Asian Fairy Tales

Savitri, a beloved princess in India, is searching for a husband. While on a journey to meet the princes in the region, she meets Satyavan, a former prince. They soon marry, but Satyavan is cursed to die in one year. Instead of letting her husband go, Savitri challenges Yuma, the god of death. Will she be able to save her husband?

Ling Li loves to listen to the songbirds that live in part of the Great Wall near her village. After a soldier kills them, she travels to see the Jade Emperor with hope that he will bring them back to life. Can Ling Li meet the emperor’s challenge and save the birds’ song?

In this Chinese folk tale, an old widow’s son is killed by a tiger. After she demands justice from the magistrate, he grants it to her, but not quite in the way she expected. Will she be able to move past her grief and find a way to survive on her own?

Have you ever noticed how fireflies look like stars that have fallen from the sky? According to this Indonesian tale, that’s how they came to be! A greedy man overeats the stars with the help of a coconut tree and learns a lesson when he fails to properly thank the friendly tree.

Tam and Cam are stepsisters who are supposed to work together, but Cam sees Tam as her rival and always leaves all the work for her to do. When a festival comes to town, will Tam succeed in catching the eye of the king? Follow along on this Cinderella-esque tale from Vietnam and find out!

Two brothers, Heung Bu and Nol Bu, lived as neighbors. One spring day when the brothers were out planting, Heung Bu finds a wounded swallow. He nurses it back to health and is rewarded with a single pumpkinseed. Heung Bu plants the seed and is rewarded for his kindness. Nol Bu, jealous of his brother’s good fortune, seeks out a wounded swallow of his own. Will he be rewarded like his brother?

A boy named Ty is sent on several impossible errands by his scheming stepmother and each time he is helped by a tortoise. Frustrated by his success, Ty’s stepmother sends him away. Ty decides to follow the river looking for work when he encounters the emperor making a sacrifice to the river god. Can Ty help the emperor?

Originating long ago in Japan, this fable invites listeners to evaluate the importance and value of being honest.

The ancient Chinese philosopher and military general Sun Tzu believed that being able to outsmart enemies is far better than being able to outfight them. Decide whether you agree with Sun Tzu after you listen to this story.

Kitsune are fox spirits that take on human form and play tricks on people. One such man fell in love with a kitsune disguised as a beautiful woman.

In a small Japanese village, a maiden is sacrificed to a dragon so their town will not be destroyed. Kotoshi is next to be sacrificed, but she hopes to fight back! Instead of trying to eat her, the dragon asks for her help in return for her life. Will Kotoshi be able to help the dragon’s baby and end her tyranny on the town?

It is time for the Chinese emperor to choose his successor. Instead of one of his lazy sons, he decides to choose someone who is not from the royal family and devises a special test. Who will be worthy to become the next emperor?

Kiki Kallira has always been a worrier. Did she lock the front door? Is there a terrible reason her mom is late? Recently her anxiety has been getting out of control, but one thing that has always soothed her is drawing. Kiki's sketchbook is full of fanciful doodles of the rich Indian myths and legends her mother has told her over the years. One day, her sketchbook's calming effect is broken when her mythological characters begin springing to life right out of its pages and Kiki ends up falling into the mystical world she drew.

Melony Yoshimura’s parents have always been overprotective. They say it’s because a demonic spirit called the Amanjaku once preyed upon kids back in Japan, but Melony suspects it’s just a cautionary tale to keep her in line. So on her twelfth birthday, Melony takes a chance and wishes for the freedom and adventure her parents seem determined to keep her from.

All Momo wants for her twelfth birthday is an ordinary life—like everyone else's. At home, she has to take care of her absentminded widowed mother. At school, kids ridicule her for mixing up reality with the magical stories her mother used to tell her. But then Momo’s mother falls gravely ill, and a death hag straight out of those childhood stories attacks Momo at the mall, where she’s rescued by a talking fox . . . and “ordinary” goes out the window. It turns out that Momo's mother is a banished Shinto goddess who used to protect a passageway to the land of the dead.

From the magical mountains and valleys of Tibet, these Buddhist-themed folk tales for kids offer a captivating view into the lore and wisdom of Tibetan culture and tradition. Buddhism and its profound effect on Tibet's people and culture is reflected in these stories, each of which is imbued with life lessons for all ages. Threaded through these tales are the teachings of the Buddha and the special quality and relationship that Tibetans have with the mountains, trees, rocks, rivers, and sky.

Bhutan is a magical place. A land full of wild and wonderful animals, both real and imaginary. A culture where the rawness of the ancient past and the complex reality of the present bump into one another, into what feels like a blur to us foreigners, but is understandable and logical for the Bhutanese, especially the country folk. This tale is a quest to obtain wisdom from an ancient wise source. Wisdom on how to help humans stop polluting the countryside and once more respect the timeless bond between them and all other living things.

After vanquishing a demon king, saving her mom, and reconnecting with her friend Danny, Momo ought to be living the life she's always wanted. But lately, Danny has been ditching her to hang out with mean-girl Ryleigh—and groups of kids have begun vanishing without a trace. Then a whole backyard full of cool kids at Ryleigh's exclusive birthday party becomes the latest to disappear, leaving Momo, Ryleigh, Danny, boy band superstar Jin, and Momo's old friend Niko the fox to fight a dangerous new enemy from Shinto legend.

In Ghostly Japan collects 12 ghostly stories from Lafcadio Hearn, deathless images of ghosts and goblins, touches of folklore and superstition, salted with traditions of the nation. While some of these stories contain nightmare imagery worthy of a midnight creature feature, others are not ghostly or ghastly at all. "Bits of Poetry" offers an engaging study on verse, and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" explains the meaning of several aphorisms based on Japanese cultural references.

Pahua Moua has a bit of a reputation for being a weirdo. A lonely 11-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits, she spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with her best friend, a cat spirit no one else can see. One day Pahua accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighborhood - whoops. When her brother suddenly falls sick and can't be awoken, Pahua fears that the bridge spirit has stolen his soul.