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111 stories · part of Bravery & Courage

Problem Solving stories

Heroes who win by thinking, not by being biggest

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Problem Solving stories

In these 111 stories the hero wins by thinking rather than by being biggest. A crow raises the water with pebbles, a tailor sets two giants against each other, and a small animal talks its way out of trouble. Most run four to nine minutes.

In these stories the hero is smaller, weaker or poorer than the problem, and wins anyway by thinking. The brave little tailor counts flies; the miller's daughter learns a name; the crow drops pebbles into the jug. Children love them because the solution is something they could have thought of, and next time perhaps they will.

Good for the child who is starting to enjoy riddles, and for the parent who would like bedtime to end with "how did she know to do that?" rather than "one more".

Where to start in problem solving

12 of the 111 stories in this theme, picked as good first choices: the shortest, the gentlest and the best loved.

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…

 7 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Tortoise and the Hare

In a lush valley, the speedy Hare challenges the steady Tortoise to a race. Hare's confidence soars, while Tortoise…

 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…

 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 3–7 · Classic Tales The Crow and the Pitcher

A thirsty crow searches for water on a scorching day. He finds a pitcher, but the water is too low to reach. With a…

 4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Dog and the Oyster

Rex, a curious dog in a quaint seaside village, discovers a glistening oyster on the beach. Intrigued by a faint sound…

 4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Farmer and the Fox

Farmer Tom is known for his kindness and bountiful farm. Reynard the sly fox, always looking for an easy meal, spots…

 4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Fox Without a Tail

Fawkes the fox loves playing tricks, but one mischievous prank goes wrong, leaving him injured and full of regret. He…

 4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Mice in Council

Master Mouser calls a council of mice, sparking curiosity throughout their quaint village. As winter approaches, the…

 4 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The North Wind and the Sun

The boastful North Wind challenges the gentle Sun to see who is more powerful. They agree to a contest: make a…

 4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Swallow and the Other Birds

A proud Swallow boasts about his perfect, mud-free nest, believing it superior to all others. When a fierce storm…

 4 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Thief and the House-Dog

Rex, a fluffy house dog, lives happily with the kind Johnson family. One night, a cunning thief named Jack targets…

Three ways a clever hero gets out of it

Children copy the method, not the moral. It is worth knowing which sort of cleverness a story is about before you start, because they teach quite different things.

By noticing

The Crow and the Pitcher is the cleanest example on the site: four minutes, ages 3–7, and the answer is sitting on the ground the whole time. The Dog and the Oyster works the same way in about the same time.

By joining forces

Nobody solves The Enormous Turnip alone, and that is the whole idea. The Bundle of Sticks makes the same point with a demonstration a child can repeat with pencils, and The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat gives the smallest creature the casting vote.

By keeping your head

Seven At One Blow is the bluffing story: a small tailor who is never once stronger than anyone he meets. It runs seven minutes and suits five to eight.

Fables where the clever plan fails

Roughly half this theme is Aesop, and Aesop is at least as interested in bad thinking as in good. These are the ones to read when a child is convinced they already know best.

The Fox and the Crow is five minutes of flattery working exactly as intended. The Boy Who Cried Wolf is the classic account of a trick that stops working, and Chicken Licken at nine minutes is a whole crowd of animals reasoning badly from one acorn. Its shorter cousin Henny Penny tells the same panic in eight gentler minutes.

The two panics, side by side

Chicken Licken and Henny Penny are the same rumour spreading through the same farmyard, told twice. The first is marked adventurous and the second gentle, and the difference is entirely in the telling rather than the plot. If your child found one of them too much, the other is worth a try before you give up on the story altogether.

The useful thing about all of these is that the mistake is visible. A child watching a fox flatter a crow can see the trap from outside it, which is a far better position to learn from than being told afterwards that they should have known.

Turning the story into a puzzle

These stories are the easiest in the library to read as a game, because each one has a genuine problem and one right moment to pause.

Stop when the character is stuck, not when they have already begun to solve it. Ask what you would do. Accept a silly answer without correcting it, then read on and let the story answer for itself. A child who has guessed wrong and been allowed to guess wrong will listen harder next time.

Our guide on questions to ask during a bedtime story covers how to do this without turning the last ten minutes of the day into a comprehension test.

