Fables and folktales booklists

Fables and folktales are at the core of our storytelling traditions. Growing from an oral tradition these stories have been told aloud and shared from generation to generation.

Closely related to each other, both forms have played an important role in passing along knowledge, often imparting moral messages about our shared humanity and the choices we make. Also, folktales in particular, provide an insight in to the heritage, beliefs and cultures of different groups of people around the world. This can help children feel more confident about their own identity, and will introduce them to a wide range of other cultures.

To help you explore this age-old and fascinating story tradition, we've developed two lists, brimming with inspiring reads for children aged 3 to 6 and 7 to 11.

Storytelling Month

We're celebrating a whole month of storytelling and multilingualism through our Connecting Stories project. Beginning in National Storytelling Week (30 January to 6 February) and running through to International Mother Language Day (21 February), we have activities and resources to celebrate the richness of different stories, experiences and cultures. These include scrapbooks for children to complete, exploring their own identities and creative ideas. Visit our Storytelling Month page to learn more.

Research on multilingual reading

Read our research on Multilingual young people’s reading which found that a higher percentage of multilingual children reported enjoying reading than their monolingual peers, but also that 40% of these young people would like their multilingual skills to be more recognised in their school.