Worldwise Fables
The books

Seven volumes

Between fourteen and twenty short tales per volume, each retold for the voice rather than the eye. A chapter takes about ten minutes aloud.

The volumes, in order

Cover of Volume One: Aesop and the Classical WorldVolume OneCover of Volume Two: Tales from the Indian Subcontinent, Book OneVolume TwoCover of Volume Three: AfricaVolume ThreeCover of Volume Four: Europe and the Silk RoadVolume FourCover of Volume Five: East and Southeast AsiaVolume FiveCover of Volume Six: Tales from the Indian Subcontinent, Book TwoVolume SixCover of Volume Seven: The Pacific and the AmericasVolume Seven
Cover of Volume One: Aesop and the Classical World
1Volume One

Aesop and the Classical World

Fables from the Olive Groves and the Wine-Dark Sea

You already know the tortoise and the hare. You probably have not said it out loud since somebody said it to you.

A hare who cannot imagine losing. A boy who calls wolf across a quiet valley, twice, for the fun of it. An oak that has never once bent, and the thin reeds beside it that bend every time the wind comes.

Dust on the road. A cracked water jar. The smell of a fig tree in the heat.

The fables the whole world grew up on.

Ten chapters, twenty talesKindle $4.99Paperback $9.99
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Cover of Volume Two: Tales from the Indian Subcontinent, Book One
2Volume Two

Tales from the Indian Subcontinent, Book One

Stories from the Great Rivers and the Roof of the World

The oldest teaching stories on earth were never meant for silent reading. Here is how they were meant to sound.

A net full of quails lifts off the grass together. A jackal dyes himself blue and becomes a king. A donkey sings at exactly the wrong moment.

River mud drying on a cart wheel. A brass bell far up the valley. Monsoon rain starting on broad leaves.

From the Panchatantra and the Jataka tales, among the oldest story collections in the world, and from the high kingdoms of Tibet and Bhutan.

Ten chapters, twenty talesKindle $4.99Paperback $9.99
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Cover of Volume Three: Africa
3Volume Three

Africa

Stories from the Forest, the Savannah, and the Long Blue Coast

Anansi stories were built to be answered out loud. Your living room counts as a circle.

Anansi gathers all the world's wisdom into one pot, and cannot climb a tree while carrying it. A hare outruns a lion on the open plain. A man grows rich on a name that was only ever a polite reply.

Red dust on the road. A clay pot cooling in the shade. Drums somewhere beyond the trees.

The tales that taught a continent how to be clever.

Ten chapters, twenty talesKindle $4.99Paperback $9.99
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Cover of Volume Four: Europe and the Silk Road
4Volume Four

Europe and the Silk Road

Stories from the Northern Forests and the Roads Running East

Some of these tales walked five thousand miles to reach this page. The last few feet are yours.

A poor girl gives away everything she owns and the stars fall to pay her. A grandfather is given back his place at the table. A wise fool of the Turkish roads gets the last word, as usual.

Snow settling on a woodpile. A market square at first light. Tea steaming beside a long road.

Turkish wise fools, Arabic wonders, and European wintertime stories.

Eight chapters, sixteen talesKindle $4.99Paperback $9.99
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Cover of Volume Five: East and Southeast Asia
5Volume Five

East and Southeast Asia

Stories from the Island Seas and the Old Empires

The smallest creature in the tale is usually three moves ahead of the largest. Listeners work this out fast, and start cheering.

A monkey talks his way off a crocodile's back. A mouse-deer counts the crocodiles in a river and gets clean across. A dog finds a heap of gold, and a neighbour learns that copying a kindness is not the same as doing one.

Rain on a bamboo roof. A river the colour of tea. Plum blossom on a cold morning.

The small creature who is always three moves ahead.

Nine chapters, eighteen talesKindle $4.99Paperback $9.99
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Cover of Volume Six: Tales from the Indian Subcontinent, Book Two
6Volume Six

Tales from the Indian Subcontinent, Book Two

Stories from the Foothills, the Delta, and the Frontier

Some stories are kept alive by books. These were kept alive by grandparents.

An ant whispers in an elephant's ear on behalf of a sparrow. A weaver marries a princess through a jackal's outrageous lies, and it is the princess who saves them both. A whole town talks itself into believing there is a goblin in the dark.

Woodsmoke in a mountain valley. Rice drying on a wide mat. A jackal calling at dusk.

The Hitopadesha, the great story-books of Bengal and the Punjab, and two chapters the author heard first from a grandparent's own mouth.

Seven chapters, fourteen talesKindle $4.99Paperback $9.99
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Cover of Volume Seven: The Pacific and the Americas
7Volume Seven

The Pacific and the Americas

Stories from the Great Ocean, the Ice, and the Two Americas

Māui roped the sun to make the days longer. Reading aloud does roughly the same thing.

Māui fishes an island out of the sea. Raven steals the daylight and gives it away. A field-mouse challenges a buffalo to a fair fight, and wins.

Salt spray on black rock. Snowlight at noon. A fire built small against the dark.

Two of these chapters were written down by Native authors telling their own people's stories.

Nine chapters, eighteen talesKindle $6.99Paperback $13.99
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What you can trust in every volume

  • Almost every tale comes from a collection now in the public domain, credited by name at the back. The handful that came down through a family rather than a book are identified as such.
  • Every change made in the retelling is written down, including anywhere the old version was harsher than a child needs.
  • Two wondering questions after every tale, so the story keeps going after the book shuts.
  • A glossary and pronunciation guide in every volume, for the names that are worth saying properly.
Who these books are for

For children of all ages who love a good story. For teens meeting these tales again. For grown-ups who never stopped loving the old ones. And for the person doing the reading, who is allowed to enjoy it too.

Giving back

Ten percent goes to people and animals in need

Ten percent of the royalties from these books, and of the proceeds from the printables shop, is given away. It is shared between:

  • People hit by natural disasters, beginning with the families in Nepal after the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli floods, through relief funds such as the Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund of Nepal.
  • People living through war and instability, through humanitarian charities such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
  • Stray and abandoned pets in North America and Europe, through shelters and rescue charities such as the Toronto Humane Society, the BC SPCA, Humane Canada, Humane World for Animals and Dogs Trust.
“The Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster was not just a local tragedy, it was a warning to the world.”Prime Minister Balendra Shah of Nepal, address to the United Nations General Assembly, September 2026