Ages 9–12: stories for children

Stories for children aged 9, 10, 11 and 12 are long enough to fill a whole evening or to spread over several. Here you will find Andersen’s The Snow Queen, the Ashanti tale of Anansi the spider who won all the world’s stories for people, and our own The Clockmaker of Shadow Street, about a mistake you badly want to undo. They are a joy to hear read aloud, even when a child already reads alone.

A Christmas Carol
On one Christmas night the miser Scrooge meets three spirits and manages to change before it is too late.
Ages 9–1218 min readWinter
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Lazy young Aladdin finds a magic lamp underground, and when a cunning sorcerer steals it, he wins everything back with his own wits.
Ages 9–1215 min readMagic
Little Muck
A boy who teased Little Muck hears his story: magic slippers, a jealous court, a false accusation, donkey ears, and learns that mockery is not funny.
Ages 9–1212 min readMagic
Pinocchio
The wooden puppet Pinocchio runs away, tells lies and lands in trouble, and to save his father he must learn to be honest and hardworking.
Ages 9–1213 min readMagic
The New Girl
Hoopoe Dana arrives from the far south as the new girl at the forest school, but autumn will call her away. Will her friendship with Timko wait for spring?
Ages 9–1214 min readBig moments
Rexik and the Bully Pachycephalosaurus
A newcomer pachycephalosaurus shoves everyone in the valley, but Rexik notices that the bully is always alone, and trust can’t be shoved into place with a head.
Ages 9–1212 min readDinosaurs
The Little Mermaid
The youngest sea princess gives up her voice for legs to be near the prince, and on her last night she makes the hardest and bravest choice of all.
Ages 9–1216 min readMagic
Urashima Taro and the Sea Princess’s Box
The fisherman Urashima saves a turtle and visits a palace under the sea, but at home a strange secret of time and a box that must never be opened await him.
Ages 9–1213 min readMagic
The Cartographer of Unspoken Words
Granny gives Yaryna a magic map, and she sails to the island where her family keeps the words they never dared to say.
Ages 9–1212 min readAdventure
The Wild Swans
A wicked stepmother turns eleven princes into swans, and their sister Eliza silently knits them nettle shirts to break the spell.
Ages 9–1212 min readCourage
Kotyhoroshko, the Boy from a Pea
A boy born from a little pea grows into a mighty hero, defeats a dragon, frees his sister and brothers, then sets off into the world with loyal friends.
Ages 9–1213 min readCourage
Kyrylo Kozhumiaka
A fierce Dragon has stolen the princess of Kyiv, and only Kyrylo Kozhumiaka, who kneads twelve hides at once with his bare hands, can save her.
Ages 9–1213 min readCourage
The Nightingale
An emperor trades a living nightingale for a glittering mechanical bird, but when Death comes, only a real song can save him.
Ages 9–1214 min readNature
Rexik, Trika and the Mystery of the Giant Footprints
Giant three-toed footprints appear by the swamp, and Rexik, like a real detective, works out who has really been walking there.
Ages 9–1211 min readDinosaurs
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
A brave little mongoose protects a boy named Teddy and his family from two sly cobras who live in a big garden in India.
Ages 9–1213 min readCourage
The Happy Prince
The golden statue of the Prince asks a little Swallow to give his jewels to the poor, and the Swallow stays with him all winter long.
Ages 9–1214 min readKindness
The Keeper of the Faded Stars
Myroslava is afraid of the dark, but she walks the night rooftops with a tired old keeper to light the stars above the old town again.
Ages 9–1213 min readCourage
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
On Christmas night, Marie saves a wooden Nutcracker from the seven-headed Mouse King, and he leads her to the magical Kingdom of Dolls.
Ages 9–1212 min readMagic
How Anansi the Spider Got All the Stories
Tiny Anansi the spider outwits a python, a leopard, hornets and a forest fairy to buy all the world’s stories from the Sky God for people.
Ages 9–1212 min readAdventure
The Clockmaker of Shadow Street
A clockmaker’s apprentice finds a magic clock that brings back lost minutes and must choose: undo his mistake, or bravely own up to it.
Ages 9–1213 min readCourage
The Snow Queen
Gerda travels to the far north to melt the splinter of ice in her friend Kai’s heart with the warmth of her own.
Ages 9–1216 min readCourage