Marytale
By topic
Stories grouped by how long they take and what they leave you with — the five-minute ones, and the ones with a moral at the end.
- Bedtime stories about animals
Bedtime stories about animals — foxes, bears, cats, a hamster who keeps the stars and a tortoise who wins a race by not stopping.
- Short bedtime stories
Short bedtime stories for kids: whole stories, not shortened ones, that finish inside ten minutes.
- Long bedtime stories
Long bedtime stories for the evenings when there is time: sixteen pages, eight to ten minutes, several characters and a plot that turns.
- Classic fairy tales
Classic fairy tales for kids — Grimm, Andersen and Aesop in one list, retold in our own words and illustrated page by page.
- 5 minute bedtime stories
5 minute bedtime stories that really do take five minutes — the shortest whole stories here, for when time has run out.
- Nursery rhymes
Nursery rhymes with the full words — all five verses of Twinkle Twinkle and Bo-Peep, the last verse of Mary's lamb, and what each one is for.
- Calming bedtime stories
Calming bedtime stories chosen for the end of the day: nothing chases anybody, nothing is left open, and the last page is quiet.
- Moral stories
Moral stories with the lesson written out: Aesop, the Panchatantra, the Jataka tales and Akbar and Birbal — 26 stories, each with its moral above the text.
- Brothers Grimm fairy tales
Brothers Grimm fairy tales, retold in our own words: Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and fifteen more.
- Princess bedtime stories
Princess bedtime stories: eleven tales where the princess is the one who decides something — Cinderella, Rapunzel, the twelve dancing princesses and more.
- Aesop's fables
Aesop's fables for kids: ten short ones, each ending on something worth arguing about at the edge of the bed.
- Bear bedtime stories
Bear bedtime stories: nine tales with a bear in them — the one who knocks in winter, the one whose porridge is eaten, the one with the honey machine.
- Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales: the little mermaid, Thumbelina, the ugly duckling and the snow queen — written, not collected.
- Bedtime stories about cats
Bedtime stories about cats — Puss in Boots, a cat in the Bremen band, and Larry the Cat with his little star lanterns.
- Christmas bedtime stories
Christmas bedtime stories for the last week of December: a boot that stayed empty, a crooked tree nobody wanted, and a door with no number on it.
- Panchatantra stories
Panchatantra stories in English — animal fables from India, older than Aesop, each one ending on something a child will argue with.
- Jataka tales
Jataka tales in English — Indian stories about animals who behave better than the people round them, written down over two thousand years ago.
- Akbar and Birbal stories
Akbar and Birbal stories in English — short court tales in which the emperor sets a trap and his minister walks straight through it.
- Dinosaur bedtime stories
Dinosaur bedtime stories written for Marytale: a dinosaur who can only squeak, a first snow, a thunderstorm counted out loud, and a lost egg.
There are two useful ways to choose a bedtime story, and neither of them is the subject. The first is time: how long until the light has to go off. The second is what you want left in the room afterwards — a laugh, a lesson, or a quiet ending.
So these groups are built on those two things. The five-minute stories are for the nights that got away from you. The stories with a moral end on something worth arguing about, and children do argue about them, which is the point.
Every story here opens free on the page, with a picture for each part of it: the first half of every tale, and poems and rhymes in full. Nothing needs installing to read, and there is no account.
Looking for a particular age? Here are the stories by stage
Frequently asked
Is there a page for animal stories?
Yes — «Bedtime stories about animals» collects every story with an animal hero. The other groups follow what parents ask for most often: «5 minute bedtime stories» for a quick evening and «short stories with a moral» for something to talk about afterwards.
How do I find a story about a particular thing?
Open all stories and read the line under each title — it says what the story is about. Reading the list is often faster than any filter would be.
Do you add new stories?
Yes. New ones appear in the app first and reach these pages after that.