The little ones love to listen to fantastic stories, since their imagination has no limits and they never get tired of them . Some of these short stories for children date back centuries and have been passed down through generations, due to their ability to extol certain types of values that it is better to start knowing from a very young age.
The 10 best short stories to entertain the little ones in the house
We present some of the best stories for children that have transcended for centuries, courtesy of authentic experts in the field, such as the Grimm brothers or Charles Perrault.
1. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
Originally written by Charles Perrault in the late 17th century, the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf tells the story of a girl who must go through the woods to bring her grandmother a basket full of food for the snack. To prevent her from the potential dangers that could lie in wait for her, her good mother warned her not to talk to anyone she didn’t know. However, Little Red Riding Hood ignores her advice and strikes up a conversation with the Wolf, who tricks her into playing her game.
Despite being one of the best known children’s short stories of all time, this story actually talks about the danger of talking to strangers and the importance of listening to the advice that parents give us.
2. Rapunzel
The Brothers Grimm were the authors of most of the children’s stories that are still told today or about which new film adaptations are shot, showing how deeply rooted they are in popular culture.
In the case of Rapunzel, the Germans present us with a young woman kidnapped by a horrible witch , who is locked up at the top of a tower and who has long hair that reaches the ground. One day, she meets a handsome prince whom she falls in love with and plans to run away with hers.
But the witch is not willing to be alone , so she cuts her beautiful hair and pretends to be Rapunzel. When the prince arrives again to visit his beloved, the evil stepmother throws him out the window and, as a result, he goes blind. In the end, he is reunited with Rapunzel, who has managed to escape from him and who manages to cure his blindness through his tears. Finally, they run away from there as planned.
- More stories: 13 short bedtime stories (for children and adults).
3. Puss in Boots
The story of the miller’s son who inherited his cunning cat and how, thanks to this animal, he achieved the title of “Marques de Carabas”, along with a great fortune and a castle; teaches us the importance of ingenuity and cunning , in addition to transmitting essential values such as generosity.
Puss in Boots is one of the works of the French Charles Perrault, which today is one of the most popular children’s stories.
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Grimm brothers bequeathed us the story of Snow White, the girl whom the evil Queen wanted to see dead , after learning that she was no longer the most beautiful in the place. Thanks to the assistance of the brave dwarfs, Snow White was able to take refuge in her house so as not to be found and, although the evil Queen narrowly achieved her goal, the girl was saved by a prince’s kiss.
This is one of those stories that transmits values such as camaraderie and teamwork , while warning us against envy.
- You can also read: 10 Latin American short stories that will surprise you.
5. Jack and the Beanstalk
This is one of those children’s shorts whose author is unknown . It is mistakenly believed that Jack and the Beanstalk was written by Hans Christian Andersen, although many doubt this claim.
This story introduces us to Jack, the son of a farmer who sold his cow in exchange for 5 beans with magical properties. By planting and watering them, at night a gigantic plant grew that rose to the clouds. There, an immense castle was erected in which a marriage of giants lived. For 2 days, Jack managed to sneak in there and steal several of the giant’s treasures, until on the third day, the evil being surprised him and chased him down the plant.
But Jack was faster and, when he reached the ground, he took an ax and cut the roots, unbalancing the giant, who fell and died.
6. Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretal were children of such a poor marriage that their parents abandoned them in the forest because they could no longer support them. The children had no hope of surviving in the forest, but they found their way to a house that was made of caramel and chocolate.
In this house lived a witch who kidnapped them and fed them to get fatand be able to eat them. But one day, fed up with her captivity, Gretel confronted the witch just when she was going to put her brother in the huge oven in which she roasted her victims and locked her up. Finally, the brothers manage to find their way back home and reunite with their father.
7. The three little pigs
Story about the importance of effort and fellowship . They were three brother pigs who went to live on their own. To be protected from the wolf that roamed the place, they had to build a house that would allow them to do so. The oldest of them said that he would make a house out of straw, while the middle one would use wood and the youngest of the three would make it out of bricks. “But it will take forever!” his brothers told him, something that did not matter to him at all.
After the wolf destroys the houses of his two older brothers, the three little pigs take refuge in the little one’s house , who endured the onslaught of the beast. But the wolf did not give up, so he went up to the roof to sneak through the chimney and surprise the piglets. But the cunning little pig had the idea to place a boiling cauldron just below, so that the predator fell in and ran away in terror.
8. The Pied Piper of Hamelin
In the town of Hamelin they had a major problem: they were suffering from a plague of rats and the inhabitants could not be more fed up. Desperate, the mayor offered as a reward a sack full of gold coins for whoever got rid of the rodents.
After such a juicy prize was announced in all corners of the region, a mysterious man appeared ready to face the challenge, armed only with a wooden flute . Without further ado, he took it between his fine fingers and began to sing a beautiful melody while he walked through the streets, towards the outskirts of town. To the amazement of the neighbors, all the rats began to come out of the darkest corners, following the strange musician.
Soon after, the man returned claiming his reward , but the mayor refused to pay him even though he had kept his word. Outraged, the flutist played again, but this time another melody, while all the children of the town followed him as if hypnotized. For days and days no one knew what he had done with them, so the mayor decided to honor his treatment and paid him. Fortunately, the Pied Piper freed the children from his captivity.
9. Fearless Juan
He was nicknamed “Fearless Juan” because this boy was not scared by anything . Such was his fame, that the boys from his town constantly prepared traps and tricks for him to try to make him feel afraid, but his attempts were in vain.
The protagonist of this story for childrenHe was in love with the king’s daughter , who did not want to know anything about the young man, but he proposed a deal: if he was able to spend three nights without being scared and survived the horrors that inhabited the enchanted castle, where the monarch no longer lived for guilt of the curse that weighed on the place; he could marry his daughter.
Although the apparitions took place as soon as Juan arrived at the castle, the young man managed to avoid death and break the curse. So, he returned to marry his beloved, but found out what fear was when he began to tremble as he stood at the altar , waiting for his future wife to arrive.
10. Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Goldilocks is the girl in this children’s story who will learn a valuable lesson whenHe sneaks into a house that he finds walking through the woods , because there lived a family of three bears, who were not at that time.
Goldilocks began to snoop around the different rooms of the house: he tasted each of the dinner plates that were on the table and went to sleep in their beds. So comfortable was she, that she fell asleep where the little bear slept. When the three inhabitants returned, they found her there, so she had to run away from the place.
Stories like this teach us that we must respect the intimacy and privacy of other people’s property , a lesson that today many should refresh.
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