Myths For Children

Almost as light as a penny and with wings beating more than fifty times each second, these tiny Central American hummingbirds migrate 2,000 miles to reach their spring home. Listeners will enjoy learning about the ruby-throated hummingbird along with a retelling of Mayan tale.

White Rabbit, an Ojibwe Native American, helplessly watches as her village begins to suffer from a deadly winter disease. When her brother Running Wolf falls ill, she plans to bring back more healing herbs from a neighboring village. When White Rabbit races through the snow, she ends up leaving behind a new flower that appears in the spring.

In Muslim storytelling, the wise fool is a popular figure that appears as different people in different stories. In these two funny stories, see if you can tell who the wise fool is and who is not. In one story, a father shows his son how it is impossible to please everyone. In the other, a court jester shows that he is more than just a common fool.

In this story from the Abenaki people, the Native Americans who lives in New England long ago, you’ll learn how one starving man learned to grow a new crop to feed himself.

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!

In this story from the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, you’ll learn how the trickster raven brings light back to the world from a greedy chief.

Kanikiya loves to dance! Every day she goes to the river to dance with the brolgas, a type of crane native to Australia. She loves to dance with them so much, she wishes she could be a brolga herself! Her mother doesn’t like that she dances so much, though, and warns her with legends of what happens to girls who don’t work. What would happen if she had to stop?

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?

In this Chinese folktale, an unhappy young bride named Shui-mu must do all the chores in her mother-in-law's household, until a gift from a mysterious old woman brings change. This Cinderella-like story of overcoming cruelty and rewarding generosity is the origin of the revered Water Mother legend.

In this classic Jewish folk tale, a selfish queen captures a lovely starling in an attempt to keep his beautiful birdsong close by. But a starling without freedom cannot sing, so he seeks to escape his cage.

A long time ago in Japan, a great warrior was pestered by a large rat. He tried using traps and his sword, but the rat was too clever. Strong cats and speedy cats are no match for this clever rat. Will the samurai’s new cat be able to outsmart the rat?

On the day of her christening, Princess Piper was given the gift of music. When a wicked wizard begins kidnapping princesses, Piper decides to start rescuing them. Using her magical musical talents, Piper faces many trials and tests. Can she save the kidnapped princesses?

Precious is not looking forward to being a donkey in the school play. Precious thinks donkeys look silly and smell bad, that is, until Grandfather comes to visit on his donkey cart. Grandfather teaches Precious that donkeys are much than they seem—they are hardworking, loyal, and kind.

Anna, Queen of Arendelle, has been tirelessly preparing for the Polar Night's Celebration that is held every year to welcome the time when the sun doesn't rise in the Polar Circle. She has been working so hard, her fiancé Kristoff suggests she take a night off to visit her sister Elsa, the Snow Queen. Anna loves the idea. Accompanied by Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, Anna reunites with Elsa in the Enchanted Forest. After telling spooky stories around the campfire, Olaf swears that one of the creatures of their tales has come to life!

Brought to life by Academy Award®-winning actor F. Murray Abraham and an ensemble cast of narrators, and featuring original music by Michael Bacon, this collection contains Hans Christian Andersen’s most beloved fairy tales, as well as a selection of lesser-known favorites. Unlike the Brothers Grimm, who collected and retold folklore and fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen adopted the most ancient literary forms and distilled them into a genre that was uniquely his own. His fairy tales are remarkable for their sense of fantasy, power of description, and vivid imagination.

For the Seven Oaks friends, there is always something to do. Whether they're singing along with Pokey Porcupine's harmonica or playing soccer with Jumper Rabbit, everyone is having fun and learning all sorts of things. These seven stories show how practicing the 7 Habits makes this possible for the whole Seven Oaks Community.

Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

Revisit the tale of Red Riding Hood. A visit to her grandmother turns dangerous with the addition of a wolf! Will Red Riding Hood make it there safely, or fall victim to the wolf's traps?

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. And 12-year-old Seven Salazar can't wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn't placed in one of the five covens. She's a Spare!

The story of Odysseus is one of the greatest tales ever told. Odysseus is a Greek hero who sails to take part in the Trojan War but encounters monsters, nymphs, gods and heroes on his travels. Learn about his adventures and his quest to return home to his beloved family. This book joins the award winning Early Myths collection.