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Bravery & Courage stories

Being scared and doing it anyway

Start reading Problem Solving Responsibility Hard Work
Bravery & Courage stories

The 110 stories in this theme are all about being frightened and going on anyway. They run from four-minute tales for a three-year-old to eleven-minute quests for a ten-year-old, and they sit next to three related themes: problem-solving, responsibility and hard work.

A bravery story has to be honest about fear or it does not work. The heroes here are frightened, of a giant, a witch, the dark, a first day, and they act anyway, which is the only kind of courage a child can actually use. They come out the other side, and so, by proxy, does the listener.

These are some of the library's most exciting stories, so they are better read before the final wind-down than as the very last thing. The discussion guide for each asks what the hero was afraid of and what helped, a question that tends to open up a child's own fears in a way direct asking does not.

Where to start in bravery & courage

12 of the 110 stories in this theme, picked as good first choices: the shortest, the gentlest and the best loved.

4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales Goldilocks and The Three Bears

Curious Goldilocks wanders into a magical forest and discovers a charming cottage. When she finds nobody home, her…
6 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Princess and the Pea

A lonely Prince yearns for a true princess, but two grand ladies fail to impress him. Then, on a stormy night, a…
7 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Gingerbread Man

A kind old woman bakes a delicious gingerbread man who springs to life and dashes off to explore the world. He meets a…
8 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Lion and the Mouse

A timid mouse and a mighty lion cross paths in the jungle. When the powerful king of the jungle finds himself in a…
13 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood sets off through the enchanting forest to deliver a basket of goodies to her sick grandmother…
3 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Two Soldiers and the Robber

Tomas and Juan, two brave soldiers, are returning to camp when they encounter a fearsome robber in a dark forest…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales Dapplegrim

Agnes and Elsa, two brave sisters, live in a village where a whispered legend tells of Dapplegrim, a mischievous forest…
4 min Ages 3–7 · Bravery & Courage Little Red Riding Hood (A Gentler Retelling)

Little Red Riding Hood loves visiting her kind grandmother, but the woods hold a warning: beware the sly wolf. When a…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Magic Prince Ariel

Prince Ariel is born with extraordinary magic, destined to bring peace to Eldoria. But a wicked sorcerer, Malachor…
4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Emperor’s New Clothes

The Emperor loves new clothes and is very proud. Two clever weavers promise to make him a magical suit, invisible to…
5 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales Lily and the Lion

In a magical meadow, kind Lily encounters a mighty lion seeking water. Showing courage, she helps him, and he…
5 min Ages 3–7 · Magic The Anxious Leaf

Luna, a beautiful red leaf, is always anxious and fearful, longing to dance in the wind but held back by her worries. A…

Courage in a story is never the absence of fear

Every character here is scared. That is the condition, not the flaw. What the tale shows is the gap between being frightened and being stopped, and children take the point without anybody spelling it out.

It matters which kind of courage you pick, because they are not interchangeable. The nerve needed to walk into a dark wood is different from the nerve needed to say something unpopular at a dinner table, and a child worried about the second will get nothing from a story about the first.

Small bravery, told small

The most useful stories in this theme are the quiet ones, because most childhood fear is quiet.

The Anxious Leaf takes five minutes and is about a leaf frightened of what is going to happen to it. For a child dreading something on the calendar, it is better than any pep talk. Henny Penny, eight minutes, is about a worry that grows in the telling until the whole farmyard believes it, which is a thing children recognise instantly.

The Courteous Prince, six minutes, makes the case that politeness and bravery are the same muscle. Dapplegrim is four minutes and mostly momentum, which is the one to reach for when bedtime has already run late.

The big ones, and who they are for

At the other end of the shelf are the long, properly frightening tales, and they need the right listener and the right night.

The Baba Yaga, retold from Slavic folklore, is ten minutes with a genuine witch in it and suits ages five to eight. Hansel and Gretel is eight minutes and written here for six to ten. Seven At One Blow is seven minutes of a small tailor bluffing his way past giants, and it is funny as well as tense, which makes it the easiest of the three to end an evening on.

If the story itself is the frightening part

Some children love the shape of these tales but cannot take the detail. Little Red Riding Hood exists here in a shorter, less graphic version of four minutes for exactly that reason. Read it first, and keep the fuller Little Red Riding Hood for a year later. Fairy tales and fear covers how to tell which side your child is on, and what to do when your child won’t settle helps with the evenings when it has gone wrong.

Solving, shouldering and sticking at it

Three neighbouring themes take one part of courage each, and are often the better match.

