Fairy Tales & Folklore Audiobooks

The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods

'Snow Drop and the Seven Dwarfs' also known as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'is a German fairy tale, written by Brothers Grimm, known across much of Europe and is today one of the most famous fairy tales worldwide. A queen gives birth to a baby daughter, a girl with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. She is named 'Snow White'. Sadly, the Good Queen, Snow White's mother, dies during childbirth. After a year has passed, Snow White's father, the King, takes a new and second wife, who is very beautiful, but a wicked and vain woman. The new queen, Snow White's evil stepmother, possesses a magic mirror, which she asks every morning, 'Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?' The mirror always replies: 'My Queen, you are the fairest one of all.' The Queen is always pleased with that, because the magic mirror never lies. But as Snow White grows up, she becomes more beautiful each day and even more beautiful than the Queen, and when the Queen asks her mirror, it tells her that Snow White is the fairest. This gives the queen a great shock. She becomes yellow and green with envy and from that hour on, her heart turns against Snow White, and she hates her more and more each day. Envy and pride, like ill weeds, grow in her heart taller every day, until she has no peace day or night. Eventually, the Queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the deepest woods to be taken...

Charles Perrault (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Story of the Youth who went forth to learn what Fear was

The Nightingale (Danish: 'Nattergalen') is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about an emperor who prefers the tinkling of a bejeweled mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale. Well received upon its publication in Copenhagen in 1843 in New Fairy Tales, the tale is believed to have been inspired by the author's unrequited love for opera singer Jenny Lind, the 'Swedish nightingale'. The story has been adapted to opera, ballet, musical play, television drama and animated film.

The Brothers Grimm (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Charles Baudelaire is one of the greatest French poets. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), was deemed scandalous at the time because of its themes of sex and death, lesbianism, corruption, wine, and the oppressiveness of living. Its powerful imagery and ravaging use of the senses had many name him an unequaled master; the effect on fellow artists was 'immense, prodigious, unexpected, mingled with admiration and with some indefinable anxious fear', while the regime of the Second Empire had Baudelaire prosecuted and fined for his 'insult to public decency'. Baudelaire's style had a tremendous influence on French poetry, and also on English writers; he was a pioneering translator, and created strong ties with the Anglo-Saxon literature. We have selected for you 16 of his most striking poems, indispensable masterpieces of passion that will take your breath away: Correspondences, Exotic Perfume, The Sick Muse, The Tempation, and many others.

The Arabian Nights (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Nightingale, a fairytale

We have selected for you 100 great quotes of Lao Tzu perfect for meditation. Lao-Tzu was a philosopher and poet of ancient China. He is known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, and as a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions. A central figure in Chinese culture, Lao Tzu is claimed by both the emperors of the Tang dynasty and modern people. Some of his great quotes are: 'When goodness is lost, it is replaced by morality.' 'Without Darkness, there can be no Light.' 'The usefulness of a pot comes from its emptiness.' 'The best people are like water, which benefits all things and does not compete with them. It stays in lowly places that others reject. This is why it is so similar to the Way.' 'When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad.' 'Try to change it and you will ruin it. Try to hold it and you will lose it.''Those who know do not say. Those who say do not know.''A journey of a thousand miles starts under one's feet.' A great quote is very similar to a great thinking and a small poem. It can encapsulate a large web of ideas, thoughts, reflections, emotions in a few words. The reader of a great quote is forced to think about what he just heard. He has to think about those words and what they mean. An excellent quote requires the reader to pause to contemplate the real meaning and poesy of a few words. A great thought reaches a level of universality. Quotes hit hard into the essence of being human. The right quote can help us to see some invisible meanings of things or subjects.

Hans Christian Andersen (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

Donkeyskin, a fairytale

The Ugly Duckling is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story tells of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from the others around him until, much to his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all. It was first published 11 November 1843, with three other tales by Andersen in Copenhagen, Denmark to great critical acclaim. The tale has been adapted to various media including opera, musical, and animated film. The tale is completely Andersen's invention and owes no debt to fairy tales or folklore.

Charles Perrault (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a very famous traditional fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. A wealthy widowed merchant lives in a mansion with his three daughters. All are equal in beauty, but the youngest, Beauty, is kind and pure of heart; while the two elders, in contrast, are wicked, selfish, vain and secretly taunt and treat Beauty more like a servant than a sister. The merchant eventually loses all of his wealth in a tempest at sea. One day, the merchant becomes lost in a forest. Seeking shelter, he enters a dazzling palace. A hidden figure opens the giant doors and silently invites him in. The merchant finds tables inside laden with food and drink, which seem to have been left for him by the palace's invisible owner. The merchant accepts this gift and spends the night there. The next morning as the merchant is about to leave, he sees a rose garden and recalls that Beauty had desired a rose. Upon picking the loveliest rose he can find, the merchant is confronted by a hideous 'Beast' which tells him that for taking his most precious possession after accepting his hospitality, the merchant must die. The merchant begs to be set free, arguing that he had only picked the rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The Beast agrees to let him give the rose to Beauty, but only if the merchant will return. The merchant is upset, but accepts this condition. Beauty says she wants to go to the Beast's castle. The Beast receives her graciously and informs her that she is now mistress of the castle, and he is her servant. He gives her lavish clothing and food and carries on lengthy conversations with her. Every night, the Beast asks Beauty to marry him, only to be refused each time. For several months, Beauty lives a life of luxury at the Beast's palace, having every whim catered to by servants, with no end of riches to amuse her and an endless supply of exquisite finery to wear...

