Fairy Tales and Folktales

Books for Readers in the Middle Grades

To order any of these titles, contact the library by email, mail or phone. You may also request these titles online through our OPAC. Happy Reading!

About Wise Men and Simpletons: Twelve Tales from Grimm .
BR 7682.
12 of the Brothers Grimm’s best loved tales, including "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "About a Fisherman and His Wife," and "The Bremen Town Musicians," are given a new translation in this collection. For grades 4-7.

The Arabian Nights by Neil Philip.
RC 47436.
Once there was a king who married a new bride every night and had her beheaded the next morning. When Sheherazade marries this king, she tells him such wonderful stories that he spares her life each day to hear another. 15 of her tales are retold here. For grades 4-7.

The Arabian Nights: Their Best-Known Tales by Kate Douglas Wiggin.
BR 13413.
Ten stories from the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, including such characters as the well-known Aladdin and his lamp, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, and Sinbad the sailor. Based on earlier translations, especially Jonathan Scott’s edition. For grades 5-8 and older readers.

Beast by Donna Jo Napoli.
RC 52717.
Elaborates the tale of Beauty and the Beast from the Beast’s point of view. After he is transformed into a lion for violating a ritual, a Persian prince retreats to France to save his life. For grades 6-9.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley.
BR 6800 or RC 14411.
An embellishment of the classic tale in which Beauty, a plain but kind and intelligent girl, learns the meaning of love with the Beast to whom she goes as payment of her father’s debt. A thoughtful fantasy for grades 5-8 and older readers.

Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang.
RC 14695.
32 fairy tales including many of the most well-known and loved stories, interspersed with lesser known tales from around the world. A newly edited version of an old classic for grades 4-7 and older readers.

The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault.
RC 49235.
11 classic fairy tales: "Sleeping Beauty," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Bluebeard," "Puss-in-Boots," "The Fairies," "Cinderella," "Tufty Ricky," "Hop o’ My Thumb," "Patient Griselda," "Donkeyskin," and "The Foolish Wishes." For grades 4-7 and older readers.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede.
RC 33457.
Princess Cimorene is curious, energetic, feisty, and not at all the proper princess that her parents—the very proper king and queen—wish her to be. Determined not to marry the vapid prince that has been chosen for her, she runs away and throws herself wholeheartedly into a career as a dragon’s princess. As she fends off nosy wizards and helps out hysterical princesses, she makes a firm place for herself in the dragon world. For grades 5-9.

The Dragon of Og by Rumer Godden.
RC 19719.
For hundreds of years the gentle Dragon of Og has quietly eaten an occasional bullock from the herd of the lord of the castle. No one has minded because the Dragon brings luck to the countryside. But the lord, a stubborn and stingy man, declares war against the Dragon and hires a courtly knight to kill him. A witty story based on an old Scottish legend. For grades 4-7.

The Dragonslayers by Bruce Coville.
BR 50465 or RC 45191.
A dragon is stalking King Mildred’s land, and the king has promised half his kingdom and his daughter’s hand in marriage to the person who can slay the dragon. Only the old squire, Elizar, and a young page, Brian, are willing to try. But unbeknown to them, the king’s daughter, Wilhelmina, has also set out to kill the dragon. For grades 4-7.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm.
RC 11751.
55 of the best-loved tales including "Cinderella," "Snow White," "The Goose Girl," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Rumpelstiltskin." For grades 4-7 and older readers.

Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales by Virginia Hamilton.
RC 43189.
A collection of folktales, fairy tales, and true stories of legendary women, all taken from traditional African American folklore. These stories are variously humorous, touching, scary, magical, and inspiring. For grades 5-8 and older readers.

The Last Slice of Rainbow and Other Stories by Joan Aiken.
RC 29494.
A collection of nine fairy tales including "The Queen with Screaming Hair," "The Spider in the Bath," and "Think of a Word." For grades 3-6 and older readers.

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli.
RC 39230.
A midwife-cum-sorceress known simply as the Ugly One narrates this riveting tale of how, tricked by the devil’s minions, she loses her gifts of healing and is forced to become a witch. Escaping from the stake, she ekes out a solitary existence in an enchanted forest, where she has decorated her house with sweets in memory of her beloved daughter. Then she takes in two wandering children named Hansel and Gretel. For grades 6-9 and older readers.

Merlin’s Kin: World Tales of the Heroic Magician by Josepha Sherman.
BR 13116.
A collection of 30 international folktales, featuring both the traditional magician, whose power comes from books or spells, and the shaman, who is a priest and healer as well as a wizard. The stories come from the British Isles, Europe, Russia, the Far East, Native American nations, and Africa. For grades 5-8.

More Rootabagas by Carl Sandburg.
RC 41593.
Searching for bedtime stories for his three daughters, Sandburg lamented that lack of fairy tales native to the United States, so he wrote his own. He described them as "tales with American fooling in them." There is "fooling" and whimsy aplenty in this collection. For grades 4-7 and older readers.

Old Peter’s Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome.
RC 30848.
Old Peter lives in a small hut deep in the forest with his grandchildren Vanya and Maroosia. At night, they sit snugly by the fire and listen to Old Peter’s tales. These tales told in Russia many years ago are of Prince Ivan and his terrifying iron-toothed baby sister the witch; of Martha who never complained of cold even to Frost himself; and of Sadko the poor merchant and his river-bride. For grades 6-9 and older readers.

Popular Folk Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
RC 14175.
31 folktales including such classics as "The Fisherman and His Wife," "The Bremen Town Musicians," and "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." For grades 4-7 and older readers.

Proud Knight, Fair Lady by Marie de France.
RC 35799.
In the 12th century, 400 years before Shakespeare, a poet known only as Marie of France wrote tales in verse known as lais or lays. Each of the 12 tales included in this collection is a love story set in a courtly world inhabited by brave knights, faithful ladies, and magical devices. For grades 6-9 and older readers.

The Serpent Slayer: And Other Stories of Strong Women by Katrin Tchana.
RC 52627.
18 folktales from various parts of the world featuring heroines who are brave and resourceful. In the title piece, 14-year-old Li Chi carries out her plan to cut off an enormous serpent’s head, showing more courage than anyone else in her village. For grades 3-6 and older readers.

The Silver Treasure by Geraldine McCaughrean.
RC 46792.
A multicultural anthology retelling 23 folktales. Contains stories from Bolivia, Togo, Russia, India, Egypt, Alaska, and other parts of the globe. Companion to: The Golden Hoard: Myths and Legends of the World (RC 46791). For grades 6-8.

Tales from the Arabian Nights by N.J. Dawood.
BR 4219 or RC 14535.
Translation of 30 traditional Arabic tales about genies, magicians, mythical beasts, and ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. For grades 5-8 and older readers.

Tom, Babette and Simon: Three Tales of Transformation by Avi.
BR 10671.
Tom is bored and decides to change places with his cat. But what will happen when Tom is bored with being a cat? Babette’s mother wanted a child with no visible flaws—unfortunately Babette is invisible. Simon grows up into a vain young man who kills the Golden Bird and becomes a bird from the neck up. For grades 4-7.