Giants, trolls and ogres

The giant story has one job: to let a small person win. That is the whole appeal, and it is why these six suit children who are otherwise cautious about frightening things. Jack and the Beanstalk is the English folk tale everyone knows, six minutes, and the giant is loud rather than clever. The Tale of Tom Thumb makes the point twice over, since the hero is the size of a thumb.

The two with a twist

The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body is a Norwegian-shaped puzzle: the giant cannot be killed until someone works out where he keeps his heart. The Selfish Giant, retold from Oscar Wilde, is not a defeat at all — the giant changes, and the story is gentler and sadder than the others.

A giant is a voice, and at bedtime the voice matters more than the words. Big and slow reads as safe. Big and sudden reads as frightening. Bringing the volume down while keeping the pitch low gives you a giant who is enormous without being alarming, which is the whole trick.

If your child is on the edge of finding this too much, our guide to fairy tales and fear is worth ten minutes. It covers the difference between a child who is scared and a child who is thrilled, and what to do when you have got it wrong.

Being honest about the frightening bit

Giants threaten to eat people. There is no version of Jack and the Beanstalk in which that is not true, and pretending otherwise leaves a child alone with it. Say it plainly instead — the giant wants to eat him, and he does not manage it — and then let the story do the reassuring. Children take comfort from the ending far more than from a parent insisting nothing bad happens.

If the giant does turn up at bedtime, the fix is rarely another conversation. It is a short, dull, warm story afterwards, and a light left on the landing.

Trolls are the friendlier end of this collection. Where a giant is a threat to be survived, a troll is usually an obstacle to be got around, and the stories treat them accordingly.

The Great White Bear and the Trolls is six minutes, listed for four to eight, and the trolls in it are more nuisance than menace. East of the Sun and West of the Moon is the eleven-minute Norwegian tale, listed from five to twelve, and it is the one to save for a night with no clock running.

For the same scale without a villain, try dragon stories, where most of the big creatures turn out to be friendly, or elves and dwarves for the small end of the same folklore. Bravery and courage stories covers the feeling your child is really after.