classics abroad, but have recently gained popularity in Russia: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “The Dreamy Chameleon” by Eric Carle, “The Enormous Crocodile” and “The Amazing Mr. Fox” by Roald Dahl, “Crictor” and "Emil. The Good Octopus" by Tomi Ungerer, "Meowli" by Judith Kerr and "Charlotte the Sheep" by Anu Stoner... They are created just for the little ones, they contain talking animals, and unusual incidents, and, of course, educational - but unobtrusive - element.
The main thing in all fairy tales for little ones is that they teach them to separate black from white, tell them how important kindness and mutual assistance are, and also confirm that any evil always gets what it deserves. But design is no less important. It’s good if the first book that a child starts reading on his own has large print and bright, memorable illustrations. The artist’s work is no less significant: the more lively and emotional the drawing, the more the little reader will love the book.
Top 10 fairy tales for kids
- Two magpies were chatting. Russian folk tales, songs, nursery rhymes.
- Pan Kotofey. Ukrainian and Belarusian folk tales
- Chukovsky K.I. "Miracle Tree"
- Andersen H.-C. "Ugly duck"
- Perrault S. "Little Red Riding Hood"
- Marshak S.Ya. "Cat house"
- Carl E. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
- Rosen M. "Let's go catch a bear"
- Donaldson D. "The Gruffalo"
- Shtoner A. "Little Santa Claus"
Fairy tales for those who read independently
As a child gets older, he becomes more interested in listening and reading about heroes similar to himself: about children, their adventures, travels, transformations and magical encounters.
First of all, these are original fairy tales: “The Snow Queen” by Andersen, “Pinocchio”, “Baby and Carlson”, “Nils’ Journey with Wild Geese”. In these fairy tales, not only are the heroes children, in whom it is easy to recognize oneself, they also have a place for difficult choices, an independent attempt to figure out the correctness of actions. "The Wizard of the Emerald City" talks about the importance of friendship and mutual assistance, and "Alice in Wonderland" will help you plunge into the unusual world of fantasy.
At this age, children are captivated by the opportunity to immerse themselves in a full-fledged fairy-tale world, be it the world of Nosov, Raspe, Milne, Rodari, talking toys or E. Raud’s little naxitralls - characters that are extremely interesting to follow. The plot is based on dynamic adventures and a real “situation comedy”. Laughter at the characters' funny mistakes and empathy for them in difficult moments determine the emotional background of a child's growing up.
In addition, this is the best period to get acquainted with the classics. Tales of A.S. Pushkin, "The Scarlet Flower" by S. Aksakov, "The Nutcracker" by E. Hoffmann... Books to which, most likely, children will return. Fairy tales of the classics of the 19th century, such as V. Gauff and O. Wilde, are interesting to read not only for children. Often the drama and even mysticism of these works attract adult readers - not to mention "Alice" and "The Little Prince", in which people of all ages willingly look for the most unexpected and deep meanings.
Top 10 fairy tales for children 6-8 years old
- Gauf V. "Little Muk"
- Raskatov M. "The Missing Letter"
- Druzhkov Y. "The Adventures of Pencil and Samodelkin: A True Tale"
- Tolstoy A. "The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio"
- Nosov N. "The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends"
- Carroll L. "Alice in Wonderland"
- Lindgren A. "Kid and Carlson"
- Nesbit E. "Five Children and It"
- Harris J.C. "The Tales of Uncle Remus"
- Bond M. "A Little Bear Called Paddington"
Fairy tales for "adult" children
The most difficult age for choosing a book is coming, since it is now that the child turns into a teenager. "Carlson" and "Pinocchio" are left behind, it's time to offer "Gulliver's Travels" or "The Jungle Book", where exciting adventures will coexist with the opportunity to absorb a huge amount of new information.
10-12 years old is the best time to read “The Moomins” and get inspired by Krapivin’s “Flying Tales”. "The Night Before Christmas" by Gogol, "Little Tsakhes" by Hoffmann - this is both interesting for a child and quite serious, adult reading. This does not mean at all that the young reader “grew up” from the folk tale. It’s just that now this is a completely different reading, which not only teaches you to distinguish between good and evil, but also introduces you to the culture and traditions of the peoples of the world.