Problem-solving, 111 stories, is courage that works by thinking rather than by charging. Responsibility, 96 stories, is about carrying something you would rather put down. Hard work, 35 stories, is the slowest kind: keeping going long after the excitement has worn off.

The night before something big

The most common reason a parent comes looking for a brave story is tomorrow: a first day, a hospital appointment, a school performance, a night away from home.

What to pick, and what to avoid

Avoid anything with a rescue in it, because the message a nervous child takes from a rescue is that somebody else will have to come. Choose a story where the character manages. The Dwarf With The Golden Beard is five minutes and turns on helping rather than winning. Prince Ariel, seven minutes, is bigger in scale but has the same centre.

Chicken Licken is the other useful one, at nine minutes: a scare that spreads through a whole farmyard on no evidence at all. Children who are worrying about tomorrow recognise themselves in it and laugh, which does more than reassurance does.

Read it the night before rather than on the morning itself. A story needs a night to settle, and a child who has slept on it will often produce the point back at you in the car, phrased as though they thought of it themselves. That is exactly what you wanted.

Which kind of courage, and which story
The fearStoryMinutesAges
Something on the calendarThe Anxious Leaf4-53-7
A worry that keeps growingHenny Penny83-7
Being smaller than everyoneSeven At One Blow75-8
The dark, and what is in itThe Baba Yaga105-8
Being separated from a parentHansel and Gretel86-10

