The best of children’s folktales, fables, animal lore, folklore, myths, fairy tales and legends from around the world! Discover our collected tales for kids from India, China, Burma and many other countries… Some of these tales will make you think, some will make you laugh, some will make you wonder, but almost all of them have hidden wisdom for you to discover!
99 items in this section. Displaying page 2 of 10
The Wooden God
Bablu hated the ritual of prayer and fast that his family had been observing for as long as he could remember. The entire family had to wake at dawn and have a dip in the village pond, even if it was in the middle of the bitterest winter. A chilly winter day would find a shivering Bablu trying hard not to think of the million ice-cold needles that would pierce him when he entered the pond to bathe....
Whatever Happens, Happens for the Best...
Once upon a time there was an old man called Sthira, who lived alone in a village. He would go about his business alone, even in his old age. He was a nice, friendly man who was liked by all the people in the village. They would often come over to the old man’s house and express their sympathy that his only son had gone so far away to study. They wondered aloud if his son would ever return....
How the Moon was Created
Long long ago when the world was just created there was just the sun but no moon. So there was just day with the sun shining brightly all the time. The sun did not set. So there was no night. People worked until they were too tired to work any more. There was no set time for work or a fixed time for rest. One day the creator of the world came to visit it. He saw men working in fields....
Qui Jun and the Arrogant Monk
There once lived a monk called Shan, in a village in China. He had earned a great name for himself. But he was very arrogant. Qui Jun heard of his arrogance and wanted to teach the monk a lesson. He went to meet Shan who neither greeted him nor acknowledged his presence. Just then a servant of the monk came with a message: “The son of an army officer is here to see you.” The monk said, “I will go and greet him....
King of the Birds
The birds of the jungle had no king. It was a real embarrassment for them since everyone else in the jungle had kings. A king is someone who heads the flock and decides every thing for them. All the birds decided they too needed a king. The called a meeting to resolve the problem. But who will be the king? The Mynah had an idea. “Let the bird who can fly the highest be made king of the air,” she said....
The Desert Creature
This happened thousands of years ago. Life was hard as people had to do all the work by themselves. A large number of people were nomads – they would travel from one place to another in search of food and shelter. While travelling one day, a man arrived at the edge of a desert. He was walking in the sands, when suddenly, he came across a frightening creature – it had extremely long, thin legs, a giant hump and a long neck....
The lazy monk — a tale from the Panchatantra
Note: This folktale has been adapted from the Panchatantra story originally titled “The lazy brahmin”.Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit.
Tenali Rama and the Brinjal
Clown, jester, poet…Tenali Rama, minister in the court of the ruler of Vijaynagar, Krishnadeva Rai (reign: 1509-30), was a lot of things. Stories, about Tenali Rama and his practical jokes on everyone around him including distinguished fellow poets and the emperor himself, abound in south India. His fame spread beyond Vijaynagar (present-day Andhra Pradesh), to areas that come in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka today. Tenali Rama was also a great scholar of several languages that included Marathi, Tamil and Kannada....
The Harpist and the Princess
A Burmese folk tale Once upon a time in the beautiful city of Mandalay lived a young orphan boy. His name was Thi Hah. He was very poor and often had to go without food. He had one passion in life, and that was playing the harp. The Burmese harp resembles a long tailed boat with a thick bottom and its end tapers to a fine delicate end very like the sails of a boat....
Tail-cut Fox!
Every morning the fox strutted through the forest pretending to be king of the jungle. He would bully an animal here, chase another there and show a third one his fangs. He was an utter nuisance. One morning while chasing a hare, he got caught in a trap. Actually, it was his tail that got trapped. He pulled and pulled and huffed and puffed, but couldn’t get free. The tail stayed in the trap. Now the fox was very proud of his bushy tail, which he always kept in a good condition....