Favorite Fairy Tales
- List of the Month
- January 2026 (see all)
- Talk
- January 2026 List of the Month: Favorite Fairy Tales
- Description
- Charming, disturbing, archetypal. There are many things that can be said about the stories we call fairy-tales. Our January 2026 List of the Month is devoted to our Favorite Fairy Tales, including collections, individual retellings, and fiction based on known fairy-tales. For the purpose of this list, this does not include fiction which has fairy-tale trappings (castles, princesses, etc), but is wholly original. Each member may add fifteen titles, and if adding fiction, is encouraged to include a note indicating what story is being retold/adapted. Please only downvote titles which do not fit the theme.
1
6,808 members
217 reviews
4.1
Score 82.89
Added 2026-01-08, 02:22 PM
- 24 Members
- Aquila, tardis, Caramellunacy, TeresaInTexas, foggidawn, raidergirl3, wanderlustlover, grayle, lizzy50usa, merrystar, nessreader, souloftherose, vwinsloe, thelorelei, AbigailAdams26, Avida_Lectrix, ctafoyat, MsSally, tmerp, ggnanadesikan, PequeaLibrary, DeEstie, SandyBaySeamstress, SamanthaComer101,
- Explanations
- AbigailAdams26: As the sub-title makes plain, this is a novelized retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
2
- 16 Members
- Aquila, tardis, jain, foggidawn, norabelle414, JennyArch, thelorelei, Msmedea, Verkruissen, msjudy, SandyAMcPherson, ctafoyat, Kalira, tmerp, SandyBaySeamstress, SamanthaComer101
- Explanations
- Aquila: Elements of Rumplestiltskin and the Miller's DaughterSandyAMcPherson: Interwoven with Jewish folklore and Eastern European legends as well as Rumpelstiltskin
3
6,405 members
162 reviews
4
Score 43.92
Added 2026-01-08, 02:47 PM
- 13 Members
- paradoxosalpha, pitjrw, specialkay, sturlington, souloftherose, TheLOFT, Msmedea, ctafoyat, Charon07, Edward528, SZvan, SamanthaComer101, Dirwin56
- Explanations
- paradoxosalpha: Includes multiple versions of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Red Riding Hood," as well as "Puss in Boots," Bluebeard, and othersCharon07: Retellings of Grimm fairy tales
4
2,293 members
68 reviews
4.1
Score 39.26
Added 2026-01-08, 02:25 PM
- 12 Members
- Aquila, tardis, pitjrw, bjappleg8, grayle, merrystar, souloftherose, ManWithAnAgenda, ctafoyat, Grassangel, ZephCraven, SamanthaComer101
- Explanations
- Aquila: This contains elements of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer
5
- 13 Members
- Caramellunacy, foggidawn, raidergirl3, norabelle414, bjappleg8, JennyArch, msjudy, ctafoyat, EGBERTINA, stickeminastew, kelidw, DeEstie, SamanthaComer101
- Explanations
- foggidawn: As the title says, a retelling of The Goose Girl
6
- 11 Members
- Aquila, karenb, TeresaInTexas, jain, wanderlustlover, lizzy50usa, saskia17, merrystar, nessreader, ManWithAnAgenda, ctafoyat
7
- 11 Members
- knerd.knitter, nessreader, TheLOFT, Verkruissen, vickidoyle, ctafoyat, EGBERTINA, MsSally, E.Weathington, SamanthaComer101, DeeDee77
8
- 13 Members
- tardis, foggidawn, thelorelei, passion4reading, Msmedea, Verkruissen, ctafoyat, Brandy1411, MsSally, tmerp, ggnanadesikan, SandyBaySeamstress, SamanthaComer101
- Explanations
- foggidawn: Elements of Beauty and the Beast, but with lots of other bits and pieces of fairy tales.
