Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Fifty Famous Fairy Tales  By  cover art

Fifty Famous Fairy Tales

By: Rosemary Kingston - editor
Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.22

Buy for $13.22

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Here is a timeless and wonderful collection from the best sources of fairy tales: Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Antoine Galland.

Tales in this collection include: "Puss in Boots", "Rumpelstiltskin", "The Frog Prince", "Cinderella and the Glass Slipper", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "The Wild Swans", "Snow White and Rose Red", "The Spirit in the Bottle", "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Three Bears", "The Musicians of Bremen", "The Fisherman and his Wife", and many others sure to be familiar to children and adults alike.

(P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Marguerite Gavin reads the entire collection, and her pleasant, articulate voice is welcome story after story." (School Library Journal)
"Gavin's assured, velvety voice is a good match for this adaptation of an anthology first published in 1917....Gavin's consistent, even-keeled delivery make this a good choice for bedtime and quiet time, for listeners both young and older." (Publishers Weekly)
"What a treat to have a compendium of the greats of folk literature from the European tradition narrated by Marguerite Gavin, who evokes memories of one's own mother reading the stories by one's bedside. Her steady, soothing voice navigates the familiar...and treasured, but less well-known, tales." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Fifty Famous Fairy Tales

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    133
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    25
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    79
  • 4 Stars
    41
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    88
  • 4 Stars
    38
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

good narration, easy to understand

I downloaded a few different fairy tales series for my kids to listen to in the car. This was by far the best. A lot of the other stories that I downloaded had complex language that made it hard for my kids (4 and 7) to understand. This one is free of annoying music and the narrator speaks with a clear american accent. Several of the other story collections were narrated by people with thick English accents making it hard for young American ears to understand. This is also 6 hours long which is great because it provides so many hours of entertainment and also, the adult is not forced to listen to the same stories over and over again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Put my kids to sleep!

Any additional comments?

I got this book to listen to with my kids in the car. They fell asleep every time I put it on. The stories are classics, but the narrator is fairly monotone, certainly not captivating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Very Nice

These are well done, back to back and seem to captivate my 4 and 7 year old children in the back seats while I drive. I only wish the reader would announce the end at the close of each story as there is a time of reflection on what each story meant that I think the children and I with the children could benefit from. What I've started doing, when I'm listening with the children (and not talking to my passenger or just concentrating on my driving) is to say "The end." in an announcement fashion. Sometimes I stop the recording at this point to ask what lesson did each child learn, starting with the 4 year old. Nearly every story has a lesson and the children love to hear the stories over and over it seems. I highly recommend this collection.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • D.
  • 04-25-13

Why are there only 18 chapters?

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If there were 50 chapters, I would give it 5 stars. My kid loves it, but he gets very frustrated that he cannot jump right to the stories he wants to hear. I will contact customer support. If they cannot fix it, I'll get a refund and find another way to get this audiobook in proper digital format.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Hard Pass!

I can see why this is free. By the 3rd or fourth story the characters had involved themselves in black skin and they were black slaves introduced. I put this on for bedtime stories....yikes!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible, boing narration.

We tell fairytales often so they are old friends. I downloaded this book to save my voice. Unfortunately the narration is dull, boring and slightly less than human. I almost wondered if it was an automated computer narration. The kid begged me to turn it off pretty quickly, even though they love the stories. “She’s boring, you tell the stories.” Rhys defeating the point. I would never buy or listen to another story narrated by this woman.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

There are not 50 fairytales

There are not 50 fairytales in his recording, so you’re going to be disappointed if you expect it to actually be telling the truth with the title. There’s nothing wrong with what’s here, but I don’t know why it’s called this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great retelling of well known fairy tales

Narrator is excellent, a very good reading voice and beautiful singer. Stories told without over-acting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Worst Narration EVER!

Would you try another book from Adapted by Rosemary Kingston and/or Marguerite Gavin?

NO. She reads like a robot. It's like a female text-to-speech engine not a person.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Marguerite Gavin?

A human? Plus fairy tales need music in the back ground if the narrator isn't going to read with any emotion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fair Collection of Fairy Tales

If you are looking for a collection of fairy tales that has a good collection of classics and lesser known tales then this is a good option. The narrator is ok. Her voice is pleasant enough although sometimes she lacks emotion.
Many, if not most, of these tales have been edited slightly and are not as gruesome as the originals, but some still retain their “gothic” elements. If you want Disney, this isn’t it, but if you want something more tame than the original Grimm tales then these should suit you well.
I do love that this collection includes “Little One Eye, Two Eyes, and Three Eyes.” It was always a favorite of mine from my old book of stories. It is not usually included or known about, at least in my circle of acquaintances.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful