Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

Nathaniel Hawthorne's retelling of the story of King Midas, who thought he loved gold more than anything! For all ages - not too hard for younger listeners, and not too simple for older ones. From A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls.

The Brave Tin Soldier, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier is a classic Andersen tale about a toy soldier with only one leg. His love of the aloof ballerina leads into many adventures where his bravery is tested severely but he always remains brave and steadfast.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's retelling of the story of Perseus and the Gorgon, Medusa - the lady with snakes for hair - whose gaze will turn you to stone. For all ages, not too hard for younger listeners, and not too simple for older ones.

The stories told, the mother fell to musing, and the result is the little book here presented to the judgment of children other than her own - a few new fairy tales, on the old, old pattern!

While most farmers are well-mannered and espouse great virtues and integrity this story proves there exists at least one farmer who is a profound scoundrel. It's not often a farmer can start with a wooden calf and end up the richest farmer in the land. The moral may well be never to follow this fellow's example.

Once there was a lazy girl who would not spin. While her mother berates her for it, the Queen, passing by, overhears and asks the reason for the scolding. Ashamed to admit that her daughter is lazy, the woman replies that the girl spins so much that her mother cannot afford to buy enough flax to keep her occupied. The Queen, impressed by such industry, offers to take the girl with her. Once at the castle, the queen takes the girl to a room filled with flax. If she spins it all within three days, she'll be rewarded with marriage to the queen's oldest son.

A little fir tree stands in the woods. All he can think about is growing up into a big tree. When a hare hops over him, emphasizing how small he is, he is embarrassed. Children call him the baby of the forest. Find out what happens to the little fir tree in this far from happily-ever-after tale for older children.

The classic story of a king buying invisible clothes from con men. See what peer pressure can do.

The Little Mermaid (Danish: Den lille havfrue, literally: "the little sea lady") is a very well-known fairy tale by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince. The tale was first published in 1837 and has been adapted to various media including musical theatre and animated film. But this tale is not the Disney version, all cleaned up and made pretty. This is the way Andersen wrote it.

The original classic that does not feature some of the elements that have become part of the story we usually share. A princess, a frog, and a broken curse all remain a part this great story for the entire family. A story that never once involves 'kissing'.

"The Beginning of the Armadillos" is a tale that focuses on two days in the lives of three creatures "who lived on the banks of the turbid Amazon": Stickly-Prickly the hedgehog, Slow-and-Solid the tortoise, and Painted Jaguar.

The son of the Gardener to the King and the King's daughter fall in love. The King wants his daughter to marry the Prime Minister's son. So the two young men have to enter a contest: Whoever travels to a distant land and comes back first, wins the hand of the Princess.

Another Grimm's Fairy Tale, "The Enchanted Stag" is a story about how a little sister cares for her brother while he is under a spell by their wicked step-mother. A King saves them both, and then they are betrayed again by the step-mother.... Will the King be fooled by the step-mother, will the brother always be under the spell? Find out who lives happily ever after. Narrated by Kathy Verduin.

There has been a death in the forest. A young woman is beside herself with sorrow. A very tiny elf whose residence was in the leaves of a rose was the first to discover the motive and plan that resulted in the death. In the moment of discovery, the elf knew he needed to inform the maiden of the murder. The story well portrays the forest penalty. We leave contemplating that our own actions might sometimes result in unexpected consequences. A classic tale narrated by Glenn Hascall.

A mean step-mother, a wicked witch, and poor starving children...all make up this tale taken from the Grimms fairy tales, and true to the Grimm style it is. However "Innocent Good" triumphs over "Horrible Bad," in this tale narrated by actress, Kathy Verduin.

We cannot control how or when we will be remembered after our passing, but for one family in one small village comes one memorable tale of Preben and Martha. These two are remembered well by one who had been just a child while they lived. Now old, he man shares a story leaving us to wonder if he, too, wondered how he would be remembered when others read his gravestone. Narrated by Glenn Hascall.

Many modern tales alter the ending and leave some of the story behind. A tale of mutual deception and shoddy home building could bring smiles in this classic tale. Narrated by Glenn Hascall.

The young simpleton had to compete with his brothers, and in this story taken from Grimm's Fairy Tales, he wins by being honest, and "Good Samaritan-like" to the right old man in the woods. His prize; a golden Goose, and what happens is quite a sticky situation for all that meet him.

A classic story from the Grimm Brothers that suggests that there isalways a price to be paid for those things we desire most. Sometimeswe pay the price and sometimes someone else pays the price for us.Narrated by Glenn Hascall.

Narrated by Mike Vendetti, this is the original version of Hensel and Gretel published by the Brothers Grimm. Probably not suitable for the polite and sensitive child under 12. A really wicked stepmother convinces the children's father to lead the children out into the woods far enough so they wouldn't be able to return home, but they do return one time to the chagrin of the stepmother. The next time they are taken to the woods they are not able to return home but do stumble upon a little house constructed of cake and confectionery which they immediately begin to consume.