10 h 55 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your next meeting with a dwarf, a dragon, or a talking animal puts your character to the test?
In The Grey Fairy Book, editor Andrew Lang brings together short, separate tales from many cultures. Chinese and Japanese stories sit beside Irish, Scottish, African and Australian tales. Hok Lee meets dwarfs who test his luck and character, while Makoma travels far and faces huge rivals through strength and daring. Each story opens a different door into folklore.
The collection includes The Story of the Hero Makoma, The Story of Bensurdatu and Little Wildrose. Princes face hard quests, ordinary people encounter strange beings, and small creatures challenge stronger rivals. Kindness, greed, patience and quick thinking shape what happens next. Read these tales side by side to explore their shared patterns and the different worlds they bring to life.
What you’ll discover
- Encounters with little folk Follow Hok Lee into a meeting where luck and character both matter.
- Strength against huge rivals Travel with Makoma as his daring carries him toward challenges on a grand scale.
- Small creatures, sharp minds Meet the Cunning Hare, whose quick thinking matters more than size or strength.
- Hard roads through enchantment Discover Little Wildrose's hardship and Bensurdatu's difficult tests, where patience and resolve come into focus.
- Dark water and wonder Encounter the Bunyip, a water monster of Australian Aboriginal lore, among swamps and dark water.
Who will love it
For parents and teachers who love reading tales aloud, and anyone curious about folklore from many cultures, with talking animals, enchanted princes and clever heroes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Scottish scholar gathers the world's tales
- Greed and kindness are tested by little folk
- Heroes face giants, monsters and dragons
- Clever creatures win with wit, not strength
- Princes, princesses and long hard quests
- How the tales work and how to hear them
Who’s who
- Hok LeeThe man at the heart of a Chinese tale whose meeting with dwarfs tests his luck and his character.
- MakomaA hero from southern African tradition who travels far and faces huge rivals through strength and daring.
- Little WildroseThe heroine of a tale of hardship and enchantment, who needs patience and good friends to find her way.
- BensurdatuThe hero of a long quest tale, who must pass difficult tests to win what he seeks.
- The BunyipThe water monster of Australian Aboriginal lore, a creature of swamps and dark water.
- The Cunning HareA small animal who beats stronger rivals by quick thinking rather than size.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 10 h 55 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Das graue Feenbuch in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Das graue Feenbuch
by Andrew Lang (Herausgeber) · 1900
Dwarfs test human greed and kindness, heroes face monsters, and small animals pit their wits against stronger rivals.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Grey Fairy Book is a collection of fairy tales from many peoples, gathered by the Scottish writer Andrew Lang and published in 1900. It is one of a long series of colour-named fairy books that Lang edited for young readers.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Scottish scholar gathers the world's tales
Andrew Lang was a poet, critic, historian and student of folklore. In the late nineteenth century he became convinced that fairy tales belonged to everyone and were found in every country. Similar plots, he noticed, turned up in places that had no known contact with each other. He wanted to show this to children as well as to scholars.
The result was a series of books named for colours, beginning with The Blue Fairy Book in 1889. The Grey Fairy Book came later in the series, in 1900. Each volume mixed stories from different sources, and the grey volume follows the same plan. Lang wrote the prefaces and shaped the whole, while translators and retellers did much of the daily work.
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What is The Grey Fairy Book about?
It is a collection of short fairy tales from many countries, including China, Japan, Ireland, Africa and Australia. The stories feature dwarfs, dragons, clever animals, heroes and princesses, and many are about kindness, greed and cunning.
Did Andrew Lang write the stories in The Grey Fairy Book?
No. Lang edited the book. He chose tales from folklore collections in many languages, and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne, and other helpers translated and retold many of them. He wrote the preface and shaped the whole.
When was The Grey Fairy Book published?
It was published in 1900 as part of Lang's series of colour fairy books. The series began in 1889 with The Blue Fairy Book and grew to twelve volumes in all.
The author
Andrew Lang
1844–1912 · Scottish poet and folklorist
Andrew Lang was a Scottish writer born in Selkirk in 1844. He lived in London and died in Banchory in 1912. He wrote poetry, novels, literary criticism, and works on folklore. He edited The Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, and other fairy-book collections, including The Violet Fairy Book in 1901.
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