Family

Family stories are about the people who wait for us at home, worry about us and always forgive. In the Brothers Grimm’s Sweet Porridge, a mother forgets the magic word and the porridge floods the whole town: it is funny, and it is also a chance to talk about how family members help each other out. These stories are lovely to read together, and afterwards you can ask your child about their own family.

Grandma’s Chest: The Didukh
On Christmas Eve Mirko finds an old didukh in Grandma’s chest, hears how it once danced and sneezed, and ties a new one with her.
Ages 6–87 min readWinter
Timko and the Letter to Saint Nicholas
Before his winter sleep, Timko the hedgehog draws a letter to Saint Nicholas and asks for a gift not for himself but for his little sister Lily.
Ages 2–54 min readWinter
The Cat That Walked by Himself
The Woman tamed the Dog, the Horse and the Cow, but the clever Cat struck a bargain: three praises, and he gets the fire, yet he still walks by himself.
Ages 6–810 min readAnimal stories
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
Rumpelstiltskin
A miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold, and now only one thing can save her: the strange name of a tiny little man.
Ages 6–86 min readMagic
The Straw Ox
An old man wove a straw ox for his wife and smeared its side with tar, and a bear, a wolf, a fox and a hare stuck to it one after another.
Ages 2–54 min readAnimal stories
The Swineherd
A princess scorned a real rose and a nightingale, yet kissed a swineherd for a magic toy, never guessing who he really was.
Ages 6–87 min readKindness
The Starry Boat
Olesya does not want to sleep, so a moon-boat takes her sailing across the night sky, where the clouds, the stars and the breeze are already dozing off.
Ages 2–53 min readBedtime
Hansel and Gretel
Lost in the forest, a brother and sister find a witch’s gingerbread house, where clever Gretel saves Hansel, and white pebbles and a duck lead them home.
Ages 6–89 min readCourage
Ryaba the Hen
Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa and Grandma could not break it, but a mouse flicked her tail, and soon the whole village was sad.
Ages 2–54 min readAnimal stories
Cinderella
A fairy godmother whisks Cinderella to the ball in a pumpkin coach, but at midnight the magic ends and a glass slipper is left on the stairs.
Ages 6–88 min readMagic
The Princess and the Pea
A prince searched the whole world for a real princess, and it was the old queen who recognised her, with the help of one tiny pea.
Ages 2–53 min readMagic
The Turnip
Grandad Andrushka grows a turnip as big as his head but can’t pull it up alone, so he calls Granny, Minka, Finka, Varvarka and a mouse. Who won’t tumble?
Ages 2–53 min readFamily
The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats
The Wolf ate chalk and dusted his paw with flour so the kids would open the door, but the smallest hid in a clock, and Mother Goat saved them all.
Ages 2–54 min readAnimal stories
Timko and the Wobbly Tooth
Timko’s first baby tooth falls out right in the middle of a laugh, then vanishes, and all of Oak Grove searches for it until evening.
Ages 6–87 min readBig moments
Timko and the Littlest One
Timko’s baby sister Lily is born, and he wishes Mom were only his. Then it turns out that Lily already knows her big brother.
Ages 2–53 min readBig moments
Timko and the Big Potty
Timko the hedgehog can use his small potty, but the big one, like Mom’s and Dad’s, scares him, until Dad takes out a piece of string.
Ages 2–54 min readBig moments
Timko Moves House
Timko’s family moves to a new house in Ash Tree Glade: there are goodbyes to say to Rusty, Pip and the old house, and a new friend to find.
Ages 6–88 min readBig moments
Grandma’s Button
In Grandma’s box Mirko finds an old blue button with a chip in it, and with it the stories of his great-grandfather, his mum and one old secret.
Ages 2–53 min readFamily
Rexik, Trika and the Dads' Contest
Rexik’s Dad and Uncle Horn compete to see who is stronger, while the moms quietly save the nests full of eggs from a flood.
Ages 6–88 min readDinosaurs
The Fisherman and His Wife
A poor fisherman lets a magic flounder go, and his wife Ilsebill keeps asking for more, until she wants to give orders to the sun itself.
Ages 6–88 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
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
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
A little girl named Goldilocks wanders into a cottage in the woods, tastes the bears' porridge, breaks a little chair and falls asleep in someone else’s bed.
Ages 2–53 min readAnimal stories
Sweet Porridge
A kind old woman gives a girl a magic pot, but her mother forgets the word that stops it, and porridge floods the whole town.
Ages 2–54 min readMagic