6 h 6 minAudiobook14 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
This book will delight listeners who love fairy tales, folklore and stories told by the fire. It suits anyone curious about how the youngest, poorest or most mocked hero appears in many lands.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An unlikely hero waits by the ashes
- A quick mind faces the monster
- Simple questions expose a false claim
- Blanche respects the old woman's rules
- The frog wife conceals a princess
- Generosity needs attention and quick action
- Help and curiosity bring different gifts
- Jealousy threatens mothers and their children
- Notice who keeps the early rules
Who’s who
- AshipattleA mocked boy from the ashes who plans how to stop the Meester Stoorworm and win the king's daughter.
- Jean MalinAn orphan who learns that Mr. Bulbul is a bull in disguise and must protect himself from revenge.
- Prince IvanThe youngest prince, whose arrow lands in a swamp and gives him a frog bride who is more than she seems.
- BlancheA gentle girl, beaten at home, who gives an old woman a drink at the well and is rewarded.
- BootsThe lazy youngest brother who frees a hag, receives a magic pipe, and wants to win the king's daughter.
- Dame PridgettA comfortable village nurse carried off to nurse a fairy mother and baby, and curious about their salve.
- Guzra BaiA gardener's daughter who becomes a Ranee and must protect her twenty-one children from a jealous mother-in-law.
- Dalim KumarA prince whose life is bound to a golden necklace, and who lives only by night while it is worn.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- 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
Tales of Folk and Fairies 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.
Tales of Folk and Fairies
by Katharine Pyle · 1919
A boy who sits in the ashes steals his father's horse and sails toward the mouth of a sea monster.
Easy read2–5 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with easy classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
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In short
What would you do if a sea monster stretched halfway around the world and the king's wisest councillors had no plan at all? In the first tale of this book, the answer comes from a boy who sits among the ashes to warm his toes.
Tales of Folk and Fairies at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 25 min2 h 45 min fast, 4 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 49,000 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1919by Katharine Pyle
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A mocked boy faces the Stoorworm
The first tale sets a sturdy lad against the largest enemy imaginable. A Stoorworm, a huge sea serpent, rises from the ocean and stretches halfway around the world.
At last a sorcerer says the beast will leave only if Princess Gemlovely is given to it. So the king announces that whoever drives off the worm may have her, half the kingdom and his sword, Snickersnapper. Only thirty-six brave hearts come forward, and none of them lasts.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1919
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 55 min
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Pyle, Katharine. Tales of Folk and Fairies. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies.
Pyle, K. (2026). Tales of folk and fairies. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies (Original work published 1919)
Pyle, Katharine. Tales of Folk and Fairies. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies.
@book{pyle2026tales,
author = {Pyle, Katharine},
title = {Tales of Folk and Fairies},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-folk-and-fairies},
note = {First published 1919}
}
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What is Tales of Folk and Fairies about?
It is a collection of fourteen folk and fairy tales from Scotland, Louisiana, Scandinavia, Serbia, Arabia, Russia, Persia, Norway, India and Bengal. Each tale follows a hero, often the youngest or poorest, who wins through kindness, wit or courage.
Who wrote Tales of Folk and Fairies?
Katharine Pyle, an American author and illustrator who died in 1938, retold these tales. She is known for gathering stories from many cultures and telling them in plain, lively prose that reads well aloud.
What is the Meester Stoorworm?
It is a huge sea serpent in the Scottish tale that opens the book. It stretches halfway around the world, has one fiery eye, and withers whatever its breath touches. A boy called Ashipattle faces it.
The author
Katharine Pyle
1863–1938 · American writer and illustrator
American writer and illustrator.
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