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Fairy Tales

20 Fairy Tales Your Child Can Star In, and Who Each One Suits

Twenty classic tales retold with your child as the hero. What happens in each retelling, the age it suits, and which family members get a part of their own.

By Personalised Story Books Editorial Team · Published · 4 min read
Sleeping Beauty personalised story book – illustrated page 1

Key takeaways

  • Under five, choose gentle tales with repetition: Goldilocks, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, The Unicorn and the Rainbow.
  • From five, adventure tales work better: Peter Pan, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland.
  • Many tales have parts for family: in Cinderella a grandmother can be the fairy godmother, in Little Red Riding Hood a dad can be the woodcutter.
  • The retellings are softened for young children. The wolf is chased off, not eaten.

Fairy tales work so well for personalised books because children already know how they go. When the plot is familiar, all their attention goes to the one thing that’s new: that’s me walking through the woods.

These are the twenty tales in the I Am In The Story library. They are retold rather than copied from the originals, so it’s worth knowing what actually happens in each. We’ve grouped them by the kind of child they tend to suit and noted which family members can take a part.

Gentle ones for two to four year olds

Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Lost in the woods, the hero finds the cottage, the porridge, the chairs and the beds. In this version, when the bears come home it becomes a story about saying sorry, and ends in an unlikely friendship. Very gentle.

The Three Little Pigs. The hero helps the pigs build their houses, and the brick one stands up to every huff and puff. It’s quietly a story about doing a job properly, which some parents like for exactly that reason.

Little Red Riding Hood. A bit more suspense: a smooth-talking wolf, the famous “what big eyes you have”. The ending is a watchful child, a brave shout and a friendly woodcutter. Three family parts: the mother, grandmother and the woodcutter. We looked at the full sample book in this review.

The Unicorn and the Rainbow. There’s no villain at all. The hero helps a shy unicorn find seven lost colour crystals, and each crystal turns up after a small kind act, like freeing a rabbit caught under a branch. A lovely first book.

Adventures, from about five

Peter Pan. Fairy dust, Neverland, lost children, pirates and a ticking crocodile. In the sample book the hero rescues the lost children from the pirate ship, which five-year-olds love. A sibling or friend can play the boy in green.

Jack and the Beanstalk. The hero climbs above the clouds, finds the giant’s castle and the goose with the golden eggs, and gets down again by being quick and clever.

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. A lamp under the market, a genie, three wishes. The twist in this telling is that the best wish is the generous one.

Alice in Wonderland. For the child who asks “why?” all day. Growing cakes, the endless tea party, croquet with flamingos. The Mad Hatter can be played by almost anyone in the family, which is a good excuse to put a favourite uncle in a very tall hat.

Castles, spells and kindness, four to eight

Cinderella. One night of magic, one glass slipper left on the palace steps. It has the most family parts of any tale: the fairy godmother (a grandmother, aunt or mum), the prince (a friend or cousin) and the royal footman (dad, grandad or an uncle).

Sleeping Beauty. Here the hero isn’t the one asleep. They’re the one brave enough to find a way through the rose briars and wake the palace up. Grandmother can be the good fairy, a sibling the sleeping princess.

Snow White. A cottage of seven miners, a jealous queen’s apple, and friendship stronger than the spell. Dad or grandad can be the huntsman.

Beauty and the Beast. A story about patience and a friendship that breaks a curse. The father at home can be played by dad or grandad.

Clever heroes, four to eight

Hansel and Gretel. Written for two: the hero and a brother, sister, cousin or friend. The gingerbread house is there, but the story is about sticking together on the way home. Ideal for siblings.

Puss in Boots. The youngest child is left with only a cat and turns cleverness into a fortune. Grandad makes a good king.

Pinocchio. The interesting choice here is that your child isn’t Pinocchio. They’re his friend, who helps sand the wooden arms in the woodcarver’s shop, tries to warn him off the fairground and finally rows out to sea and finds him inside the whale. A sibling can play the puppet.

Can I Meet the Frog Prince? A golden ball down a well, a frog who asks for friendship, and a promise kept.

Magical, seasonal and sea stories

The Little Mermaid. The hero lives under the waves and can’t stop wondering about the world above. A storm, a rescue and a promise bring them to the surface, and the story ends with them finding a place between two worlds rather than Andersen’s heartbreak. A friend can be the rescued sailor, and almost anyone in the family can play the fiddler on the beach.

Rapunzel. A tower, very long hair and a curious heart that finally goes looking for the world outside.

The Nutcracker. Christmas Eve, a nutcracker that wakes at midnight, the Mouse King and the Land of Sweets. Grandad can be the godfather who brings the gift. See our Christmas guide for order dates.

The Little Match Girl. Andersen’s original is famously sad. This one isn’t: on a snowy New Year’s Eve each match opens a warm vision, and kindness, a kind baker and a remembered grandmother lead the hero safely home.

How we’d choose

Start with whatever your child already loves. If there’s nothing obvious, go by age: repetition and gentleness under five, adventure after. If a grandparent is giving the book, pick a tale with a part for them; these ones have a grandmother part, and there’s a list with a part for a brother or sister too.

Four of the tales have complete sample books you can read page by page before making your own: Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, Peter Pan and The Unicorn and the Rainbow.

Frequently asked questions

Which fairy tale should I choose?

The one your child already asks for. If there isn't one, Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks for under-fives and Peter Pan from about five are safe first choices.

Can a boy be the hero of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty?

Yes. The hero is your child, whoever they are, and the story is written around them. In Sleeping Beauty, for example, the hero is the one who finds a way through the roses and wakes the palace up.

Are the stories scary?

They keep a little tension, which children enjoy, but the frightening parts of the originals are gone. In Little Red Riding Hood the woodcutter sends the wolf running; in Hansel and Gretel the children outwit the stranger and walk home together.

Pick a fairy tale, add your child

Classic stories children already know by name — each one retold with your child on every page.

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