166 stories

Stories about big feelings

Sad, scared, jealous, cross: stories that name the feeling and let it pass

Stories about big feelings

One hundred and sixty-six stories here name a difficult feeling and let it pass: fear, jealousy, sadness, shame and anger. Most run five to ten minutes and suit ages 3–10.

A story is the safest place to meet a big feeling. These tales are about being scared of the dark, jealous of a new baby, lonely in a new place, or simply cross, and about what helped.

Where to start with stories about big feelings

12 of 166 to start with. The full list follows.

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…

7 min Ages 3–7 · Classic Tales The Ugly Duckling

A mother duck hatches a clutch of ducklings, but one egg is unusually large. When it hatches, the grey, scruffy…

9 min Ages 4–8 · Classic Tales The Velveteen Rabbit

Velveteen Rabbit, a well-loved toy, dreams of becoming real through a child's affection. Guided by the wise Skin Horse…

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 Bow and the Lyre

In a lush forest, an abandoned silver bow and golden lyre yearn for purpose. A wise old owl encourages them to join…

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…

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 3–7 · Classic Tales The Grasshopper and the Ants

Grasshopper loves summer fun, singing and dancing, while the busy ants gather food for colder days. When the rain and…

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 6–10 · Rhyming Stories & Poems The Raven

Young Edgar sits by the fire when a raven, Quasimodo, arrives with a mysterious message: "Nevermore." Quasimodo shares…

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…

Finding the story that matches tonight’s feeling

This is the collection parents come to with a specific problem rather than a spare twenty minutes. The stories are grouped here by the feeling they handle, because that is how the question arrives.

Worry and fear

The Anxious Leaf is the most direct, five minutes for ages 3–7, and it says plainly that being frightened is allowed and temporary. Chicken Licken at nine minutes does the same job through comedy: the sky is not falling, and everyone panicked for nothing.

Feeling left out or less than

The Ass and the Lapdog is six minutes about watching someone else be favoured. The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat at seven minutes is about not fitting into either group, which is a specific and painful feeling a seven-year-old can usually name. My Own Self runs ten minutes on the same ground more gently.

Sadness and hard times

A Little Princess is eleven minutes, ages 6–10, retold from Frances Hodgson Burnett, and it is the site's most sustained story about keeping going when everything has got worse. Pandora’s Box at six minutes ends on the fact that hope was in the box too.

Stories that admit things are hard

The reason these work is not that they teach a lesson. It is that they say the difficult thing out loud in someone else's voice, which is much easier for a child to accept than a conversation that starts "I noticed you seemed upset today".

The Butterfly at five minutes is the best example: it is about change being frightening and worth doing anyway, and it never once addresses the child. Riquet With The Tuft at seven minutes takes on how you look and what that is worth. The Blue Bird, nine minutes for ages 6–10, is about looking everywhere for happiness and finding it at home.

Say nothing at the end. If your child wants to connect it to their own day, they will, and our guide to how stories teach empathy explains why the indirect route does more than the direct one.

When a feelings story is the wrong choice

Three evenings to avoid

Three situations where you should pick something else. When the feeling is still raw, an hour after the argument, a story about jealousy reads as a telling-off. When your child is overtired, anything that asks for reflection makes bedtime longer. And when they have asked for something funny, give them something funny.

In all three cases take a short, undemanding story from gentle sleepy stories or a loud one from funny bedtime stories, and come back to this page tomorrow, when it is not about anything.

When the problem is not a story problem

If the worry is about the dark, about monsters or about the story itself, fairy tales and fear is the more useful page. For a child who keeps asking about one particular story, reading the same story every night explains what that repetition is doing.

Short ones for a night with no time

A hundred and sixty-six stories is too many to browse at bedtime, so these are the ones to remember. The Bow and the Lyre is three minutes on differences being the point. Goldilocks and The Three Bears at four minutes is quietly about apologising. Lily and the Lion and The Boy Who Cried Wolf both run five.

For anything longer, 10-minute bedtime stories gathers the full-length options, and kindness stories sits next door with a warmer version of much the same material.

