Short Stories Fairy Tales

Enjoy a selection of fairytales by the great storyteller Hans Christian Andersen.

A toy giant and a clockwork unicorn star in this retelling of Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Mouse" in a steampunk fantasy setting.

Pele in Therapy is a short story that carries on Hawai‘i's long tradition of storytelling and myth making. Written with both humor and an eye for detail, best-selling author Darien Gee has created a modern view of the goddess and her impact on those lucky enough to call Hawai‘i home.

Dyana Graceford never asked for her engagement to the mysterious Prince Rydan, who has been locked away in a tower for most of his life due to an unknown but terrible affliction. She had no way of knowing, however, that this unwanted engagement would lead her into the woods of the infamous witch who burdened the prince with his curse. Can she convince the witch to lift it? Or will Prince Rydan be doomed to spend the rest of his life as a monster?

Alortia, an evil and cunning monster collects champions in his menagerie in the underworld. Who's next? Beowulf.

Astarte, grew up an orphan and she had no recollection of ever having known her mother. From childhood, she could hear the silver ringing of the music of the fairies as they twirled in the moonlight below the caves. She saw them dancing, the fireflies glittering in and around them, adding a shimmer of gold in the moonlight.

The perfect introduction to storytelling and a wonderful accompaniment to bedtime. This collection includes well-loved tales such as 'Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, “Henny Penny” by Joseph Jacobs, and “The Reluctant Dragon” by Kenneth Graham which are sure to charm children of all ages.

This most celebrated collections of tales feature shape-shifting and miraculous transportation across continents, powerful jinn who rise like smoke from simple vessels, and dreams that delve into the secrets of the subconscious. This innovative book retells a selection of tales that have captured the imaginations of countless people over many centuries. Accompanying each is a contemporary short story that reframes the messages and teachings of the original, specifically written for an adult audience.

World Tales of Wisdom and Wonder is a collection of folktales told in a weave of poetry, prose, original melody, and guitar. Drawn from cultures around the globe, these colorful tales offer a leap into fantasy and some homespun wisdom passed down through the oral tradition.

From 20-year veteran storyteller Pleasant DeSpain, known for reducing folktales to their essence, 20 "retellable" folktales from around the world. Folktales captivate generation after generation because they remind us that our forebears overcame seemingly insurmountable odds and we can, too! Folktale characters show us the best in ourselves; our sense of humor, our perseverance, our resilience that overcomes giant hurdles, and our innate sense of fair play.

Dragonrider Academy is a secret society I’m not even supposed to know exists. It has knights with talking swords, professors who breathe fire, and a hot guy named Killian who seriously gets on my nerves. It’s his fault I’m stuck here in the first place. He wants me to be his partner and face all the challenges Dragonrider Academy has to offer. He says we’re fated to be together, that I was the one who called him! Crazy talk. Or is it?

Meet Syrenka, a little mermaid who must convince her father the Sea King, not to start a war against the humans. Except she had become the very thing he despised...she is secretly living on land as a human. A fairy tale fantasy adventure prequel! This short story takes place after the events in Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid and before Roy Mauritsen’s epic Shards of the Glass Slipper series.

Eloise Blake has been fascinated by Prospect House, the shadowy Gothic house opposite, ever since she moved to the village of Hookfield. When its new owner turns out to be crime author Ross Farrell, Eloise is determined not to be distracted by him. Love, she thinks, is only true in fairy tales. But is Ross the Prince Charming she thought didn’t exist, or is he a beast in disguise?

These delightful stories capture the very essence of India. These stories are set in both the rustic setting of laid back villages, where time has almost stopped, and the modern settings of cities, where everyone is in a hurry to reach somewhere, yesterday. Simple stories, simple ideas, simple thoughts remind one of the simple life that once existed and is now more and more getting lost as we are drawn inexorably into the speedy web of things.

A young woman hunts for her wayward shadow at the school where she first learned magic - while another faces a test she never studied for as ice envelopes the world. The tasks assigned a bookish boy lead him to fateful encounters with lizards, owls, trolls, and a feisty, sarcastic cat. A bear wedding is cause for celebration, the spinning wheel and the tower in the briar hedge get to tell their own stories, and a kitchen maid finds out that a lost princess is more than she seems. The sea witch reveals what she hoped to gain when she took the mermaid's voice.

The man notes that his mind reading abilities must have been off. This was not easy to communicate with this two limbed, female human without sound emitting from his own mouth. Using his voice to communicate would give him all of the proof that he needed regarding the alliance. Apparently, making breakfast for this female was not a good idea.

The North Wind's fearsome reputation precedes him: "I haunt the human walrus hunters that live in my land. They are cautious of me - for I frostbite them, kick them about like shuttlecocks. I blow them into deep crevasses - then I crush them with my mighty icebergs! For pleasure, I freeze their smashed bodies and like jewels of red sapphire, they sink to decorate the bottom of my cold sea!" The New Tempest is Hans Christian Andersen's fable reimagined as a fearsome storm that aims to wreak havoc on the world below, today. The New Tempest takes the classic fantasy adventure and paints it with a story instantly epic, and yet, all its own. In the midst of a land torn by a treacherous war, a father must protect his daughter from the storm, and only one being can aid his desperate cause: the mysterious South Wind, dwelling in secrecy, who truly wields power over life, death, and destiny.

A decade after Nocturnes first terrified and delighted listeners, John Connolly, best-selling author of 13 acclaimed thrillers featuring private investigator Charlie Parker, gives us a second volume of tales of the supernatural.

Why did the Three Little-Pigs call 911? Will the Three Bears sue Goldilocks for trespassing? Who cracked the Humpty Dumpty case? Find out the answers to these fascinating legal inquiries and many others in these hilarious reenactments of bedtime classics transferred into the courtroom and translated into legalese. Eleven different voices, including the author's, bring life to such characters as Little-Pigg, Diana Freewoman, the Jolly Green Giant, and of course various attorneys. The perfect tales for our litigious age.

Discover the secret world between the trees where fairies, unicorns and even monsters dwell. Take a stroll through enchanted woods and dance with pixies and dryads by the light of the stars. Escape Baba Yaga and fall in love with a prince in disguise. Taste the fruit at the goblin market and be whisked away on a magical adventure.