Fairy tales are poetic stories of extraordinary events and adventures involving fictional characters. In modern Russian, the concept of the word "fairy tale" has acquired its meaning since the 17th century. Until that moment, the word "fable" was supposedly used in this meaning.

One of the main features of a fairy tale is that it is always based on a fictional story, with a happy ending, where good triumphs over evil. The stories contain a certain hint, which enables the child to learn to recognize good and evil, to comprehend life on illustrative examples.

Children's fairy tales read online

Reading fairy tales is one of the main and important stages on the way of your child to life. A variety of stories make it clear that the world around us is quite contradictory and unpredictable. Listening to stories about the adventures of the main characters, children learn to appreciate love, honesty, friendship and kindness.

Reading fairy tales is useful not only for children. Having matured, we forget that in the end, good always triumphs over evil, that all adversity is unimportant, and the beautiful princess is waiting for her prince on a white horse. To give a little good mood and plunge into the fairy-tale world is quite simple!

The very first works that little readers come across are Russian folk tales. This is a fundamental element of folk art, through which deep life wisdom is transmitted from generation to generation. Fairy tales teach to distinguish between good and evil, point to human vices and virtues, convey undying life, family, everyday values. Read Russian folk tales to your children, a list of which is presented below.

Hen Ryaba

The tale of the good hen Ryaba, who lives in a hut with a woman and grandfather and lays a golden egg that they could not break, is one of the first fairy tales read by parents to young children. The fairy tale, easy for children's perception, also tells about a mouse that broke a golden egg with its tail. After that, the grandfather and the woman grieved, and the hen promised to lay them a new, but not a golden, but a simple egg.

Masha and the Bear

An entertaining tale about the adventures of little Masha, who got lost and ended up in a hut to the Bear. The formidable beast was delighted and ordered Masha to stay in his hut to live, otherwise he would eat her. But the little girl outwitted the Bear, and without knowing it, he took Masha back to her parents.

Vasilisa the Beautiful

A fairy tale about a kind and beautiful girl, to whom a dying mother left a magic doll. The girl was harassed and outlived by her stepmother and her daughters for a long time, but the magic doll always helped her cope with everything. Once she even wove a canvas of unprecedented beauty, which came to the king. The ruler liked the fabric so much that he ordered a craftswoman to be brought to him so that she could sew a shirt from this fabric. Seeing Vasilisa the Beautiful, the king fell in love with her and that was the end of all the suffering of the girl.

Teremok

The tale of how many different little animals lived in a little house teaches the youngest readers friendship and hospitality. The little mouse, the runaway bunny, the frog-frog, the gray barrel top, the little fox-sister lived together in their small house until the clubfoot bear asked to live with them. It was very large and destroyed the teremok. But the kind inhabitants of the house did not lose their heads and built a new tower, bigger and better than the previous one.

Morozko

A winter tale about a girl who lived with her father, stepmother and her daughter. The stepmother did not love her stepdaughter and persuaded the old man to take the girl to the forest to certain death. In the forest, the fierce Morozko froze the girl and asked, “Are you warm, girl?”, To which she answered him with kind words. And then he took pity on her, warmed her and bestowed rich gifts. The next morning the girl returned home, the stepmother saw the gifts and decided to send her own daughter for gifts. But the second daughter was rude to Morozko, and therefore froze in the forest.

In the work “The Cockerel and the Bean Seed”, the author, using the example of a cockerel choking on a grain, tells the story that in life, in order to get something, you must first give something. Having asked the hen to go to the cow for butter to grease the neck and swallow the grain, he activated a whole chain of other assignments that the hen fulfilled with dignity, brought the butter and saved the cockerel.

Kolobok

The fairy tale kolobok belongs to the category of works that are easily remembered by young children, since there are many repetitions of the plot in it. The author talks about how a grandmother baked a bun for grandfather, and he came to life. Gingerbread man did not want to be eaten, and ran away from his grandmother and grandfather. On the way he met a hare, a wolf and a bear, from which he also drove away, singing a song. And only a cunning fox was able to eat the kolobok, so he still did not escape his fate.

