5 Classic Short Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm

Looking for a short fairy tale? Here are ten classic fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm. Writing in Germany in the 1800s, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm crafted and compiled some of the most famous fairy tales of all time, including “Snow White” and “Hansel and Gretel.” Their stories of enchantment, revenge, and occasional dismemberment have held readers captive for centuries. Each of these stories is under 4,000 words so you can easily enjoy these short fairy tales in a quick sitting when you have the time.

The Seven Ravens

“The Seven Ravens” is the story of a sister born after seven brothers. When her brothers turn into ravens, she must find a way to save them and make them human again.

The Juniper Tree

“The Juniper Tree” is the dark tale of an evil stepmother, her comically inadequate plot to hide her murder of her stepson, and his ultimate revenge.

The Six Swans

“The Six Swans” tells the tale of the children of a king. After the sons are turned into swans by their evil stepmother, their sister must find a way to turn them back.

Rapunzel

“Rapunzel” is a classic fairy tale about a girl trapped in a tower who lets down her beautiful golden hair for a prince to climb up. It has been adapted many times, most notably into the Disney movie Tangled.

The Frog Prince

“The Frog Prince” lets us hear the story of a prince who turns back into his human self from his frog form, not by being kissed, but by being thrown against a wall, rather satisfactorily.

To read these stories for yourself, you can find them free online or you can get a collection of them from your local library, bookstore, or Bookshop.org. (Penny Magic is a Bookshop affiliate, so buying through that link helps support our work!)

If you’re looking for more modern and unconventional fairy tales, Penny Magic’s first volume of stories, Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups is available for free to read online or in print in our store.

Book Word Count Guide: Novel, Novella, or Short Story?

Have you ever wondered what makes something a novel versus a novella? How short does a story have to be to be considered a short story? Below are some general rules for categorizing fiction by word length. While these rules aren’t hard and fast, they are a helpful guide to figuring out how a story might be categorized. 

Novel Word Count: Typically over 40,000 words for an adult novel

The average word count of a novel or book varies based on genre and audience. Novels can range from the shorter side—such as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald at 47,094 words—to much longer—such as War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy at 587,287 words. 

Looking for the length of a certain novel? Check out websites such as Word Counters or Reading Length to look up the word count of a specific book. Or view this infographic from Electric Lit to see word counts of famous novels and series.

Novella Word Count:  20,000 to 50,000 words

Novellas fill an odd space in the reading world—somewhere between a really long short story and a short novel. As you can see, the typical word count will even overlap between a short novel and a novella. For readers, if you’re reading a standalone book that is over 40,000 words, you’ll probably think of it as a novel rather than a novella. You might encounter novellas more frequently on digital reading platforms, as they are very popular formats for genre ebooks. Or you might spot a novella in an anthology with other stories either by the same author or of the same genre. 

Short Story Word Count: Typically 1,000 to 10,000 words

Short stories often come in collections, obscuring just how long or short they are. Typically, magazines or short story contests look for short stories that are under 10,000 words. Here on Penny Magic, we publish short stories that range from about 1,500 to 7,500 words. We love to publish short stories around 5,000 words because those will take the average reader about 20 minutes to read—a perfect length of time to add some fiction to your day. 

Flash Fiction Word Count: Under 1,000 words

Flash fiction stories are typically stories told in under 1,000 words. This length of story has become increasingly popular as the internet makes it easy to share very short stories via blogs or social media. There are a ton of places online to read flash fiction such as Flash Fiction Online or The New Yorker. 

Microfiction or Mini Story Word Count: Various measurements, often under 100 words or under 280 characters

If flash fiction is growing in popularity because of the internet, this length of story probably owes its life to it. While 100-word stories have been around for a long time, online platforms have made sharing these ultra-short stories easier than ever. Twitter in particular offers a unique platform for telling 280-character stories, the maximum length of a tweet. Many writers participate in writing a daily story this way using the hashtag #vss365. Follow the hashtag for a daily dose of microfiction, or follow us on our Penny Magic Instagram or Twitter to read our mini stories, all under 280 characters. 

Short Story Examples: Contemporary and Classic

Looking for examples of short stories? 

Short stories are often considered any story under 10,000 words in length, usually closer to 7,500. If a story is under 1,000 words, it is often considered flash fiction, a subset of short stories that are even shorter than traditional short stories. 

Short stories often span across genres, with some of the most prominent writers of the 20th century prolifically publishing short stories, including authors like Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, and Shirley Jackson. 

Penny Magic looks to bring readers delightful stories of literary and speculative fiction, as well as classics that will encourage readers to spend more time reading fiction. The examples below are curated to reflect that desire. 

Classic Short Story Examples

You can find curated examples of classic short stories on our classics page such as: 

You can also find more classic short stories for free on Project Gutenberg. Or, if you looking to read short stories in print, you can find many options at your favorite bookstore or in your local library. Here are a few collections to consider as you start:

Contemporary Short Story Examples

You can find examples of contemporary short stories of literary and speculative fiction here for free on our site as well as read aloud on our podcast, including stories and genres like:

Penny Magic focuses on delightful stories of literary and speculative fiction around 5,000 words in length, but you can find other contemporary short stories in publications like The New Yorker or The Atlantic.

What are your favorite examples of short stories? If you love an author’s short stories, do you also enjoy their other work? Find us on our social media to let us know your favorites. 

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