Fairy tales that have developed in China, Japan, and India attract with their unusual flavor, but perhaps the child will also notice something in common between the plots he knows from Russian fairy tales and oriental “exoticism.” For example, the motif of magical power possessed by the simplest-looking objects. Running boots, an invisible hat - something similar exists in the Japanese fairy tale “What the Birds Told.” An old man finds a cap in the forest, and when he puts it on, he begins to understand the voices of birds. They tell him about a variety of human misfortunes, and, traveling from village to village, the old man saves peasants from troubles and misfortunes. Fate rewards the old man for his responsiveness and love for his neighbor. The villagers surround him with universal respect - and what could be more valuable than respect for old age and wisdom in Eastern culture?
Top 10 fairy tales for children 8-12 years old
- Magic tales of Japan. Strawberries under the snow
- Khoza, Zhukrovsky. "The Trusting Tiger. Burmese, Indonesian, Vietnamese fairy tales"
- Magical tales of Sweden
- Jansson T. "All about the Moomins"
- Kipling R.D. "Mowgli"
- Schmidt A. "Murli"
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince"
- Jones D.W. "Walking castle"
- Maar P. "Seven Saturdays in a week"
- Jaster N. "Cute and the Magic Booth"
- Ende M. "The Neverending Story"
Modern fairy tale
A fairy tale is a time-tested way to instill in a child knowledge of how everything works. Fairy tales do not age; they are read and will continue to be read, no matter when they were created. However, this does not mean that fairy tales of the 21st century do not exist.
The fairytale tradition continues today. "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, "How the Elephant Fell from the Sky" by Kate DiCamillo, "A Little Bear Called Paddington" by Michael Bond, "Petson and Findus" by Sven Nordqvist - these are just a few of the wonderful modern foreign fairy tales. Russia also has its own storytellers: Elena Rakitina and Marina Aromshtam, Evgenia Pasternak and Andrei Zhvalevsky, Dina Sabitova and Sergei Sedov. And more and more new excellent original fairy tales are coming out!
An invaluable source of wisdom and inspiration for a child. In this section you can read your favorite fairy tales online for free and give children the first most important lessons of world order and morality. It is from the magical narrative that children learn about good and evil, and also that these concepts are far from absolute. Each fairy tale presents its short description, which will help parents choose a topic that is relevant to the child’s age and give him a choice.
Fairy tale title | Source | Rating |
---|---|---|
Vasilisa the Beautiful | Russian traditional | 352334 |
Morozko | Russian traditional | 232217 |
Aibolit | Korney Chukovsky | 1003785 |
The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor | Arabian tale | 225798 |
Snowman | Andersen H.K. | 129914 |
Moidodyr | Korney Chukovsky | 989697 |
Porridge from an ax | Russian traditional | 264244 |
The Scarlet Flower | Aksakov S.T. | 1416002 |
Teremok | Russian traditional | 385159 |
Fly Tsokotukha | Korney Chukovsky | 1052201 |
Mermaid | Andersen H.K. | 437412 |
Fox and Crane | Russian traditional | 207234 |
Barmaley | Korney Chukovsky | 456188 |
Fedorino grief | Korney Chukovsky | 764687 |
Sivka-Burka | Russian traditional | 187816 |
Green oak near Lukomorye | Pushkin A.S. | 770192 |
Twelve months | Samuel Marshak | 804821 |
The Bremen Town Musicians | Brothers Grimm | 272480 |
Puss in Boots | Charles Perrault | 420290 |
The Tale of Tsar Saltan | Pushkin A.S. | 637084 |
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish | Pushkin A.S. | 583458 |
The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights | Pushkin A.S. | 285694 |
The Tale of the Golden Cockerel | Pushkin A.S. | 240451 |
Thumbelina | Andersen H.K. | 190511 |
