6 h 6 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 6 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What do clever heroes, hard tasks, and enchanted places reveal about the hopes and fears we share?
In Tales of Folk and Fairies, Katharine Pyle brings together traditional stories from Scotland, Russia, Persia, Arabia, Bengal, and beyond. These tales begin in the spoken traditions of different lands. Spirits and enchanted places fill their worlds, while clever heroes face tests that call for more than strength.
The collection includes tales from these varied regions, each told in clear, simple English. Familiar patterns return with local colors: a person of low standing meets a test, and a story carries advice about how to live. Alongside the wonder, you can trace the hopes and fears that connect people across lands.
What you’ll discover
- Stories across many lands Explore tales from Scotland, Russia, Persia, Arabia, and Bengal, with familiar patterns in different settings.
- Clever heroes under pressure Meet people of low standing whose difficult tests give these traditional stories their pull.
- Spirits and enchanted places Enter folklore worlds where hard tasks and strange encounters bring wonder into a simple tale.
- Wisdom carried by stories Discover how memorable tales carry advice about living alongside the pleasure of a good story.
- One tale at a time Enjoy a short story before bed, or share its turns and wonders aloud with others.
Who will love it
For readers who love fairy tales, riddles, magic objects and clever heroes, and for anyone who likes to read aloud to children or to hear stories from many lands in one sitting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A scorned lad takes on a sea monster
- A watchful orphan unmasks a bull in disguise
- Kindness is rewarded and greed is repaid
- Curiosity opens four cellars and a new life
- Clear thinking beats power and cunning
- A father must learn to see his own son
- A frog bride hides a princess within
- Magic gifts help those who share and wait
- Truth outlasts jealousy and borrowed sight
Who’s who
- AshipattleA youngest brother who sits in the ashes and tells boastful tales, and who has a secret plan when the sea monster comes.
- Jean MalinAn orphan boy taken in by a kind lady, who notices that her handsome visitor is not what he seems.
- BlancheA gentle girl who works all day for a cruel mother and shows kindness to an old woman at a well.
- The Wise GirlA peasant's daughter whose answers to the King's impossible tasks are as clever as his demands.
- Ali CogiaA Baghdad merchant who goes on a pilgrimage and leaves a jar of olives in a friend's care.
- Prince IvanThe youngest son of a Tsar, whose arrow lands in a swamp and who must marry a frog.
- BootsA youngest brother who sits by the chimney, then wins a magic pipe by helping an old hag.
- Dame PridgettA kind nurse carried off to fairyland, where a little salve shows her what the fairies really look like.
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
- 6 h 6 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 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 Geschichten aus Volk und Märchenwelt 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.
Geschichten aus Volk und Märchenwelt
by Katharine Pyle · 1919
A scorned boy called Ashipattle sails a stolen boat toward a sea monster that stretches halfway around the world.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What would you do if a sea monster stretched halfway around the world? In Tales of Folk and Fairies, Katharine Pyle retells folk stories from Scotland, Russia, Persia, Arabia, Bengal, Scandinavia and Louisiana.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A scorned lad takes on a sea monster
The first tale, from Scotland, follows the youngest of seven brothers. He is called Ashipattle because he sits among the ashes to warm his toes. His brothers give him all the chores and plenty of blows, yet he keeps a merry tongue and tells his kind sister tales in which he is always the hero.
Then the Meester Stoorworm rises from the sea, so huge that its breath withers whatever it touches. The King owns the sword Snickersnapper, but it is too short to reach the creature's heart. A sorcerer says the beast will leave only if Princess Gemlovely is given to it. The King offers her hand, half his kingdom and the sword to any hero, yet of thirty-six brave men, none can bear even the sight.
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What is Tales of Folk and Fairies about?
It is a collection of folk tales from Scotland, Russia, Persia, Arabia, Bengal, Scandinavia and Louisiana, retold by Katharine Pyle. They feature clever heroes, kind helpers, magic objects and monsters, and each ends with a clear lesson.
Which stories are in the book?
The tales include The Meester Stoorworm, Jean Malin and the Bull-Man, The Widow's Son, The Wise Girl, The Story of Ali Cogia, Oh, The Talking Eggs, The Frog Princess, The Three Silver Citrons, The Magic Pipe, The Triumph of Truth, Life's Secret and Dame Pridgett and the Fairies.
Who is Ashipattle?
Ashipattle is the youngest of seven brothers in the Scottish tale. He sits among the ashes to keep warm, tells boastful stories to his sister, and sets out alone against the Meester Stoorworm.
The author
Katharine Pyle
1863–1938 · American writer and illustrator
American writer and illustrator.
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