One warning. Some of these have solutions a modern child will object to, and the objection is usually fair. How Molo Stole the Lovely Rose-Red is nine minutes for ages six to ten and turns on taking something that is not yours. If your child says the clever plan was not a good plan, agree with them rather than defending the fable.

Where to go when these run out

This theme sits under bravery and courage, and the two nearest neighbours are responsibility, where the trouble comes from a promise rather than a puzzle, and hard work, where the answer is effort rather than a trick.

If it is the fables your child has taken to rather than the adventures, go straight to Aesop’s fables, which collects the shortest of them in one place. For a night with only a few minutes in it, the five-minute stories page is quicker to scan than this one.

Five clever heroes and how each one wins
StoryThe problemHow it is solved
The Crow and the PitcherWater out of reachDrops in pebbles
The Enormous TurnipToo big to pullEveryone pulls together
Seven At One BlowTwo giantsSets them against each other
The Fox and the CrowCheese in a beakFlattery, and it works
The Bundle of SticksBrothers quarrellingA bundle nobody can break

Every problem solving story, A to Z

  1. Chicken Licken8 min · Ages 4–8
  2. Henny Penny8 min · Ages 3–7
  3. How Molo Stole the Lovely Rose-Red9 min · Ages 6–10
  4. Huffy Puffy Wolf8 min · Ages 3–7
  5. Mudjee Monedo10 min · Ages 6–10
  6. Seven At One Blow7 min · Ages 5–8
  7. The Ass and His Shadows8 min · Ages 3–7
  8. The Ass and the Lapdog6 min · Ages 5–8
  9. The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion6 min · Ages 4–8
  10. The Astrologer Who Fell into a Well6 min · Ages 3–7
  11. The Bald Man and the Fly6 min · Ages 3–7
  12. The Bear and the Two Travelers9 min · Ages 4–8
  13. The Bird with Nine Heads7 min · Ages 6–10
  14. The Birdcatcher, the Partridge, and the Cock7 min · Ages 6–10
  15. The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat8 min · Ages 3–7
  16. The Boy Who Cried Wolf6 min · Ages 4–8
  17. The Bull and the Goat6 min · Ages 3–7
  18. The Bundle of Sticks7 min · Ages 3–7
  19. The Cat and the Mice6 min · Ages 3–7
  20. The Cat and the Old Rat11 min · Ages 4–8
  21. The City Mouse and the Country Mouse8 min · Ages 3–7
  22. The Clown and the Countryman6 min · Ages 3–7
  23. The Cobbler Turned Doctor6 min · Ages 5–8
  24. The Cock and the Jewel8 min · Ages 4–8
  25. The Crow and the Pitcher4 min · Ages 3–7
  26. The Crow and the Swan7 min · Ages 4–8
  27. The Dog and the Cook5 min · Ages 3–7
  28. The Dog and the Oyster4 min · Ages 4–8
  29. The Dog and the Shadow5 min · Ages 3–5
  30. The Dog in the Manger10 min · Ages 4–8
  31. The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat5 min · Ages 5–8
  32. The Eagle and the Arrow6 min · Ages 4–8
  33. The Enormous Turnip6 min · Ages 3–7
  34. The Farmer and the Cranes5 min · Ages 3–7
  35. The Farmer and the Fox4 min · Ages 3–7
  36. The Farmer and the Snake6 min · Ages 3–7
  37. The Farmer and the Stork5 min · Ages 3–7
  38. The Fiery Dragon11 min · Ages 5–8
  39. The Fighting Bulls and the Frog6 min · Ages 4–8
  40. The Fly and the Draught-Mule7 min · Ages 3–7
  41. The Four Wishes9 min · Ages 5–8
  42. The Fox and the Crow5 min · Ages 4–8
  43. The Fox and the Goat9 min · Ages 4–8
  44. The Fox and the Leopard7 min · Ages 4–8
  45. The Fox and the Monkey6 min · Ages 4–8
  46. The Fox and the Pheasants5 min · Ages 4–8
  47. The Fox and the Stork7 min · Ages 3–7
  48. The Fox Without a Tail4 min · Ages 4–8
  49. The Frog and the Ox7 min · Ages 3–7
  50. The Gingerbread Man7 min · Ages 3–7
  51. The Goat and the Vine6 min · Ages 3–7
  52. The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs6 min · Ages 3–7
  53. The Hare and the Tortoise6 min · Ages 3–7
