Winter

When snow is swirling outside the window, there's nothing better than a story about winter. Here you'll find wintry and festive tales, from the Ukrainian folk tale The Mitten to Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. Read them on long evenings snuggled under a blanket, and at the end of each story you'll find questions to talk over with your child.

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
Why the Spruce and the Pine Stay Green
A little bird with a hurt wing looks for a place to winter: the proud trees send her away, but the spruce, the pine and the juniper take her in.
Ages 2–54 min readWinter
The Little Fox and the Pushy Wolf
A clever little fox swapped an empty pie for a calf, but a pushy wolf broke her sleigh, ate the calf and paid for it with the tip of his tail.
Ages 2–55 min readAnimal stories
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
Sampo the Little Lapp
A little Sami boy, Sampo, sets off at night to the Mountain King’s mountain and boldly tells the giant that the sun will surely come back.
Ages 6–88 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 Little Fir Tree
A little fir tree is in such a hurry to grow up and wait for something better that she misses her own happiness until it is gone.
Ages 6–810 min readWinter
The Shoemaker and the Elves
Someone secretly makes boots for a poor shoemaker at night; before Christmas he and his wife discover who, and make the tiny helpers warm gifts.
Ages 2–54 min readWinter
Why the Bear Has a Short Tail
A sly fox teaches a bear to fish with his tail through a hole in the ice, and ever since, all bears have had stubby little tails.
Ages 2–53 min readAnimal stories
The Twelve Months
A stepmother sends Marushka out in winter for violets, strawberries and apples, and the twelve months by a magic fire help the kind girl.
Ages 6–87 min readWinter
The Cat of the Dovre Mountains
A hunter taking a white bear to the king spends Christmas Eve in a cottage that trolls invade, and they mistake the bear for a giant kitty!
Ages 6–87 min readWinter
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
Mother Holle
Hardworking Olenka jumps into a well after her spindle, meets Mother Holle, whose featherbed makes it snow, and comes home covered in gold.
Ages 6–87 min readWinter
The Snowman
A snowman asks an old dog about the world and dreams of a warm stove; with the thaw he melts, and only then is it clear why he longed for it.
Ages 6–87 min readWinter
Timko and the First Snow
Timko the hedgehog has never seen snow, so Granny Owl promises to call him the moment the very first snowflake falls.
Ages 2–53 min readWinter
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
The Mitten
Grandpa drops a mitten in the forest, and the animals move in one by one, until a big bear comes along.
Ages 2–53 min readAnimal stories