The themes inside bravery & courage

Problem Solving 111 stories

Heroes who win by thinking, not by being biggest

All problem solving stories

Responsibility 96 stories

Promises kept, jobs done, and what happens when they are not

All responsibility stories

Hard Work 35 stories

Slow and steady, seed by seed, brick by brick

All hard work stories

Every bravery & courage story, A to Z

  1. A Little Princess13 min · Ages 6–10
  2. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp16 min · Ages 5–8
  3. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves19 min · Ages 6–10
  4. Beauty and the Beast14 min · Ages 4–8
  5. Chicken Licken8 min · Ages 4–8
  6. Dapplegrim4 min · Ages 4–8
  7. Goldilocks and the FOUR Bears!8 min · Ages 3–7
  8. Goldilocks and The Three Bears4 min · Ages 3–7
  9. Hansel and Gretel21 min · Ages 6–10
  10. Henny Penny8 min · Ages 3–7
  11. Huffy Puffy Wolf8 min · Ages 3–7
  12. Jack and the Beanstalk14 min · Ages 4–8
  13. Lily and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  14. Little Blue Riding Hood7 min · Ages 3–7
  15. Little Red Riding Hood13 min · Ages 4–8
  16. Little Red Riding Hood (A Gentler Retelling)4 min · Ages 3–7
  17. Long, Broad and Sharpsight7 min · Ages 6–10
  18. Mudjee Monedo10 min · Ages 6–10
  19. Old Sultan12 min · Ages 6–10
  20. Prince Ariel4 min · Ages 4–8
  21. Prince Darling13 min · Ages 4–8
  22. Prince Yamato Take9 min · Ages 5–8
  23. Princess Belle-Etoile9 min · Ages 4–8
  24. Princess Kwan-Yin10 min · Ages 6–10
  25. Princess Rose and the Golden Bird9 min · Ages 5–8
  26. Princess Rosetta7 min · Ages 4–8
  27. Princess Susie11 min · Ages 6–10
  28. Puss in Boots14 min · Ages 4–8
  29. Rapunzel21 min · Ages 5–12
  30. Seven At One Blow7 min · Ages 5–8
  31. Son of the Island and the Turtle7 min · Ages 4–8
  32. The Anxious Leaf5 min · Ages 3–7
  33. The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion6 min · Ages 4–8
  34. The Baba Yaga9 min · Ages 5–8
  35. The Bear and the Two Travelers9 min · Ages 4–8
  36. The Bird with Nine Heads7 min · Ages 6–10
  37. The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat8 min · Ages 3–7
  38. The Boy Who Cried Wolf6 min · Ages 4–8
  39. The Bull and the Goat6 min · Ages 3–7
  40. The Courteous Prince6 min · Ages 5–8
  41. The Crow Peri10 min · Ages 4–8
  42. The Dragon of the North8 min · Ages 5–8
  43. The Dragon Tamers7 min · Ages 4–8
  44. The Dwarf With The Golden Beard5 min · Ages 4–8
  45. The Elfin Knight8 min · Ages 5–8
  46. The Emperor’s New Clothes4 min · Ages 4–8
  47. The Faithless Parrot9 min · Ages 5–8
  48. The Farmer and the Pixie9 min · Ages 4–8
  49. The Fiery Dragon11 min · Ages 5–8
  50. The Fox and the Monkey6 min · Ages 4–8
  51. The Fox and the Pheasants5 min · Ages 4–8
  52. The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body8 min · Ages 4–8
  53. The Gingerbread Knight’s Sweet Victory in Space8 min · Ages 4–8
  54. The Gingerbread Man7 min · Ages 3–7
  55. The Goose Girl19 min · Ages 6–10
  56. The Great White Bear and the Trolls6 min · Ages 4–8
  57. The Hare and the Tortoise6 min · Ages 3–7
  58. The Kingdom of the Ogres8 min · Ages 4–8
  59. The Lad Who Went to the North Wind10 min · Ages 6–10
  60. The Light Princess7 min · Ages 5–8
  61. The Lion and the Boar7 min · Ages 4–8
  62. The Lion and the Fox8 min · Ages 5–8
  63. The Lion and the Mouse8 min · Ages 3–7
  64. The Lion and the Statue8 min · Ages 5–8
  65. The Lion and the Three Bulls7 min · Ages 4–8
  66. The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  67. The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts10 min · Ages 5–8
  68. The Little Mermaid16 min · Ages 6–10
  69. The Mad Goose and the Tiger Forest8 min · Ages 4–8
  70. The Master Maid9 min · Ages 4–8
  71. The Monkey and the Camel6 min · Ages 4–8
  72. The Musicians of Bremen13 min · Ages 4–8
  73. The Nodding Tiger5 min · Ages 3–7
  74. The Old Hound10 min · Ages 6–10
  75. The Old Lion and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  76. The Old Witch7 min · Ages 4–8
  77. The Peacock and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  78. The Pied Piper of Hamelin17 min · Ages 6–10
  79. The Pied Piper… and BUTTERFLIES!10 min · Ages 5–8
  80. The Prince and the Goblin7 min · Ages 6–10
  81. The Princess and the Pea6 min · Ages 3–7
  82. The Princess Mayblossom9 min · Ages 3–7
  83. The Princess Who Wasn’t8 min · Ages 4–8
  84. The Pumpkin Giant9 min · Ages 4–8
  85. The Queer Little Baker Man8 min · Ages 4–8
  86. The Ratcatcher7 min · Ages 4–8
  87. The Seven Foals6 min · Ages 5–8
  88. The Shepherd and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  89. The Six Swans14 min · Ages 4–8
  90. The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood14 min · Ages 4–8
  91. The Snow Queen8 min · Ages 4–8
  92. The Stones of Five Colours and the Empress Jokwa8 min · Ages 5–8
  93. The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Flower9 min · Ages 4–8
  94. The Tale of Tom Thumb11 min · Ages 6–10
  95. The Three Billy Goats Gruff7 min · Ages 3–7
  96. The Three Golden Apples5 min · Ages 4–8
  97. The Three Robbers9 min · Ages 4–8
  98. The Tinderbox15 min · Ages 6–10
  99. The Troll Wedding7 min · Ages 4–8
  100. The True History of Little Golden Hood6 min · Ages 4–8
  101. The Twelve Wild Ducks7 min · Ages 4–8
  102. The Two Soldiers and the Robber3 min · Ages 3–7
  103. The Wild Boar and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  104. The Wild Swans10 min · Ages 6–10
  105. The Wise Girl6 min · Ages 6–10
  106. The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids8 min · Ages 5–8
  107. The Yellow Dwarf8 min · Ages 5–8
  108. Three Feathers10 min · Ages 6–10
  109. Tom Tit Tot11 min · Ages 4–8
  110. Why The Animals No Longer Fear The Sheep7 min · Ages 4–8

Questions parents ask about bravery & courage stories

What is a good bedtime story for an anxious child?

The Anxious Leaf, about a leaf frightened of falling, takes about five minutes and ends reassuringly. Henny Penny suits a child whose worries snowball, because the story shows exactly that happening.

Are scary stories bad for children at bedtime?

A frightening story that resolves before the end tends to settle a child rather than unsettle them, because the danger has been closed. The problem is stopping halfway, or choosing a tale with more detail than your child can hold.

Which brave story is best for a three-year-old?

Dapplegrim at about four minutes, or Henny Penny at eight. Both are written for ages three to seven and neither has a villain that lingers.

Is there a gentler version of Little Red Riding Hood?

Yes. BedtimeStory.kids has a shorter, less graphic retelling of about four minutes for ages three to seven, alongside the fuller five-minute version for ages four to eight.