Jeanne-Marie Leprince De Beaumont (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sinbad the Sailor, a 1001 nights fairytale

Arsene Lupin: one of the most famous and intriguing figures of French detective literature. He was created by Maurice Leblanc, a brilliant journalist, writer and storyteller, and is the hero of a total of 24 books, novels and short stories alike. The fictional gentleman thief is a master of disguise, a criminal genius and a moral figure well-set in righting a few wrongs himself when Justice can't be bothered. 'The Extraordinary Life of Arsène Lupin in Prison', as per the original title, opens with a letter from Lupin to Baron Nathan Cahorn. Lupin demands the wealthy Baron send him several of his most precious valuables, or else... he will come and take everything. But Lupin is incarcerated in the famous La Santé Prison! When the deadline comes, detective Ganimard and his men keep a keen eye on the belongings... This series of audiobooks recorded by the best storytellers recaptures all the elegance and finesse of the beloved French criminal.

The Arabian Nights (Author), Katie Haigh (Narrator)

Audiobook

30 Fables of La Fontaine for kids

'Hansel and Gretel' is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are young children whose father is a woodcutter. When a great famine settles over the land, the woodcutter's abusive second wife decides to take the children into the woods and abandon them there so that she and her husband will not starve to death, because the children eat too much. The woodcutter opposes the plan but finally and reluctantly submits to his wife's scheme. They are unaware that in the children's bedroom, Hansel and Gretel have overheard them. After the parents have gone to bed, Hansel sneaks out of the house and gathers as many white pebbles as he can, then returns to his room, reassuring Gretel that God will not forsake them. The next three days, the family walks deep into the woods and Hansel lays a trail of white pebbles. After their parents leave them, the children wait for the moon to rise before following the pebbles back home. They return home safely, much to their stepmother's horror. Once again provisions become scarce and the stepmother angrily orders her husband to take the children farther into the woods and leave them there to die. Hansel and Gretel attempt to leave the house to gather more pebbles, but find the doors locked and escape impossible...

Jean De La Fontaine, Jean de la Fontaine (Author), Stuart Walker (Narrator)

Audiobook

Spirit Animals #6: Rise and Fall

The adventure continues in this sixth book in the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series. Confidential until January 2015!

Eliot Schrefer (Author), Nicola Barber (Narrator)

Audiobook

Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland comes to life again in this dramatized version of the timeless classic, with stellar performances by Georgia Lee Schultz as Alice, and multi-award-winning Barbara Rosenblat as the Mouse, Duchess, Cheshire Cat, and the Queen. This version features a full cast of characters, music, and sound effects and introduces the original song 'My Garden Back Home.'Join Alice on her strange and wonderful adventures into the world of the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, and the Hatter. A Library Journal Editor's Pick of Fabulous Listens. An Official Selection of the 2014 HEAR Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival.

Lewis Carroll (Author), A Full Cast, Barbara Rosenblat, Georgia Lee Schultz (Narrator)

Audiobook

[Danish] - The Vampire Diaries #11: Den usynlige

Elena og Stefan møder i Dalcrest en fjende som er anderledes og farligere end nogen de indtil nu har været ude for, netop som de tror at de endelig kan begynde på det liv de har drømt om. Damon jages i Europa fra land til land af mystiske vampyrer som kan færdes frit i solen og tilsyneladende er usårlige.

L. J. Smith (Author), Anja Owe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lost

James Patterson brings the fifth and final book in the bestselling Witch & Wizard saga to a head by exposing the nature of power-and what it means for the heroes that have it. Whit and Wisty Allgood have fought and defeated their world's most pernicious threats: the evil dictator, The One Who Is The One, as well as his wicked father and son. But just as the heroic witch and wizard start to settle into their new roles in governance, a deadly crime wave grips their city, with all signs pointing to a magical mastermind every bit as powerful and heartless as The One. Now the siblings find themselves persecuted as the city turns against all those who possess magic. They're questioning everything, including each other and their abilities. Can they confront the citizens' growing hostility and their own doubts in time to face the new enemy barreling toward their gates?

Emily Raymond, James Patterson (Author), Spencer Locke (Narrator)

Audiobook