6 h 55 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Here, a poor peasant’s quick wits can matter more than a giant’s strength or a king’s power.
Joseph Jacobs brings together traditional stories from England and nearby regions in More English Fairy Tales. Talking animals bargain and scheme, country people face proud rivals, and young heroes leave home on strange errands. These brief, lively tales make room for humor, hard tasks, and the hope of finding fortune.
The collection moves through curious creatures, clever peasants, and enchanted quests. A king tests courage and wit; a helpful stranger may repay kindness with advice or a gift. Repeated phrases and attempts give the stories their shape, while Jacobs’s notes offer a way to explore where the tales come from.
What you’ll discover
- Creatures with human habits Meet foxes, pigs, and birds that speak, bargain, and make mistakes like their human neighbors.
- Wits against wealth Follow poor country people who challenge richer, prouder rivals with little more than cleverness.
- Quests beyond the doorstep Set out with young heroes facing odd errands, hard commands, and uncertain roads toward fortune.
- Kindness on the road Discover encounters where an old person or small creature answers kindness with unexpected help.
- The pleasure of repetition Enjoy repeated attempts and cumulative patterns that make these short tales rewarding to read aloud.
Who will love it
This book suits families who like stories read aloud, fans of folk tales and nursery rhymes, and anyone curious about how Cinderella and the Pied Piper took shape in English.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A broken bargain brings a second tune
- A kind husband answers every blunder with patience
- Fairy folk punish careless words and clumsy thanks
- Brave women and bold lads face the otherworld
- Strength and cunning cut giants down to size
- Fools and clever wives make a comic family
- Cinderella and Catskin show two mistreated heroines
- Darker tales set the moon, worms and ghosts to work
- Kindness and wit win out over power and greed
- A chatty voice, rhymes and notes shape the whole book
Who’s who
- The Pied PiperA tall stranger in a many-colored coat who clears Franchville of rats and expects the fifty pounds he was promised.
- JanA farmer with a cheerful, blundering wife, who greets every loss with better luck next time and sets off to find a thief.
- Tom TiverA farm lad who lifts a stone to help a crying creature and wants an easy life of help with his work.
- Burd JanetA brave girl who must stand at Miles Cross on Halloween to win her sweetheart Tamlane back from Elfland.
- Tom HickathriftA marsh laborer's son of enormous strength who delights in fairs and wrestling and takes a short road past a giant.
- Rushen CoatieA king's daughter dressed in rushes by her stepmother, who has a red calf to help her and longs to go to church.
- The Childe of LambtonA wild young heir who curses on a Sunday and then must face the monster he brought upon his home.
- CatskinA gentleman's daughter who flees her father's wish and works as a scullion, then slips out to the young lord's balls.
Formats and delivery
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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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25 languages, side by side
Altre fiabe inglesi in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Altre fiabe inglesi
by Joseph Jacobs · 1894
A town promises a stranger fifty pounds to clear its rats, then haggles over his fee, and the Piper plays another tune.
Easy read2–5 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with easy classicsSpagnoloFranceseTedescoItalianoGiapponesePortogheseIngleseHow we measure levels
Excellent
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In short
Would you hire a man to clear your town of rats, then refuse to pay him? In the first tale of this book, the Mayor of Franchville does exactly that.
Altre fiabe inglesi in breve
- Tempo di lettura
- Circa 4 h3 h 10 min fast, 4 h 45 min slow
- Durata
- 56.800 parole
- Livello nella biblioteca
- Facile short sentences, plain words
- Prima pubblicazione
- 1894by Joseph Jacobs
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Quanto tempo ci vuole per leggere i classici · Aggiornato
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A broken bargain brings a second tune
The book opens in Newtown on the Solent, once called Franchville. The town is so full of rats that nothing is safe. They hollow out cheeses, empty sugar barrels, and dip their tails into casks of beer. Cats, poison and traps have all failed.
A tall, thin stranger arrives in a coat of every color. He calls himself the Pied Piper and asks what they will pay to rid the town of rats. They promise him fifty pounds. Then he plays, and the rats pour out of every hole and follow him to the harbor. The townsfolk crowd their doors and call down blessings on him.
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Hai guardato
Quale edizione fa per me
- 15-minute summary
- Le idee principali dell’intero libro in circa 14 minuti. Per un primo sguardo o per rinfrescare la memoria.
Dettagli
- First published
- 1894
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Easy read
Cita questa edizione
Jacobs, Joseph. More English Fairy Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/more-english-fairy-tales.
Jacobs, J. (2026). More English fairy tales. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/more-english-fairy-tales (Original work published 1894)
Jacobs, Joseph. More English Fairy Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/more-english-fairy-tales.
@book{jacobs2026more,
author = {Jacobs, Joseph},
title = {More English Fairy Tales},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/more-english-fairy-tales},
note = {First published 1894}
}
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What is More English Fairy Tales about?
It is a collection of forty-four English folk tales retold by Joseph Jacobs. They feature giants, fairies, fools, clever girls, a Cinderella story and several ballads, each in a lively, spoken style, with notes on their sources at the end.
Who is Yallery Brown?
He is a tiny, wrinkled creature with yellow hair, found under a stone by a farm lad named Tom Tiver. He offers help with work but forbids any thanks. The tale comes from the Lincolnshire fens.
Is More English Fairy Tales a true story or based on folklore?
It is folklore. Jacobs took tales from chapbooks, ballads and people's tellings, then rewrote them in an English storyteller's voice. The collection came out in the 1890s as a companion to his earlier English Fairy Tales.
The author
Joseph Jacobs
1854–1916 · Australian folklorist and historian
Joseph Jacobs was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1854. He moved to England in 1872 and to the United States in 1900. He was a folklorist, historian, and writer. He published English Fairy Tales in 1890 and More English Fairy Tales in 1894. He died in Yonkers, New York, in 1916.
More by Joseph Jacobs
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