Can be fantasy or not. It would be great if the stories are traditional, or rooted in traditional stories, but this is not essential. Can be set anywhere in the world, or nowhere in particular. Focus on animal, mythical or human protagonists.
Key features are vivid descriptions of nature and some element of mystery and/or adventure.
The younger child struggles with anything gory or lots of death, so nothing too grim. Equally, nothing too babyish.
Illustrations would be great, but aren't a deal breaker.
These are for reading as bedtime stories. A narrative that will captivate the kids is the most important thing. We have had some short story and fairy tale books in the past that have just been a bit dull.
by everythingscatter
3 Comments
Depends on the ages, but The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton is a classic if they’re under ten. It’s not short stories, but each chapter is a little adventure on its own.
Great Swedish Fairy Tales, illustrated by John Bauer. Great old stories, protagonist are humans and/or trolls, illustrations are gorgeous.
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede. They’re wonderful to read out loud and not gory at all. When wizards start a war, the good guys fight them with buckets of soapy water with a little lemon. It melts the wizards for a few days, then they reform. It’s a rework of traditional fairy tales (ex: the MC helps Rumplestiltskin start a charitable fund so he can spin straw into gold to take care of the dozens of children he has custody of, the giant from Jack becomes a consultant because he’s tired of pillaging, etc).