Folk tales for children for children
Folk tales for children are age-old stories handed down through generations, built on simple plots, memorable characters, and lessons about right and wrong. They might feature talking animals, clever tricksters, or a touch of magic, but they always carry cultural roots and the feel of oral storytelling. Beyond sparking imagination, folk tales connect children to heritage and universal values, while also strengthening listening and comprehension skills. They’re a bridge between communities, traditions, and the stories that shape us. This list features folk tales and retellings by Rudyard Kipling, Tomie dePaola, Grace Lin, Jon Klassen, Angela McAllister, and Donna Barba Higuera.
Folk tales for children – our recommendations
Children’s folk tales – picture books
Why The Sky Is Far Away: A Nigerian Folktale by Mary-Joan Gerson, illustrated by Carla Gloembe. 
Anansi the Spider by G. McDermot. 
In a Village by the Sea by Muon Van, illustrated by April Chu. 
And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens. 
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. 
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone. 
Zomo the Rabbit by Gerald McDermott . 
Henny Penny by Paul Galdone. 
Lon Po Po by Ed Young. 
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales by Theresa Breslin, illustrated by Kate Leiper. 
The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy, illustrated by Niamh Sharkey. 
The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please. 
The Natural Storyteller by Georgiana Keable. 
Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella by Myrna de la Paz, illustrated by Youshan Tang. 
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown. 
Indian Children’s Favorite Stories by Rosemarie Somaiah, illustrated by Ranjan Somaiah. 
Filipino Children’s Favorite Stories by Liana Romulo, illustrated by Joanne De Leon. 
Asian Children’s Favorite Stories by David Conger, illustrated by Patrick Yee. 
Folktales from Japan by Florence Sakade, illustrated by Yoshio Hayashi. 
Folk Stories and Tall Tales by Claire Cock-Starkey, illustrated by Zanna Goldhawk. 
The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas by Tomie dePaola. Children’s folk tales – longer stories and chapter books
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. 
The Skull by Jon Klassen. 
A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister, illustrated by Aitch. 
Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Jensine Eckwall. 
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. 
Root Magic by Eden Royce. 
Godfather Death by Sally Nicholls, illustrated by Júlia Sardà. 
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. 
Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe García McCall. Click the buttons below to purchase all of the books in this children’s folk tales book list, as well as classroom sets of any of these books and many more, from Bookshop.org. Or buy the 20 most popular titles from this list from Amazon – ideal for gifts or stocking your school library. If you are ordering from outside the US, have a look at our ‘worldwide orders’ page which makes this process easy.
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Folk tales for children – resources for teachers
- Vermont Folklife – Education Fieldwork toolkits, interview guides, and classroom-ready units that help K–5 students collect and analyze family/ community stories—great alongside retellings such as Why the Sky Is Far Away, Stone Soup, and Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.
- StoryCorps – In the Classroom Free lesson plans and templates for recording oral narratives; use to compare students’ home folktales with picture-book versions like Anansi the Spider, Zomo the Rabbit, or Lon Po Po.
- PBS LearningMedia – Folktales & Fables Short, standards-aligned activities on folktale structure, moral, and motif—ideal mini-lessons before reading-class retellings and for student-created “new variants.”
- Lit2Go (University of South Florida) – Fairy Tales Collection Free, printable texts and MP3 read-alouds of classic tales; use for fluency practice, compare/contrast with picture-book adaptations, or bilingual home connections.
- Local Learning – Folklife in Education Resources Teacher guides, student project ideas, and the open-access Journal of Folklore & Education; supports inquiry projects on foodways, celebrations, and storytelling traditions linked to classroom folktales.
- National Geographic Education – Storytelling & Cultural Traditions A ready-to-teach activity exploring how stories carry culture; extend with map work locating tale origins (Nigeria, China, the Philippines, Scotland, etc.).
- American Folklore Society – Education Resources Curated lesson ideas, project examples, and links to folk arts programs nationwide—useful for designing performance, music, or art responses to folktales.
BISAC JUV012020 Fairy Tales & Folklore | Thema Children’s Traditional stories YFJ