9
6,364 members
320 reviews
4
Score 36.2
Added 2026-01-09, 08:55 AM
- 12 Members
- jain, bjappleg8, JennyArch, Verkruissen, SandyAMcPherson, ManWithAnAgenda, ctafoyat, Brandy1411, quebuen0, MsSally, kelidw, SueLovesReading
- Explanations
- bjappleg8: combines elements and characters from Russian folklore
10
by Jacob Grimm
17,358 members
134 reviews
4.2
Score 28.42
Added 2026-01-08, 02:30 PM
- 10 Members
- norabelle414, cbl_tn, merrystar, tina1969, AbigailAdams26, ManWithAnAgenda, Avida_Lectrix, beatlegrrl, DeEstie, Dirwin56
11
1,731 members
43 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 28.25
Added 2026-01-08, 04:19 PM
- 9 Members
- TeresaInTexas, jain, foggidawn, lizzy50usa, merrystar, nessreader, al.vick, EGBERTINA, hungrycaterpillar
- Explanations
- foggidawn: A retelling of Tam Linhungrycaterpillar: my favorite book of all time
12
1,646 members
40 reviews
4
Score 26.8
Added 2026-01-08, 02:48 PM
13
- 9 Members
- tardis, jain, foggidawn, norabelle414, Verkruissen, SandyAMcPherson, Brandy1411, Grassangel, Edward528
- Explanations
- norabelle414: A retelling of Sleeping Beauty
14
17,351 members
577 reviews
4.1
Score 22.84
Added 2026-01-08, 05:05 PM
- 7 Members
- Minthe, raidergirl3, msjudy, EGBERTINA, Tosta, kelidw, SamanthaComer101
15
- 8 Members
- tardis, hipdeep, grayle, msjudy, ManWithAnAgenda, Boand, Edward528, SamanthaComer101
- Explanations
- hipdeep: Elements of Cinderella, and a bunch of others.
16
6,808 members
202 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 21.74
Added 2026-01-11, 01:06 AM
- 8 Members
- hipdeep, grayle, perennialreader, JennyArch, msjudy, hungrycaterpillar, tmerp, CreatingCuriosity
17
1,298 members
82 reviews
3.8
Score 20.03
Added 2026-01-08, 03:03 PM
- 7 Members
- Aquila, souloftherose, TheLOFT, JennyArch, Msmedea, ManWithAnAgenda, Tosta
- Explanations
- Aquila: Sleeping Beauty, a lot of sleeping beauties.
18
- 7 Members
- grayle, lizzy50usa, merrystar, thelorelei, ggnanadesikan, PequeaLibrary, CreatingCuriosity
- Explanations
- lizzy50usa: McKinley's second retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Different enough from Beauty to be worth the time to read.
19
1,275 members
20 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 19.09
Added 2026-01-09, 01:02 AM
- 7 Members
- tardis, karenb, TeresaInTexas, lizzy50usa, saskia17, nessreader, SandyAMcPherson
20
6,249 members
385 reviews
4.1
Score 18.52
Added 2026-01-12, 01:53 PM
- 6 Members
- JennyArch, thelorelei, Herrington33, msjudy, kelidw, tmerp
- Explanations
- msjudy: Yiddish Kabal magic meets Syrian mythology.
21
- 6 Members
- TeresaInTexas, norabelle414, saskia17, treegardner, Charon07, Grassangel
- Explanations
- saskia17: Representing the whole series of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books
22
- 5 Members
- cbl_tn, BonnieJune54, stephanieann1983, ManWithAnAgenda, jwindisch
- Explanations
- BonnieJune54: Rapunzel is included with the nursery rhyme characters.
23
2,450 members
27 reviews
4.2
Score 16.46
Added 2026-01-09, 11:15 PM
- 6 Members
- cbl_tn, BonnieJune54, thelorelei, msjudy, Boand, arogers8706
- Explanations
- msjudy: Beautiful illustrations. I inherited this edition and a matching Grimms fairy tales, from my father's sister.
