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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a world of talking animals and watchful fairies, even a prince must prove he can be kind.
Old French Fairy Tales by the Comtesse de Ségur opens onto palaces, forests and enchanted lands. Kings, queens, princes and princesses share this world with animals and fairies who speak and act like people. Beneath the royal adventures lie familiar tests: whether to show kindness, tell the truth or stay loyal when a choice matters.
Written with children and family reading in mind, these tales give magic a clear moral purpose. Generosity, patience and loyalty draw help, often from a fairy or magical creature who watches closely. Greed and cruelty carry a cost. The collection explores a storyteller’s care for children, simple justice, royal tests of everyday virtues and the role of magical helpers.
What you’ll discover
- Royal lives, familiar choices Meet princes and princesses whose tests turn on everyday virtues rather than royal power.
- Fairies who watch closely Discover magical helpers who notice generosity, patience and loyalty, and offer help in return.
- Animals with a say Enter a world where talking animals take sides and share in the action.
- Justice with clear edges Follow stories that reward goodness and show what greed and cruelty can cost.
- Stories for shared reading Enjoy tales written for the family circle, with children at their heart.
Who will love it
Readers who delight in fairy godmothers, talking animals and magical gifts will love this collection, as will those who enjoy reading fairy tales aloud to children and sharing stories filled with magic and animal characters.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A weakness becomes someone else's weapon
- Flattery makes trusted care look cruel
- Henry helps others along his way
- Rosette trusts beneath the strange clothes
- Curiosity opens the door to danger
- Violette sees beyond Ourson's bearskin
- Love refuses to spare itself
- Kindness matters more than outward gifts
- Trust love rather than tempting promises
Who’s who
- BlondineA kind princess with fair hair, raised by a doe and a cat in an enchanted forest, who longs to see her father again.
- HenryA poor, brave seven-year-old who climbs a mountain guarded by strange genii to find a plant that can save his sick mother.
- RosetteA gentle, obedient princess raised on a farm, who goes to a royal festival in strange clothes chosen by her fairy godmother.
- RosalieA curious girl approaching fifteen, raised in a walled park by her father, who must resist her curiosity to escape a fairy's power.
- OursonA gentle boy born covered in thick hair by a fairy's curse, who works and fights to protect those he loves.
- VioletteA lost little princess found asleep in the woods, who grows up beside Ourson and wants to repay his devotion.
- DroletteA good fairy who often takes the shape of a lark and protects Ourson and Violette from her wicked sister.
- PasseroseAgnella's cheerful, sharp-tongued servant, who keeps a cool head and cares for the family through every trouble.
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Old French Fairy Tales 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.
Old French Fairy Tales
by Comtesse de Ségur · 1856
A lost princess, a boy on a magic mountain and a boy in a bearskin meet fairies who test the good.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“True repentance can atone for the worst crimes.”
In short
What would you do if a friend you trusted led you to the edge of an enchanted forest, where no one who enters can find the way back? That is the fate of little Princess Blondine in the first tale of this book.
Old French Fairy Tales at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 20 min2 h 40 min fast, 4 h slow
- Length
- 47,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1856by Comtesse de Ségur
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 jealous queen sends Blondine into the forest
Blondine is the daughter of the good King Benin, named for her fair hair. Her mother dies soon after her birth. The king marries Fourbette, a proud, jealous and wicked woman, and three-year-old Blondine sees it in her eyes at once.
Fourbette has a daughter, Brunette, who pinches and bullies her half sister. Blondine still makes excuses for her. The king loves Blondine more each day, and the queen's hatred grows with it.
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Which edition is right for me
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Details
- First published
- 1856
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Ségur, Sophie de. Old French Fairy Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/old-french-fairy-tales.
Ségur, S. de. (2026). Old French fairy tales. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/old-french-fairy-tales (Original work published 1856)
Ségur, Sophie de. Old French Fairy Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/old-french-fairy-tales.
@book{segur2026old,
author = {Ségur, Sophie de},
title = {Old French Fairy Tales},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/old-french-fairy-tales},
note = {First published 1856}
}
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What is Old French Fairy Tales about?
It collects five fairy tales by the Comtesse de Ségur: Blondine, Good Little Henry, Princess Rosette, The Little Gray Mouse and Ourson. Each follows a young person tested by fairies, who learns that goodness, obedience and courage matter.
Who is Ourson and why does he wear a bearskin?
Ourson is the son of a hidden queen named Agnella. The fairy Furious, angered by an insult, curses him to be born covered in thick hair. The good fairy Drolette softens the curse by giving him a way to be freed.
Who wrote Old French Fairy Tales and when?
The Comtesse de Ségur wrote them in nineteenth-century France. She was Russian by birth and wrote for children, and she died in 1874. The tales belong to the French literary fairy-tale tradition, written in a clear, lively style.
The author
Comtesse de Ségur
1799–1874 · Russian-born French children's writer
The Comtesse de Ségur was born Sophie Rostopchine in Russia in 1799. She moved to France in 1817 and lived there until her death in Paris in 1874. She wrote children’s books in French, including Old French Fairy Tales, published in 1856, and Sophie’s Misfortunes, published in 1858.
“True repentance can atone for the worst crimes.”
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