Folk Myths

Audible are delighted to present Sleeping Beauty, a unique listening experience for all the family to enjoy over the Christmas season. This exclusive new audio drama has been created in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and is inspired by Tchaikovsky's beloved ballet music. Marty Ross’s reimagining of the famous fairy story draws on the worlds of folktale and the Brothers Grimm, while the LSO's specially-commissioned new recording, conducted by Gavin Sutherland, weaves through the drama like a rich and majestic film score.

Magical retellings of four classic fairy tales.

"The Little Mermaid", read by Tamsin Greig: The youngest child of the Mer King lives in a beautiful underwater city. "Rumpelstiltskin", read by Stephen Mangan: A beautiful miller's daughter is locked away by the King and told she will never see her family again unless she spins straw into gold. "The Snow Queen", read by Stephen Mangan: Sebastian and Anna are best friends who do everything together. "The Little Match Girl", read by Tamsin Greig: It is bitterly cold, and the Little Match Girl is walking the icy streets in bare feet, trying to sell just one box of matches.

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Magical retellings of three classic fairy tales, read by Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan. In "Aladdin", Aladdin is a tailor's son who dreams of making his fortune and marrying the Sultan's daughter, but is tricked into becoming apprentice to a cunning magician. He needs Aladdin to do a very special job - climb down into a deep, dark cave and fetch an oil lamp...

An approved textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since its first publication, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an indispensable guide to the magical beasts of the wizarding world. It showcases a menagerie of magical creatures, explained enchantingly by noted magizoologist, Newt Scamander, who you may remember from the film series of the same name.

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she’s about to be reunited with Percy - after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera - it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo’s fantastical creation doesn’t appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans.

Born in 1628, Parisian Charles Perrault was aptly credited as being the “father” of a then-new literary genre: the fairy tale. Often drawing from his own surroundings (the Chateau Ussé was the model for "Sleeping Beauty", while the Marquis of the Château d'Oiron inspired the delightful "Puss-in-Boots"), Perrault originally penned the tales as moral stories for his own three children.

Relive the magic of captivating legends and folktales in this rich collection on Celtic Mythology. In 58 BCE, when Julius Caesar – the famous Roman general – wrote a commentary on the Gallic wars, he described the “Celt” speaking people who lived in the area then known as the Gaul. These people had their own culture, gods, and beliefs – called Celtic Mythology – which were very different from the Romans. The influence of this mythology, however, was not limited to a small territory.

From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat.

It began as a dream, a quest for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, a mythic place where each night an order of owls rises to perform noble deeds. There Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger hope to find inspiration to fight the evil that dwells in the owl kingdom.

The journey is long and harrowing. When Soren and his friends finally arrive at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, they will be tested in ways they never dreamed and face challenges they never imagined.

Many years ago, the proudest animal in the jungle was not the peacock. The proudest animal was the tiger. In this folktale from Vietnam, we see how Tiger's pride leads him to covet wisdom and, with the help of a wise farmer, earn his stripes. Illustrated by Baird Hoffmire.

Featuring sword-happy heroes, badly-behaved Gods, a monstrous minotaur, a narcoleptic dragon and more nymphs than you can poke a stick at! Master storyteller R.A. Spratt (bestselling author of Friday Barnes and the Bedtime Stories with R.A. Spratt podcast) weaves her comedic magic through this captivating collection of epic tales, perfect for fans of Roald Dahl, David Walliams and Paul Jennings.

Athena always knew she was smart and special, but she didn’t realize that she was a goddess! When she’s whisked away to Mount Olympus Academy, she worries about fitting in and dealing with her dad (Zeus). Luckily, she meets the Goddess Girls and finds the best friends she’s ever had.

When first published, Walker’s versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey attracted attention for the quality of the writing. Multi-award-winning author Gillian Cross makes two of the greatest stories in the world come alive for children in her strong, clear, deceptively simple retellings, which are faithful to the spirit and structure of Homer’s epic poems, and this new bind-up in a friendly format comes complete with an introduction.

In this follow-up to New York Times best sellers The Isle of the Lost and Return to the Isle of the Lost, Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay face their biggest challenge yet as a rotten villain from their past returns. They'll have to do everything in their power - good and evil - to keep Auradon safe.

Masha is a lovely little girl who lost her way in the forest. Now to find her way back she will have to plan a trick on the bear who had held her captive.

Embark on an extraordinary voyage through six captivating worlds of folklore and myth. Across more than one hundred and ten hours of immersive storytelling, you’ll witness common threads of wonder that unite us all—no matter how far apart our cultures may be.

Relive the tale of Sleeping Beauty, a beautiful princess hidden away, a witch's curse, her fairy godmothers, a handsome prince, and the magic of true love's kiss, in this collection of classic tales from Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.

Harriet Hamsterbone is not your typical princess. She may be quite stunning in the rodent realm (you'll have to trust her on this one), but she is not so great at trailing around the palace looking ethereal or sighing a lot. She finds the royal life rather...dull. One day, though, Harriet's parents tell her of the curse that a rat placed on her at birth, dooming her to prick her finger on a hamster wheel when she's 12 and fall into a deep sleep. For Harriet, this is most wonderful news: It means she's invincible until she's 12!

What will the pretty little fly do when she is asked to join the big, hairy spider in his parlor? The fly has heard that those who visit the spider never come back, but the scary spider tries to trick the innocent fly. This dark fable, by accomplished writer and poet Mary Howitt, has been a favorite for generations. Now, Davina Porter’s charming narration illuminates the cautionary tale for a whole new audience.