24
1,719 members
31 reviews
3.8
Score 15.48
Added 2026-01-09, 07:21 AM
- 5 Members
- Minthe, thelorelei, Boand, Dirwin56, arogers8706
25
4,960 members
167 reviews
4
Score 15.18
Added 2026-01-08, 03:08 PM
- 6 Members
- hipdeep, norabelle414, saskia17, TheLOFT, ManWithAnAgenda, slimikin
- Explanations
- saskia17: First in amazing series of graphic novels full of many fairy tale characters
26
7,861 members
144 reviews
4
Score 14.83
Added 2026-01-21, 02:02 AM
- 5 Members
- tardis, grayle, al.vick, tmerp, CreatingCuriosity
- Explanations
- CreatingCuriosity: The Pied Piper
27
667 members
46 reviews
3.8
Score 14.83
Added 2026-01-11, 10:16 AM
- 5 Members
- ManWithAnAgenda, Tosta, Charon07, SealedArchive, Grassangel
- Explanations
- Charon07: Inspired by Bluebeard
28
- 5 Members
- TeresaInTexas, grayle, lizzy50usa, thelorelei, SandyAMcPherson
- Explanations
- lizzy50usa: Retelling of Sleeping Beauty
30
- 5 Members
- jain, lizzy50usa, merrystar, sarw, Grassangel
- Explanations
- lizzy50usa: Beauty and the Beast
31
2,577 members
29 reviews
3.9
Score 13.11
Added 2026-01-11, 12:09 PM
- 4 Members
- sturlington, treegardner, ManWithAnAgenda, SZvan
32
4,582 members
136 reviews
3.9
Score 12.96
Added 2026-01-08, 02:41 PM
- 5 Members
- grayle, Bookwomble, msjudy, ManWithAnAgenda, ZephCraven
- Explanations
- ZephCraven: Perhaps a bit of a stretch, but one could argue that Clarke has written some rather classic fairytales (parts of which border on retellings) using modern, creative forms. Some of my favorites stories: especially John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner.
33
3,069 members
41 reviews
3.8
Score 12.65
Added 2026-01-09, 01:07 AM
- 5 Members
- nessreader, thelorelei, treegardner, Avida_Lectrix, CreatingCuriosity
- Explanations
- CreatingCuriosity: Robin Hood
34
2,113 members
27 reviews
4
Score 12.53
Added 2026-01-11, 01:07 AM
35
210 members
1 review
4.2
Score 12.36
Added 2026-01-20, 09:22 PM
- 5 Members
- TeresaInTexas, grayle, epaterson, BonnieJune54, kelidw
36
- 4 Members
- TheLOFT, thelorelei, slimikin, SZvan
- Explanations
- slimikin: A retelling of "Allerleirauh" ("All-Kinds-of-Fur")
37
52,921 members
871 reviews
4.2
Score 12.23
Added 2026-01-11, 12:11 PM
- 4 Members
- specialkay, perennialreader, Rommert, kelidw
38
15,168 members
423 reviews
4.1
Score 12.06
Added 2026-01-21, 01:58 AM
- 4 Members
- Avida_Lectrix, ggnanadesikan, DeEstie, CreatingCuriosity
- Explanations
- CreatingCuriosity: Cinderella
39
858 members
9 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 11.91
Added 2026-01-08, 09:14 PM
- 4 Members
- aprille, TeresaInTexas, TracyNectoux, Dirwin56
40
7,553 members
343 reviews
3.9
Score 11.42
Added 2026-01-11, 01:05 AM
- 4 Members
- TheLOFT, passion4reading, msjudy, ManWithAnAgenda
41
2,027 members
27 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 11.41
Added 2026-01-10, 06:24 PM
- 5 Members
- grayle, lizzy50usa, merrystar, thelorelei, tmerp
- Explanations
- lizzy50usa: A story collection, one of which is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princessesmerrystar: Also includes a telling of The Princess and the Frog, and The Hunting of the Hind
42
- 4 Members
- epaterson, ManWithAnAgenda, Boand, Charon07
- Explanations
- Charon07: At the heart of the novel is the poem “The Fairy Melusine” by the fictional poet Christabel LaMotte.