The Snow Queen | Andersen H.K. | 241545 |
Fast walkers | Andersen H.K. | 29448 |
sleeping Beauty | Charles Perrault | 100414 |
Little Red Riding Hood | Charles Perrault | 233496 |
Tom Thumb | Charles Perrault | 159501 |
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Brothers Grimm | 163120 |
Snow White and Alotsvetik | Brothers Grimm | 43220 |
The wolf and the seven Young goats | Brothers Grimm | 137198 |
Hare and hedgehog | Brothers Grimm | 129714 |
Mrs. Metelitsa | Brothers Grimm | 89589 |
Sweet porridge | Brothers Grimm | 187107 |
Princess on the Pea | Andersen H.K. | 109688 |
Crane and Heron | Russian traditional | 29407 |
Cinderella | Charles Perrault | 320770 |
The Tale of a Stupid Mouse | Samuel Marshak | 328936 |
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves | Arabian tale | 132532 |
Aladdin's magic lamp | Arabian tale | 223420 |
Cat, rooster and fox | Russian traditional | 125655 |
Chicken Ryaba | Russian traditional | 313888 |
Fox and cancer | Russian traditional | 88050 |
Fox-sister and wolf | Russian traditional | 79787 |
Masha and the Bear | Russian traditional | 264493 |
The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise | Russian traditional | 85738 |
Snow Maiden | Russian traditional | 53733 |
Three piglets | Russian traditional | 1821387 |
ugly duck | Andersen H.K. | 126220 |
Wild Swans | Andersen H.K. | 55771 |
Flint | Andersen H.K. | 74411 |
Ole Lukoje | Andersen H.K. | 121090 |
The Steadfast Tin Soldier | Andersen H.K. | 47187 |
Baba Yaga | Russian traditional | 127643 |
Magic pipe | Russian traditional | 129730 |
Magic ring | Russian traditional | 155006 |
Grief | Russian traditional | 21889 |
Swan geese | Russian traditional | 74636 |
Daughter and stepdaughter | Russian traditional | 23224 |
Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf | Russian traditional | 65973 |
Treasure | Russian traditional | 47984 |
Kolobok | Russian traditional | 162229 |
Living water | Brothers Grimm | 83670 |
Rapunzel | Brothers Grimm | 135719 |
Rumplestiltskin | Brothers Grimm | 43786 |
A pot of porridge | Brothers Grimm | 77384 |
King Thrushbeard | Brothers Grimm | 26791 |
little people | Brothers Grimm | 59600 |
Hansel and Gretel | Brothers Grimm | 32491 |
golden goose | Brothers Grimm | 40221 |
Mrs. Metelitsa | Brothers Grimm | 21891 |
Worn out shoes | Brothers Grimm | 31646 |
Straw, coal and bean | Brothers Grimm | 28031 |
twelve brothers | Brothers Grimm | 22111 |
Spindle, weaving shuttle and needle | Brothers Grimm | 27832 |
Friendship between cat and mouse | Brothers Grimm | 37677 |
Kinglet and bear | Brothers Grimm | 28057 |
Royal children | Brothers Grimm | 23320 |
Brave Little Tailor | Brothers Grimm | 35411 |
crystal ball | Brothers Grimm | 63552 |
Queen Bee | Brothers Grimm | 40936 |
Smart Gretel | Brothers Grimm | 22432 |
Three lucky ones | Brothers Grimm | 22016 |
Three spinners | Brothers Grimm | 21774 |
Three snake leaves | Brothers Grimm | 21919 |
Three brothers | Brothers Grimm | 21892 |
The Old Man of the Glass Mountain | Brothers Grimm | 21879 |
The Tale of a Fisherman and His Wife | Brothers Grimm | 21861 |
underground man | Brothers Grimm | 31101 |
Donkey | Brothers Grimm | 24146 |
Ocheski | Brothers Grimm | 21485 |
The Frog King, or Iron Henry | Brothers Grimm | 21889 |
Six swans | Brothers Grimm | 25546 |
Marya Morevna | Russian traditional | 44924 |
Wonderful miracle, wonderful miracle | Russian traditional | 42799 |
Two frosts | Russian traditional | 39483 |
Most expensive | Russian traditional | 33313 |
Wonderful shirt | Russian traditional | 39971 |
Frost and hare | Russian traditional | 39337 |
How the fox learned to fly | Russian traditional | 48517 |
Ivan the Fool | Russian traditional | 36495 |
Fox and jug | Russian traditional | 26522 |
bird tongue | Russian traditional | 23080 |
The soldier and the devil | Russian traditional | 21997 |
Crystal Mountain | Russian traditional | 26087 |
Tricky Science | Russian traditional | 28797 |
