The best of children’s folktales, fables, animal lore, folklore, myths, fairy tales and legends from around the world! Discover our collected tales for kids from India, China, Burma and many other countries… Some of these tales will make you think, some will make you laugh, some will make you wonder, but almost all of them have hidden wisdom for you to discover!
99 items in this section. Displaying page 4 of 10
Flying Turtle
There was a large pond in the middle of a jungle. All kinds of animals came to drink water from it. A small turtle had been living by the pond for many years. And he had become good friends with two cranes who lived there too. They used to play together, and tell each other stories. The cranes would fly to far away lands and when they returned to the pond, they would tell the turtle stories about all that they saw....
How the Dragon Came to be
Long ago, there lived in China a young boy called Chi Yu. Chi Yu lived with his mother in a tiny house at the edge of the village. There were beautiful green meadows all around and tall hills. Every year after the rains, the fields looked greener and more beautiful than ever before. Each morning as the sun peeped into his window, Chi Yu jumped out of bed. He ran to the fields to cut the fresh grass that had grown at night....
The Ungrateful Friend
This happened a long long time ago. In a small village in southern Orissa, there lived an old woodcutter. One day, when he was going to the forest to cut wood, he met the tiger. The woodcutter stopped in his tracks on seeing the king of the jungle. But, strangely enough, the tiger did not roar on seeing the woodcutter. He remained silent. The woodcutter was baffled. How was he to know that the tiger was blind?...
The Bed Bug and the Mosquito
A long, long time ago there lived a bed bug. He had a huge family. There were children, grandchildren, and great grand children. They all lived together on a beautiful bed. They lived in the corners and crevices of the bed. And the huge, beautiful bed belonged to the king of the country. When the king slept, the bug and his entire family used to crawl out of their home. They would wait for the king to drift off to deep sleep and then feast on the king’s blood....
The Doctor who did not Cure
An old woman had lost her eyesight completely. So she went to a doctor to help her see again and made a bargain with him in the presence of a few witnesses. The bargain was that: if he could cure her, he would be paid handsomely. But if he couldn’t, she would not be obliged to pay him anything. The doctor had a special ointment. When it was applied in the eyes for a certain period of time, it restored the eyesight of anyone who was sightless....
The Dog and the Pig
Retold from ‘When the World was Young’, by Verrier Elwin. The book is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. Elwin was a pioneering anthropologist; he spent his entire life getting to know the ways of life of the tribal peoples. A man kept two animals — a dog and a pig. He kept them in the hope that they would help him in his work. But he was sorely disappointed. All they did was eat and eat and eat....
Modesty Pays
There once lived a proud driver in Qi, a state in China. He was the driver of the Prime Minister of the state. One day the Prime Minister happened to drive through the street where the driver lived with his wife. Some neighbour’s saw him drive the Prime Minister and were excited. One of the neighbours ran to the driver’s home and said to driver’s wife-“Quick! See who is driving the Prime Minister? Your husband.”...
The Golden Fish
There are many islands in the Bay of Bengal and not all of them are inhabited. But on one island, at one time, there was a small hut which belonged to an old man and his wife. They were very poor. The husband used to make nets and fish in the sea, for that was the only food they could get. One day he went fishing as usual. He cast his net and waited. Suddenly there was a pull....
The Rich Man's Vessels
Once upon a time there lived a rich man in a village in Kerala. His house was full of vessels of all sizes – some as small as a bird, others big enough to seat a child. Whenever there was a ceremony in any household, the villagers would borrow his utensils. After the function, they would return the whole lot of vessels to the rich man. Then one day, a strange thing happened. A villager who had borrowed some utensils, returned a couple more than he had borrowed....
Preparing for Winter
Autumn was coming to an end. All the insects and animals were working very hard to stock their larders with enough food to last them the winter. They all knew that winter time would be tough – it would be cold and food would be scarce. As it would get dark really soon, it would be difficult to go looking for food. Therefore, everyone was working hard, all except Mr Grasshopper. He loved autumn. Autumn was a time when the leaves changed colour....