  54. The Heifer and the Ox6 min · Ages 3–7
  55. The Lion and the Boar7 min · Ages 4–8
  56. The Lion and the Fox8 min · Ages 5–8
  57. The Lion and the Mouse8 min · Ages 3–7
  58. The Lion and the Statue8 min · Ages 5–8
  59. The Lion and the Three Bulls7 min · Ages 4–8
  60. The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  61. The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts10 min · Ages 5–8
  62. The Man and His Two Wives6 min · Ages 6–10
  63. The Man and the Wooden God6 min · Ages 6–10
  64. The Mice in Council4 min · Ages 4–8
  65. The Milkmaid and Her Pail6 min · Ages 4–8
  66. The Monkey and the Camel6 min · Ages 4–8
  67. The Monkey as King8 min · Ages 5–8
  68. The Monkey’s Heart7 min · Ages 5–8
  69. The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk10 min · Ages 5–8
  70. The Musicians of Bremen13 min · Ages 4–8
  71. The Nodding Tiger5 min · Ages 3–7
  72. The North Wind and the Sun4 min · Ages 3–7
  73. The Nurse and the Wolf6 min · Ages 4–8
  74. The Oak and the Reeds6 min · Ages 4–8
  75. The Old Hound10 min · Ages 6–10
  76. The Old Lion and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  77. The Old Man and Death8 min · Ages 5–8
  78. The Old Witch7 min · Ages 4–8
  79. The Old Woman and the Doctor6 min · Ages 3–7
  80. The One-Eyed Doe8 min · Ages 3–7
  81. The Peacock and the Crane7 min · Ages 6–10
  82. The Peacock and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  83. The Peasant and the Apple Tree5 min · Ages 3–7
  84. The Picky Prince, the Princess and the Peanut6 min · Ages 3–7
  85. The Pot and the Kettle7 min · Ages 3–7
  86. The Rich Man and the Tanner6 min · Ages 4–8
  87. The Ridiculous Wishes7 min · Ages 4–8
  88. The Shepherd and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  89. The Six Sillies7 min · Ages 3–7
  90. The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean7 min · Ages 6–10
  91. The Swallow and the Other Birds4 min · Ages 4–8
  92. The Thief and the House-Dog4 min · Ages 4–8
  93. The Thieves and the Cock4 min · Ages 4–8
  94. The Three Billy Goats Gruff7 min · Ages 3–7
  95. The Tinderbox15 min · Ages 6–10
  96. The Tortoise and the Ducks6 min · Ages 3–7
  97. The Tortoise and the Hare7 min · Ages 3–7
  98. The Two Frogs5 min · Ages 4–8
  99. The Two Pots6 min · Ages 5–8
  100. The Two Soldiers and the Robber3 min · Ages 3–7
  101. The Vain Jackdaw7 min · Ages 4–8
  102. The Wasp and the Snake9 min · Ages 5–8
  103. The Wild Boar and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  104. The Wise Girl6 min · Ages 6–10
  105. The Wolf and the Crane7 min · Ages 4–8
  106. The Wolf and the Lamb7 min · Ages 6–10
  107. The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids8 min · Ages 5–8
  108. The Wolf and the Shepherd8 min · Ages 4–8
  109. The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing6 min · Ages 5–8
  110. Tom Tit Tot11 min · Ages 4–8
  111. Whatever Happened to the Pea?5 min · Ages 3–7

Questions parents ask about problem solving stories

What are problem-solving stories good for?

They show a child a character who is stuck and then thinks their way out, which is a more useful model than a hero who is simply stronger than everyone else. There are 111 of them on BedtimeStory.kids.

Which is the best one to start with?

The Crow and the Pitcher. It takes four minutes, the problem is obvious, the solution is physical, and a three-year-old can follow both.

Are these stories all Aesop's fables?

Many are, but not all. Alongside the fables there are folk tales such as The Enormous Turnip and Seven At One Blow, and original stories written for this site.

Should I stop and ask my child what they would do?

Once per story, at the point where the character is stuck, works well. Stopping repeatedly breaks the rhythm and makes bedtime feel like schoolwork.