Marytale
Stories for 3rd graders
Start with these
Henry Mole's Underground Railway7-9 min read · 15 pages
The Library of Forgotten Dreams7-9 min read · 17 pages
The Squirrel Who Kept the Stars6-7 min read · 17 pages
Bella and the One Golden Wish7-9 min read · 20 pages
Zippy and the Summer He Dreamed Of7-9 min read · 20 pages
Oscar the Hare and the Silver Watch9-11 min read · 21 pages
6 stories
- Bella and the One Golden Wish7-9 min read · 20 pagesDeep in a green and singing forest lives a little squirrel named Bella — quick, kind, and always ready for a new discovery.
- Henry Mole's Underground Railway7-9 min read · 15 pagesHenry is a small mole with bright, curious eyes who loves nothing more than exploring the hidden paths beneath his forest.
- Oscar the Hare and the Silver Watch9-11 min read · 21 pagesDeep in a forest where the treetops brush the clouds lives Oscar, the fastest hare anyone has ever seen — and his most precious treasure is a little silver pocket watch that ticks along with every dash he takes.
- The Library of Forgotten Dreams7-9 min read · 17 pagesNina is a girl with a heart full of pictures — she draws her dreams in the margins of her notebooks and imagines faraway worlds.
- The Squirrel Who Kept the Stars6-7 min read · 17 pagesHigh in a whispering pine forest lives Sonya, a little squirrel who loves nothing more than the glitter of the night sky.
- Zippy and the Summer He Dreamed Of7-9 min read · 20 pagesOn the snowy shores of Antarctica lives a little penguin named Zippy, a dreamer who longs to know the world beyond the ice.
Third grade is where a child will finish a story alone if the first two pages hold. These are among the longest here, with more than one thread running at a time and a hero who is wrong for a while before being right.
Six to eleven minutes read aloud, or one sitting alone. Read the first two pages together and then hand the book over — that hands over the story, not just the reading.
Want to know where the classic fairy tales come from? The articles are here
Frequently asked
Are these still bedtime stories?
Yes, and they are among the longest — six to eleven minutes. If bedtime is tight, the five-minute section has whole stories that really finish in five.
My child reads these alone. What is left for me?
The first two pages and the last one. Starting together gets a child in; being there at the end is when they want to talk about it.