The Robber Bridegroom

The Robber Bridegroom

A pocket full of peas, the house of death, and a severed finger. The Robber Bridegroom is one of the Grimm Brothers’ darkest tales. It is the tale of the daughter of a miller who is […]

Thumbelina

Thumbelina

A girl who grew in a tulip, an epic adventure of good and evil, and a flower fairy finale. This is Hans Christian Andersen‘s classic fairy tale ‘Thumbelina’. The story of a tiny girl who sleeps […]

The Ridiculous Wishes

The Ridiculous Wishes

The story of a foolish woodcutter, three wishes granted and a black pudding for a nose. The Ridiculous Wishes is one of Perrault’s lesser known tales. It is a humorous tale in which a sad woodcutter […]

The Four Clever Brothers

The Four Clever Brothers

Four skilled brothers, a stolen princess and an angry dragon. The German tale of four brothers who set out to learn their crafts in the big wide world. When they return home as skilled men; a thief, […]

What Came of Picking Flowers

What Came of Picking Flowers

The King of the Birds, the King of the Fishes and a horrible monster that will never die ‘What Came of Picking Flowers’ is a Portuguese tale about a brave boy’s adventure to find his missing […]

The Tinder-box by Hans Christian Andersen

The Tinder-box by Hans Christian Andersen

A bold soldier, a magic tinder-box and a dog with eyes as big as teacups This story tells the tale of a soldier who meets an ugly witch who asks for his help to retrieve her […]

The Slaying of the Tanuki

The Slaying of the Tanuki

A tale of deceit and trickery for you this week. The Slaying of the Tanuki is a Japanese tale from Andrew Lang’s Pink Fairy Book. We take you to a long, long time ago where a […]

The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire

The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire

A five-headed giant, twelve brutal slayings and a laugh so loud the whole world heard it. This week we have a special treat. An Irish tale collected in Joseph Jacobs ‘Celtic Fairy Tales‘. Shee an Gannon […]

The Story of the Merchant and the Genius

The Story of the Merchant and the Genius

The tale of a wealthy merchant, an avenging Genii and three old storytellers. The Story of the Merchant and the Genius is a tale from The Arabian Nights Entertainments. This wonderfully rich and colourful collection of […]

Donkey-Skin

Donkey-Skin

This week’s fortnightly fairy tale is from the ‘Father of Fairy Tales’, Charles Perrault. Donkeyskin takes a rather sinister beginning as a beautiful princess wears a donkey skin disguise in order to escape her father. Her […]

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

This week we bring you one of the Grimm Brothers’ most loved tales The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The story follows an old soldier as he solves the mystery of the where the twelve Princesses disappear to […]

The Fairies Who Changed Places

The Fairies Who Changed Places

This delightful fairy tale is a perfect spring read. It tells the tale of how snowdrops and snowflakes are made and how their fairy makers came to be. Starblossom the flower fairy and Drop-of-Crystal the snow […]