Fairy Tales & Folklore Audiobooks

The Cat That Walked by Himself

Kipling’s classic tale taken from the Just So Stories. When all the other animals become tame, the cat is reluctant to give up his independence. He devises a clever scheme to gain a seat by the fire and a saucer of cream without having to submit to man.

Rudyard Kipling (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Enchanted Pig

A delightful folk tale from Romania about a princess who is destined to marry a pig. When the pig arrives at her father's court to woo her, she submits to her fate - but the pig is in reality anything but what he seems. He is a prince who has been bewitched. Unfortunately the witch now tricks the princess into extending the spell - her fate is now to embark on a lengthy quest, hampered by iron sandals, to find her beloved husband and free him from the curse once and for all. Enchanting!

Traditional (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Celtic Fairy Tales

The definitive collection of traditional Celtic fairy tales. Joseph Jacobs' 1892 anthology of the most enduring folklore from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Cornwall is a delight for both young and old. Leprechauns, giants, witches, princesses, castles, and sea monsters all abound in this compendium of the best mythology Britain and Ireland have to offer. Includes: 'Connla and the Fairy Maiden', 'Guleesh', 'The Field of Boliauns', 'The Horned Women', 'Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary', 'The Shepherd of Myddvai', 'The Sprightly Tailor', 'The Story of Deirdre', 'Munachar and Manachar', 'Gold Tree and Silver Tree', 'King O'Toole and his Goose', 'Jack and his Comrades', 'The Shee An', 'Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire', 'The Storyteller at Fault', 'The Sea Maiden', 'A Legend of Knockmany', 'Fair, Brown and Trembling', 'Jack and his Master', 'Beth Gellert', 'The Tale of Ivan', 'Andrew Coffey', 'The Battle of the Birds', 'Brewery of Eggshells', and 'The Lad with the Goatskin'.

Joseph Jacobs (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Fairy Tales Of Old Europe

A splendid collection of both well loved and little known fairy stories which have entertained and delighted children for many generations. 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses', 'The Golden Goose', 'The King of Root Valley and His Curious Daughter', 'The Horned Women', 'East of The Sun, West of The Moon', 'The Sleeping Beauty', In the Wood', 'The Three Dwarfs', 'The Nettle Spinner', 'The Master Cat', 'The Emperor's New Clothes', 'The Lad with the Goatskin', 'The Wonderful Birch', 'The Enchanted Pig', 'The Tinder Box', 'The Frog Princess', 'The Dragon of The North', 'The Witch in the Stone Boat', and 'The History of Whittington'.

Traditional (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The House Of Arden

Edred and Elfrieda Arden belong to an ancient noble family which has fallen on hard times. Orphaned and living with their aunt who takes in lodgers at the seaside, life is dull and frustrating. But when Edred suddenly inherits the title of Lord Arden - and a medieval ruined castle to go with it, the adventures are only just starting. The children discover a magic spell through which they meet the Mouldiwarp - a white mole who is also the emblem of the Ardens. They learn of a hidden treasure and discover powerful magic which allows them to travel back into the past to seek for it. One adventure follows another, as they encounter smugglers, highwaymen, plotters, prisoners in the tower, kings and witches... until finally they discover the treasure, which turns out not to be what they had expected - but much much better.

Edith Nesbit (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Frog Princess

A.J. Glinski was to Poland what the Brothers Grimm were to Germany. He travelled the country and collected folk legends and fairy tales and wrote them down exactly as they were told to him by local peasants. This Frog Princess is part of the collection of traditional folk tales which he first published in 1862. A king has three sons and is determined that one shall be his heir - but which? He orders them to marry and decrees that the one who picks the best wife shall be the next king. The youngest finds himself marrying a frog, against his better judgement. But when it turns out that the frog is extraordinarily gifted in such skills as carpet weaving and baking, he looks like winning the contest to be king. His frog princess is indeed a real princess under a magic spell - but his attempt to break the spell and keep his bride in human form backfires. His bride transforms herself into a duck and flies away. A lengthy quest and many adventures follow before he is able to regain his lost bride. Absolutely enchanting!

A.J. Glinski (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Magic Fishbone

Written in 1867, The Magic Fishbone is one of Charles Dickens' best loved fairy tales for children. It tells the story of an impoverished King who can barely manage to keep his nineteen children, and it is a long time until pay day. One day he meets a Fairy Godmother who tells him to give his eldest daughter, Princess Alicia, a piece of salmon, and after she has eaten everything but the bone, she is to dry and polish the bone carefully because it has magic powers. The magic fishbone will grant one wish - but only if it is used at the exact right time. Various catastrophes befall the family, but Princess Alicia does not call upon the powers of the magic fishbone, much to her father's annoyance. Until finally one day, something happens which leaves her in no doubt that this really is the right time...

Charles Dickens (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Bumper Book of Bedtime Stories

A glittering collection of classic stories for children, which have delighted generations and continue to appeal. • The Green Door by Mary Wilkins-Freeman •Pussy Tales by Edith Nesbit •Raggedy Ann Stories by Johnny Gruelle •The Bee-Man of Orn by Frank Stockton •Granny’s Wonderful Chair by Frances Browne

Edith Nesbit, Frances Browne, Johnny Gruelle (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Bee-Man of Orn

When a passing magician tells the old Bee-Man of Orn that he has at some time been transformed from another state, he sets off to discover his own origins. Was he formerly a nobleman? A dragon? A giant? After much searching and many adventures, where his faithful bees help him, he finally discovers the truth. And it is not what either he or the magician expected...

Frank R. Stockton (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The King Of Root Valley And His Curious Daughter

Robert Reinick was a German painter and poet who lived from 1805 to 1852. He was the author of many well loved tales and fairy stories for children. One of his most enchanting works is the Story of the 'King of Root Valley and his Curious Daughter', which tells the tale of a race of elves whose princess is curious about the ways of men. Realising that she cannot live among the big people, she vows only to marry someone her own size who resembles the human prince she fell in love with. When a toy-merchant's cart overturns next to a magic spring which can bring inanimate objects to life and a nutcracker and a harlequin puppet fall into the enchanted waters, the scene is set for a very unusual romance.

R. Reinick (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Green Door

Letitia Hopkins has always been curious about the peculiar green door in her Aunt Peggy's cheese room. But whenever she asks about it, she is always forbidden to open it or go through it. And the door is always locked. But one day, she finds a small black key on a green ribbon. And when she is left alone in the house, she cannot resist the temptation to try the door. Immediately Letitia finds herself in a strange, unfamiliar world full of wild animals, hostile natives, and a frontier life of hardship and hard work in the company of her pioneer ancestors. But how is she to find her way back to her own time? A splendid children's classic which still delights today's young generation.

Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Just So Stories

Kipling’s Just So Stories are among the most enduring classic children’s tales. They follow the traditional genre of stories that explain how unusual natural phenomenon came about, often using fantastic and highly magical explanations. Kipling himself was born and spent his very early life in India, and some of the inspiration for these stories comes from traditional tales he heard from his ayah and the family’s other servants. So Kipling’s armadillo arises from the magical fusion of a hedgehog and a tortoise who practice swimming and curling up, respectively, until their shapes modify. The elephant’s trunk is the result of a tussle with a hungry crocodile, and the kangaroo’s shape and ability to jump came about when he was chased by a dingo for an entire day. The rhinoceros gets his loose skin and bad temper from the itching brought about by having cake crumbs under his hide. And the cat who walked by himself explains the independence of cats, which contrasts with the servility of other domesticated animals.

Rudyard Kipling (Author), Cathy Dobson (Narrator)

Audiobook