Smart guy | Russian traditional | 22245 |
Snow Maiden and Fox | Russian traditional | 62795 |
Word | Russian traditional | 22116 |
Fast messenger | Russian traditional | 21969 |
Seven Simeons | Russian traditional | 21942 |
About the old grandmother | Russian traditional | 23984 |
Go there - I don’t know where, bring something - I don’t know what | Russian traditional | 51826 |
At the behest of the pike | Russian traditional | 70074 |
Rooster and millstones | Russian traditional | 21744 |
Shepherd's Piper | Russian traditional | 38132 |
Petrified Kingdom | Russian traditional | 22130 |
About rejuvenating apples and living water | Russian traditional | 37082 |
Goat Dereza | Russian traditional | 34619 |
Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber | Russian traditional | 28531 |
Cockerel and bean seed | Russian traditional | 54644 |
Ivan - peasant son and miracle Yudo | Russian traditional | 28423 |
Three Bears | Russian traditional | 472417 |
Fox and black grouse | Russian traditional | 23398 |
Tar barrel | Russian traditional | 77193 |
Baba Yaga and berries | Russian traditional | 38397 |
Battle on Kalinov Bridge | Russian traditional | 22221 |
Finist - Clear Falcon | Russian traditional | 51912 |
Princess Nesmeyana | Russian traditional | 137912 |
Tops and roots | Russian traditional | 57535 |
Winter hut of animals | Russian traditional | 41099 |
flying ship | Russian traditional | 73490 |
Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka | Russian traditional | 37968 |
Golden comb cockerel | Russian traditional | 45742 |
Zayushkin's hut | Russian traditional | 132712 |
By listening to fairy tales, children not only acquire the necessary knowledge, but also learn to build relationships in society, relating themselves to one or another fictional character. From the experience of relationships between fairy-tale characters, the child understands that one should not unconditionally trust strangers. Our website presents the most famous fairy tales for your children. Choose interesting fairy tales from the table provided.
Why is it useful to read fairy tales?
The various plots of the fairy tale help the child understand that the world around him can be contradictory and quite complex. Listening to the hero's adventures, children virtually encounter injustice, hypocrisy and pain. But this is how the baby learns to value love, honesty, friendship and beauty. Always having a happy ending, fairy tales help the child to be optimistic and resist various kinds of life's troubles.
The entertainment component of fairy tales should not be underestimated. Listening to fascinating stories has many advantages, for example, compared to watching cartoons - there is no threat to the baby's vision. Moreover, by listening to children's fairy tales performed by parents, the baby learns many new words and learns to correctly articulate sounds. The importance of this is difficult to overestimate, because scientists have long proven that nothing affects the future comprehensive development of a child more than early speech development.
What kinds of fairy tales are there for children?
Fairy tales There are different ones: magical – exciting children’s imagination with a riot of imagination; everyday - telling about simple everyday life, in which magic is also possible; about animals - where the leading characters are not people, but various animals so beloved by children. A large number of such fairy tales are presented on our website. Here you can read for free what will be interesting to your baby. Convenient navigation will help make finding the right material quick and simple.
Read the annotations to give the child the right to independently choose a fairy tale, because most modern child psychologists believe that the key to children’s future love of reading lies in the freedom to choose material. We give you and your child unlimited freedom in choosing wonderful children's fairy tales!