Short Stories Fairy Tales

Remember the Monster Stick? The greatest and most dangerous fishing-rod ever? What about Buck, who simply "ain't no ordinary dog"? Anyone who has seen the Lepp boys perform or read their book The Monster Stick will never forget them. In this recording, we revisit West Virginia with Bil Lepp as he tells some of the stories that made his brother, Paul, and himself repeat winners of the West Virginia State Liars Contest.

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.

“The People Could Fly,” the title story in Virginia Hamilton’s prize-winning American Black folktale collection, is a fantasy tale of the slaves who possessed the ancient magic words that enabled them to literally fly away to freedom. And it is a moving tale of those who did not have the opportunity to “fly” away, who remained slaves with only their imaginations to set them free as they told and retold this tale.

Jason is born the son of King Aeson. His destiny is to rule Iolcus, the land that his father's brother, King Pelias, has taken from him. When Jason comes of age, he returns to Iolcus. But the king is not yet willing to give up his throne. So he cunningly persuades Jason to accept a dare to bring back the famous Golden Fleece of Colchis. Jason accepts the challenge, unaware that he is being conned into a dangerous and perhaps fatal journey far, far from the land he loves.

“Deluge” is a stand-alone backstory of two characters from the Paternus trilogy. In this short story, myths, fables, and legends from around the world are combined to recount the adventures of Fintán mac Bóchra and Myrddin Wyllt in ancient Ireland and tell the “true” tale of the global disaster known as the Great Flood.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Megan Kamalei Kakimoto's wrenching and sensational debut story collection follows a cast of mixed native Hawaiian and Japanese women through a contemporary landscape thick with inherited wisdom and the ghosts of colonization. This is a Hawai'i where unruly sexuality and generational memory overflow the postcard image of paradise and the boundaries of the real, where the superstitions born of the islands take on the weight of truth.

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.

Jataka Tales is a compilation of stories from an ancient collection of famous legends about the former lives of the Buddha on his long road to enlightenment. Suggestive of Aesop, these beloved fables are fragments of epics and hero tales arising from deep in the collective Indian past. They present challenging circumstances for humans and animals alike, events which elicit courage and the capacity to love. Centered in one of the world's oldest cities on the Ganges River, these delightful stories tell of dramatic adventures resolved by nonviolent, compassionate means.

"Years later," Donald Davis remember of his childhood," I came to realize that when you come from a long-dammed-up Scots-Irish gene pool it is an okay thing to wish for something, but it is not an OK thing to get it."

Danny is trapped in Leria, an alternate realm, made by sorcerers and for sorcerers. There’s only one problem with this magical world: Four of the five kingdoms have been invaded by an authoritarian regime. Having narrowly escaped Leria and found his way back to his realm, will Daniel risk it all and go back, in order to save an ally that he’d made and left in turmoil? If he was a sorcerer by blood and his mother had never mentioned it to him, could it be that his magical heritage comes from his long-deceased father?

Embark on a celestial journey through the enchanting tales of "Why the Stars Sing," a captivating collection of children's short stories that will ignite imaginations and inspire dreams. Each tale within this magical book is a shimmering star in its own right, illuminating the wonder and beauty of the universe while imparting valuable lessons about courage, kindness, and the power of belief.

Theodora Goss's first major short story collection showcases such stories as "The Rose in Twelve Petals," "The Rapid Advance of Sorrow," "Lily, With Clouds," "In the Forest of Forgetting," "Sleeping With Bears," and many more.

American Fairy Tales is collection of 12 short stories written in 1901 by L. Frank Baum. Lyman Frank Baum was an American author, chiefly famous for his children's books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He wrote 14 novels in the Oz series, plus 41 other novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts.