Bilingual tales for language learners

A haughty swallow is flying to Egypt when he meets a regretful statue seeking redemption. A longer, intermediate-level story with sad parts.

One day a hard-working hen sees a bush full of raspberries and decides to make a cake. Will her friends help? A harvest-tinged story with lots of repetition and baking vocabulary.

Two hikers get stuck in some bad weather, and discover that a "useless" oak tree isn't so useless after all. A short story with weather and basic feelings vocabulary.

Mr Bear is hungry for honey. Unfortunately he has no talent for negotiating with bees... A short, cautionary tale about losing your temper, told in the present tense.

The wind and the sun want to find out who is the strongest, and so they throw a whole bunch of weather vocabulary at an unsuspecting man. Told in the present tense.

A little girl stares out her bedroom window, longing for summer. Then… she sees an ice cream truck. A short story inspired by “The Spendthrift and the Swallow”, told in the present tense.

A city mouse tells wonderful tales of city life, but there are some things he neglects to mention... A short story in the present tense with a good moral for the Instagram generation.

A dog finds a bone and feels like the luckiest dog in the world —until he sees another dog... A short story in the present tense with lots of question words and city vocabulary.

Lion is getting ready for bed, when he hears a strange noise. What could it be? Is it a monster? The biggest, scariest monster EVER? A short story in the present tense.

A hungry fox is walking through the forest one morning when he sees a crow with some cheese in his beak. But how can the fox get the cheese? A short story in the present tense.

Once there was a girl with skin as white as snow who was more beautiful than the jealous queen. A story of magic mirrors, multiple dwarfs, poisoned apples, and ScrabbletM

When a rich hat-maker tells people that his daughter can turn hay into gold, the king makes him prove it (or be fed to the crocodiles!) A story about family, fibbers, and golden underpants.

A vain emperor loves bragging about his own intelligence. But when a dishonest tailor sells him some new clothes, he discovers who the real nincompoop is.

A girl with long hair lives in a tower, with a witch as her only friend... until one night when she hears a strange voice down below. A story of resilience, herbs, heroes, and happily ever after.

A well-meaning young man steals from giants — first because he wants his mother to be happy, but then he gets greedy... Will he become “richer than the richest man in the world”?

Cinderella is kind, intelligent, and loves to tell jokes. Will she go to the King’s ball? What will she wear? Will the prince laugh at her jokes? And what happens to the cat?

Two children, a woodcutter, a stepmother and an evil witch come together in this story about food, feelings, confusing directions, and how to make roast boy with gravy.

Three hungry goats accidentally wake a troll on their way to eat the tall green grass in the meadow. This story has some fun repetition and a surprising amount of chocolate cake.