44
9,291 members
147 reviews
½ 3.5
Score 10.97
Added 2026-01-08, 03:00 PM
- 4 Members
- norabelle414, stephanieann1983, DeEstie, CreatingCuriosity
45
- 4 Members
- tardis, foggidawn, JennyArch, ggnanadesikan
- Explanations
- foggidawn: Snow White, but from another perspective
47
49
1,664 members
28 reviews
3.8
Score 9.5
Added 2026-01-08, 07:21 PM
- 3 Members
- book58lover, kelidw, arogers8706
50
- 4 Members
- foggidawn, grayle, merrystar, Avida_Lectrix
- Explanations
- foggidawn: A retelling of The Dancing Princesses
53
54
1,303 members
16 reviews
½ 4.4
Score 9.02
Added 2026-01-15, 02:29 PM
- 3 Members
- perennialreader, treegardner, PovesteaPreferata
- Explanations
- PovesteaPreferata: Read poetry, discover hidden surprises and even play along with Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, Gingerbread Man, Three Little Pigs, Nursery Rhymes characters
55
4,231 members
275 reviews
4.1
Score 8.96
Added 2026-01-16, 11:29 PM
57
4,790 members
144 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 8.75
Added 2026-01-09, 08:49 AM
- 3 Members
- bjappleg8, thelorelei, Avida_Lectrix
- Explanations
- bjappleg8: inspired by the Six Swans
59
417 members
5 reviews
3.9
Score 8.61
Added 2026-01-08, 03:20 PM
- 3 Members
- kleo, masterdeski, Dirwin56
- Explanations
- masterdeski: Thistledown is my favorite one in this collection
60
- 3 Members
- aprille, sturlington, hungrycaterpillar
- Explanations
- sturlington: Retelling of Sleeping Beauty
61
- 3 Members
- saskia17, nessreader, Kalira
- Explanations
- saskia17: Representative of this whole series of anthologies
62
64
- 3 Members
- TeresaInTexas, SandyAMcPherson, Brandy1411
- Explanations
- SandyAMcPherson: Book 2 The Arthurian Merlin Saga: based on Celtic legends arising from 5th century (AD) Britain.
65
67
by Neil Gaiman
2,443 members
156 reviews
4
Score 7.35
Added 2026-01-11, 01:08 AM
- 3 Members
- stephanieann1983, msjudy, Edward528,ManWithAnAgenda
- Explanations
- msjudy: A bit of Sleeping Beauty, a bit of Snow White. Gorgeous illustrations.
68
- 3 Members
- foggidawn, raidergirl3, norabelle414
- Explanations
- foggidawn: Elements of Russian fairy tales, including Vasilisa the Brave, The Firebird, and Baba Yaga
70
71
- 2 Members
- princessgarnet, pitjrw
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: Got this book as a gift while I was in middle school.
72
73
- 2 Members
- Grassangel, CreatingCuriosity
- Explanations
- CreatingCuriosity: Exploring Cinderella and other stories with fairy godmothers from the Fairy godmother's perspective.
75
- 3 Members
- grayle, lizzy50usa, saskia17
- Explanations
- lizzy50usa: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
76
by Maria Tatar
758 members
14 reviews
½ 4.5
Score 6.31
Added 2026-01-08, 09:13 PM
- 2 Members
- TracyNectoux, Dirwin56
78
157 members
1 review
½ 3.5
Score 5.71
Added 2026-01-17, 06:26 AM
81
486 members
32 reviews
4.2
Score 5.6
Added 2026-01-20, 02:33 PM
82
1,277 members
42 reviews
3.8
Score 5.5
Added 2026-01-12, 10:21 AM
- 2 Members
- Edward528, hungrycaterpillar
- Explanations
- Edward528: Connected retellings of several well-known stories,
83
85
by Neil Gaiman
892 members
44 reviews
4.1
Score 5.38
Added 2026-01-11, 12:09 PM
- 3 Members
- sturlington, stephanieann1983, kelidw,ManWithAnAgenda
- Explanations
- sturlington: Graphic retelling of Snow White
87
507 members
5 reviews
3.8
Score 5.35
Added 2026-01-12, 10:22 AM
- 2 Members
- ManWithAnAgenda, Edward528
- Explanations
- Edward528: Neapolitan fairy tale collection which predates Perrault and the Grimms.
90
15,371 members
493 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 5.14
Added 2026-01-21, 02:03 AM
- 2 Members
- kelidw, CreatingCuriosity
- Explanations
- CreatingCuriosity: Plays with the tropes of first, middle, and youngest children's fates in fairy tales.
91
92
27,203 members
493 reviews
3.8
Score 5.12
Added 2026-01-08, 05:06 PM
- 3 Members
- raidergirl3, Cecrow, al.vick,ManWithAnAgenda ,Grassangel
94
by A. A. Milne
9,835 members
93 reviews
½ 4.4
Score 5.02
Added 2026-01-17, 06:29 AM
- 3 Members
- epaterson, Rommert, treegardner,tardis ,CreatingCuriosity
96
98
- 2 Members
- thelorelei, SZvan
- Explanations
- SZvan: "The Goose Girl", where it matters that the rightful queen lives among the city's peasants
100
