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Little Thumb

From The Blue Fairy Book, collected by Andrew Lang

This tale is one of the most famous stories collected by Charles Perrault in the seventeenth century and retold here from Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book (first published 1889). Like many European folk tales, it reflects the harsh realities of its era—famine, poverty, and the fear of abandonment—while celebrating the triumph of wit over brute strength. A few period terms have been modernised. The story rewards a careful reader: Little Thumb is introduced as almost silent and thought stupid, yet every word he does speak, and every action he takes, proves his intelligence. The tale raises questions still worth asking today—when is deception justified, and what do we owe to those who have wronged us?

Band

Blue · Independent readers, confidentTypical starting range: ages 12–14

Length

long · about 1075 words in 5 sections · 2 pictures

Source

The Blue Fairy Book, Andrew Lang

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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