Every story in stories about big feelings, A to Z

  1. A Little Princess13 min · Ages 6–10
  2. Babiole8 min · Ages 5–8
  3. Beauty and the Beast14 min · Ages 4–8
  4. Bushy Bride9 min · Ages 4–8
  5. Chicken Licken8 min · Ages 4–8
  6. Goldilocks and The Three Bears4 min · Ages 3–7
  7. Goody Two Shoes10 min · Ages 3–7
  8. Gubbon Seer7 min · Ages 5–8
  9. Hey Diddle Diddle, Little Red Hen9 min · Ages 3–7
  10. How Molo Stole the Lovely Rose-Red9 min · Ages 6–10
  11. Jimmy Scarecrow’s Christmas5 min · Ages 3–7
  12. Lily and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  13. Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe7 min · Ages 4–8
  14. Little Ida’s Flowers8 min · Ages 4–8
  15. Little Red Hen5 min · Ages 3–7
  16. Mudjee Monedo10 min · Ages 6–10
  17. My Own Self9 min · Ages 4–8
  18. Old Sultan12 min · Ages 6–10
  19. Pandora’s Box6 min · Ages 6–10
  20. Princess Kwan-Yin10 min · Ages 6–10
  21. Rabbit’s Eyes10 min · Ages 4–8
  22. Riquet With The Tuft9 min · Ages 4–8
  23. Rumpelstiltskin18 min · Ages 6–10
  24. Starlit Quest for the Cosmic Petal8 min · Ages 3–7
  25. Sunbeam's Journey to the Ice Planet's Heart10 min · Ages 5–8
  26. The Anxious Leaf5 min · Ages 3–7
  27. The Ass and His Shadows8 min · Ages 3–7
  28. The Ass and the Lapdog6 min · Ages 5–8
  29. The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion6 min · Ages 4–8
  30. The Astrologer Who Fell into a Well6 min · Ages 3–7
  31. The Bear and the Two Travelers9 min · Ages 4–8
  32. The Birdcatcher, the Partridge, and the Cock7 min · Ages 6–10
  33. The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat8 min · Ages 3–7
  34. The Blacksmith and His Dog7 min · Ages 4–8
  35. The Blue Bird20 min · Ages 6–10
  36. The Bow and the Lyre4 min · Ages 3–7
  37. The Boy Who Cried Wolf6 min · Ages 4–8
  38. The Bull and the Goat6 min · Ages 3–7
  39. The Butterfly5 min · Ages 3–7
  40. The Cat and the Old Rat11 min · Ages 4–8
  41. The Cat Who Could Eat So Much6 min · Ages 3–7
  42. The Clown and the Countryman6 min · Ages 3–7
  43. The Cobbler Turned Doctor6 min · Ages 5–8
  44. The Cock and the Jewel8 min · Ages 4–8
  45. The Crow Peri10 min · Ages 4–8
  46. The Daughter of the Mother in the Corner10 min · Ages 4–8
  47. The Devoted Friend6 min · Ages 4–8
  48. The Dog and the Cook5 min · Ages 3–7
  49. The Dog and the Shadow5 min · Ages 3–5
  50. The Dog in the Manger10 min · Ages 4–8
  51. The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat5 min · Ages 5–8
  52. The Dragon of the North8 min · Ages 5–8
  53. The Eagle and the Arrow6 min · Ages 4–8
  54. The Elder Tree Mother6 min · Ages 4–8
  55. The Emperor’s New Clothes4 min · Ages 4–8
  56. The Enchanted Pig8 min · Ages 4–8
  57. The Faithless Parrot9 min · Ages 5–8
  58. The Farmer and His Sons7 min · Ages 5–8
  59. The Farmer and the Snake6 min · Ages 3–7
  60. The Fiery Dragon11 min · Ages 5–8
  61. The Fir Tree5 min · Ages 3–7
  62. The Fisherman and His Wife9 min · Ages 6–10
  63. The Fly and the Draught-Mule7 min · Ages 3–7
  64. The Forgotten Tales of the Meteor Witch11 min · Ages 5–8
  65. The Four Wishes9 min · Ages 5–8
  66. The Fox and the Crow5 min · Ages 4–8
  67. The Fox and the Goat9 min · Ages 4–8
  68. The Fox and the Grapes6 min · Ages 4–8
  69. The Fox and the Leopard7 min · Ages 4–8
  70. The Fox and the Monkey6 min · Ages 4–8
  71. The Fox and the Pheasants5 min · Ages 4–8
  72. The Fox Without a Tail4 min · Ages 4–8
  73. The Frog and the Ox7 min · Ages 3–7
  74. The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body8 min · Ages 4–8
  75. The Goat and the Vine6 min · Ages 3–7
  76. The Golden Beetle8 min · Ages 4–8
  77. The Golden Goose13 min · Ages 4–8
  78. The Golden Nugget8 min · Ages 6–10
  79. The Golden Touch of King Midas9 min · Ages 6–10
  80. The Grasshopper and the Ants4 min · Ages 3–7
  81. The Happy Prince16 min · Ages 6–10
  82. The Hare and the Tortoise6 min · Ages 3–7
  83. The Hare with Many Friends7 min · Ages 3–7
  84. The Heifer and the Ox6 min · Ages 3–7
  85. The Horse and the Groom7 min · Ages 4–8
  86. The Kingdom of the Ogres8 min · Ages 4–8
  87. The Lark and Her Young Ones8 min · Ages 4–8
  88. The Light Princess7 min · Ages 5–8
  89. The Lion and the Boar7 min · Ages 4–8
  90. The Lion and the Fox8 min · Ages 5–8
  91. The Lion and the Statue8 min · Ages 5–8
  92. The Lion and the Three Bulls7 min · Ages 4–8
  93. The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  94. The Little Good Mouse9 min · Ages 4–8
  95. The Little Match Girl13 min · Ages 4–8
  96. The Little Mermaid16 min · Ages 6–10
  97. The Little Weed7 min · Ages 4–8
  98. The Lost Melody of the Nebula Brook10 min · Ages 6–10
  99. The Magic Fishbone6 min · Ages 5–8
  100. The Man and His Two Wives6 min · Ages 6–10
  101. The Man and the Wooden God6 min · Ages 6–10
  102. The Man Who Made The Trees Blossom5 min · Ages 4–8
  103. The Master Maid9 min · Ages 4–8
  104. The Mice in Council4 min · Ages 4–8
  105. The Milkmaid and Her Pail6 min · Ages 4–8
  106. The Miraculous Pitcher7 min · Ages 4–8
  107. The Mischievous Dog6 min · Ages 3–7
  108. The Monkey and the Camel6 min · Ages 4–8
  109. The Monkey as King8 min · Ages 5–8
  110. The Monkey’s Heart7 min · Ages 5–8
  111. The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk10 min · Ages 5–8
  112. The Nightingale11 min · Ages 8–12
  113. The Nurse and the Wolf6 min · Ages 4–8
  114. The Oak and the Reeds6 min · Ages 4–8
  115. The Old Hound10 min · Ages 6–10
  116. The Old Lion and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  117. The Old Man and Death8 min · Ages 5–8
  118. The Old Man and His Grandson8 min · Ages 4–8
  119. The Old Witch7 min · Ages 4–8
  120. The Old Woman and the Doctor6 min · Ages 3–7
  121. The One-Eyed Doe8 min · Ages 3–7
  122. The Ox and the Frog6 min · Ages 3–7
  123. The Pea Blossom6 min · Ages 4–8
  124. The Peacock and the Crane7 min · Ages 6–10
  125. The Peacock and the Fox6 min · Ages 4–8
  126. The Peasant and the Apple Tree5 min · Ages 3–7
  127. The Picky Prince, the Princess and the Peanut6 min · Ages 3–7
  128. The Pied Piper of Hamelin17 min · Ages 6–10
  129. The Pot and the Kettle7 min · Ages 3–7
  130. The Princess Who Wasn’t8 min · Ages 4–8
  131. The Pumpkin Giant9 min · Ages 4–8
  132. The Queer Little Baker Man8 min · Ages 4–8
  133. The Ratcatcher7 min · Ages 4–8
  134. The Raven4 min · Ages 6–10
  135. The Rich Man and the Tanner6 min · Ages 4–8
  136. The Ridiculous Wishes7 min · Ages 4–8
  137. The Rose and the Butterfly7 min · Ages 4–8
  138. The Sapphire Crown of the Desert Moon8 min · Ages 5–8
  139. The Selfish Giant14 min · Ages 4–8
  140. The Shepherd and the Lion5 min · Ages 4–8
  141. The Shepherd and the Sea5 min · Ages 3–7
  142. The Six Sillies7 min · Ages 3–7
  143. The Snow Queen8 min · Ages 4–8
  144. The Stag and His Reflection5 min · Ages 4–8
  145. The Stag at the Pool8 min · Ages 3–7
  146. The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean7 min · Ages 6–10
  147. The Swallow and the Other Birds4 min · Ages 4–8
  148. The Thief and the House-Dog4 min · Ages 4–8
  149. The Tinderbox15 min · Ages 6–10
  150. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse8 min · Ages 4–8
  151. The Troll Wedding7 min · Ages 4–8
  152. The Two Frogs5 min · Ages 4–8
  153. The Two Pots6 min · Ages 5–8
  154. The Two Soldiers and the Robber3 min · Ages 3–7
  155. The Ugly Duckling7 min · Ages 3–7
  156. The Vain Jackdaw7 min · Ages 4–8
  157. The Velveteen Rabbit9 min · Ages 4–8
  158. The Wasp and the Snake9 min · Ages 5–8
  159. The Water Lily and The Gold-Spinners5 min · Ages 3–7
  160. The Weeds8 min · Ages 4–8
  161. The Wild Boar and the Fox9 min · Ages 4–8
  162. The Wolf and the Shepherd8 min · Ages 4–8
  163. The Yellow Dwarf8 min · Ages 5–8
  164. Together We Are Good: The Day the Little Helpers Saved the Town7 min · Ages 3–7
  165. Why The Animals No Longer Fear The Sheep7 min · Ages 4–8
  166. Why The Autumn Leaves Are Red8 min · Ages 4–8

Collections that share these stories

Ranked by how many stories they have in common with this one.

Questions about stories about big feelings

What should I read to a child who is anxious?

The Anxious Leaf, five minutes for ages 3–7, is the most direct. Chicken Licken handles the same worry through comedy in about nine minutes.

How many stories about feelings are on this site?

One hundred and sixty-six, covering fear, jealousy, sadness, shame and anger, for ages 3 to 10.

Should I explain the lesson at the end of the story?

Usually not. Children connect a story to their own day in their own time, and an explanation at the end tends to turn the story into a telling-off.

Is there a story about feeling left out?

The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat, seven minutes, is about belonging to neither group. The Ass and the Lapdog covers watching someone else be favoured.

Can I read one of these straight after an argument?

Better not. An hour after the event a story about the same feeling reads as a lecture. Read something gentle tonight and come back to it another day.