Princess Frog

The tale of the Frog Princess tells how the Tsarevich had to marry a frog, which was hit by an arrow fired by him on the orders of his father. The frog turned out to be enchanted by Vasilisa the Wise, throwing off her frog skin while performing the tasks of the king. Ivan Tsarevich, having learned that his wife is a beauty and a needlewoman, burns her skin and thereby dooms Vasilisa the Wise to imprisonment at Koshchei the Immortal. The prince, realizing his mistake, enters into an unequal battle with the monster and wins back his wife, after which they live happily ever after.

Swan geese

Swan Geese is an instructive tale about how a little girl did not keep track of her brother and the swan geese carried him away. The girl goes in search of her brother, on the way she met a stove, an apple tree and a milky river, from whose help she refused. And for a long time the girl would look for her brother, if not for the hedgehog, who showed her the right path. She found her brother, but on the way back, if she had not used the help of the above-mentioned characters, she would not have been able to return him home.

A fairy tale that teaches young children to order is "The Three Bears". In it, the author tells about a little girl who got lost and came across a hut of three bears. There she managed a little - she ate porridge from each bowl, sat on each chair, lay on each bed. The bear family, who returned home and saw that someone was using their things, became very angry. The little hooligan was saved by the fact that she ran away from the indignant bears.

Ax porridge

A short fairy tale "Porridge from an ax" about how one soldier went on a visit and decided to spend the night with an old woman who met him on the way. And that old woman was greedy, she deceived, saying that she had nothing to feed the guest. Then the soldier offered her to cook porridge from an axe. He asked for a cauldron, water, then tricked out porridge and butter by cunning, ate it himself, fed the old woman, and then also took the ax with him so that the old woman would be reluctant to lie.

turnip

The fairy tale "Turnip" is one of the most famous Russian folk tales aimed at kids. Its plot is based on a large number of repetitions of the actions of the characters. Grandfather, who asked his grandmother to help him pull out a turnip, and she, in turn, called her granddaughter, the granddaughter - a bug, a bug - a cat, a cat - a mouse, they teach us that it is easier to cope with something together than individually.

Snow Maiden

The Snow Maiden is a fairy tale, according to the plot of which a grandfather and a woman who did not have children decide to make a Snow Maiden in the winter. And so it turned out well for them that they began to call her daughter, and the Snow Maiden came to life. But then spring came and the Snow Maiden began to feel sad, hiding from the sun. But, what to be, it cannot be avoided - the girlfriends called the Snow Maiden to the parties and she went, jumped over the fire and melted, shooting up a cloud of white steam.

Winter hut of animals

In the fairy tale "The Wintering of Animals" it is told how a bull, a pig, a ram, a rooster and a goose ran away from an old man and an old woman in order to avoid their deplorable fate. Winter was approaching, and it was necessary to build a winter hut, but everyone refused to help the bull. And then the bull himself built a winter hut, and when a fierce winter came, the animals began to ask him to spend the winter. The bull was kind and therefore let them in. And the animals, in turn, repaid the bull for kindness, driving away the fox, the wolf and the bear, who wanted to eat them.

Sister fox and wolf

The fairy tale about the little fox and the wolf is one of the most famous folk tales for children, it is read in kindergartens and schools. And on the basis of an interesting story about how a cunning fox deceived a wolf of a tail, and also rode home on top of a beaten wolf, saying “the beaten unbeaten is lucky”, they put on performances and organize readings by roles.

By magic

The tale "By the Pike" is about how the unfortunate and lazy fool Emelya caught a magic pike that fulfilled all his desires, as soon as he said the cherished words "by the pike, at my will." It was then that his carefree life began - they carried buckets of water themselves, chopped wood with an ax, rode sleighs without horses. Thanks to the magic pike, Emelya turned from a fool into an enviable and successful groom, whom Marya Tsarevna herself fell in love with.

Elena the Wise

Reading the Russian folk tale "Elena the Wise" is a pleasure - here you have the devil, and the girls who turn like doves, and the beautiful wise queen, and the all-seeing magical book of knowledge. An amazing story about how a simple soldier fell in love with Elena the Wise and married her by cunning, likes children of any age.

magic ring

In the instructive tale "The Magic Ring", the author told the story of a kind boy Martynka, who was able to achieve a lot thanks to his kindness. Instead of buying bread, he saves a dog and a cat, then rescues a beautiful princess from trouble, for which he receives a magic ring from the king. With his help, Martynka builds wonderful palaces and lays out beautiful gardens, but one day trouble overtakes him. And then Martynka came to the aid of everyone whom he did not leave in trouble.

Zayushkina hut

The fairy tale "Zayushkina's hut" is a story about how a cunning fox settled in the hut of a little hare. Neither the bear nor the wolf could drive the uninvited guest out of the bunny's house, and only the brave cockerel could cope with the cunning fox, who should not have appropriated someone else's hut.

Princess Nesmeyana

Princess Nesmeyana had everything one could wish for, but she was still sad. The Tsar-father, no matter how hard he tried, could not cheer up his only daughter. Then he decided - whoever makes the princess laugh will marry her. The fairy tale "Princess Nesmeyana" tells the story of how a simple worker, without knowing it, made the saddest girl in the kingdom laugh and became her husband.

Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka

Brother Ivanushka did not listen to his sister Alyonushka, drank some water from a hoof and turned into a kid. A story full of adventures, where the evil witch drowned Alyonushka, and the little kid rescued her and, having thrown over his head three times, again became brother Ivanushka, is told in the fairy tale "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka."

flying ship

In the Russian folk tale The Flying Ship, young readers learn about how the tsar decided to give his daughter to someone who would build a flying ship. And in one village there lived three brothers, the youngest of them was considered a fool. So the older and middle brothers decided to take up the construction of the ship, but they didn’t succeed, because they didn’t listen to the advice of the old man they met. And the younger one listened, and grandfather helped him build a real flying ship. This is how the younger brother turned from a fool into the husband of a beautiful princess.

Goby - resin barrel

Grandfather made a bull from straw for his granddaughter Tanyusha, and he took it and came to life. Yes, it turned out to be not a simple bull, he had a tar barrel. By cunning, he forced a bear, a wolf and a hare, stuck to his barrel, to bring gifts to grandfather. The wolf brought a bag of nuts, the bear brought a beehive of honey, and the hare brought a head of cabbage and a red ribbon for Tanya. Although they brought gifts not of their own free will, no one deceived, because everyone promised, and promises must be kept.

An invaluable source of wisdom and inspiration for the child. In this section, you can read your favorite fairy tales online for free and give children the first important lessons in the world order and morality. It is from the magical story that children learn about good and evil, and also that these concepts are far from absolute. Each fairy tale has a short description, which will help parents choose a topic that is relevant for the age of the child, and provide him with a choice.

Listening to fairy tales, children not only acquire the necessary knowledge, but also learn to build relationships in society, relating themselves to one or another fictional character. Based on the experience of relationships between fairy-tale characters, the child understands that one should not unconditionally trust strangers. Our site presents the most famous fairy tales for your children. Choose interesting fairy tales in the presented table.

Why is it useful to read fairy tales?

Various plots of the fairy tale help the child to understand that the world around him can be contradictory and rather complicated. While listening to the adventures of the hero, children are confronted virtually with injustice, hypocrisy and pain. But this is how a baby learns to appreciate love, honesty, friendship and beauty. Always having a happy ending, fairy tales help the kid to be an optimist and resist all kinds of troubles in life.

The entertainment component of fairy tales should not be underestimated. Listening to exciting stories has a lot of advantages, for example, in comparison with watching cartoons - there is no threat to the baby's vision. Moreover, listening to children's fairy tales performed by parents, the baby learns many new words and learns to correctly articulate sounds. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this, because scientists have long proven that nothing affects the future comprehensive development of a child like early speech development.

What are fairy tales for children?

Fairy tales there are different ones: magical - exciting children's imagination with a riot of fantasy; household - telling about a simple everyday life, in which magic is also possible; about animals - where the leading characters are not people, but various animals so dearly loved by children. Our site contains a large number of such fairy tales. Here you can read for free what will be interesting to the baby. Convenient navigation will help make finding the right material quick and easy.

Read annotations to give the child the right to independently choose a fairy tale, because most modern child psychologists believe that the key to the future love of kids for reading lies in the freedom of choice of material. We give you and your child unlimited freedom in choosing wonderful children's fairy tales!