Skip to content
HummingReadStories that grow with you.
Green bandReady now · Open and print today

The Three Sillies

From English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs

Joseph Jacobs collected this folk tale and published it in English Fairy Tales, first published in 1890. The story has been told in England for generations, and it teaches a lesson through laughter. Jacobs travelled widely to gather traditional stories and present them for children to enjoy. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. This tale is worth reading because it shows how worrying too much about things that haven't happened — and may never happen — can make us miss what is right in front of us.

Band
Green · Independent readers, earlyTypical starting range: ages 9–11
Length
medium · about 844 words in 6 sections · 3 pictures
Source
English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs
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)

Lesson at a glance

Reading
about 10 minutes at this band
Pause questions
2
Words to Know
5
Quick Check
10 questions, with the answer key
Let’s Talk
2 questions for afterwards
Worksheet
questions, an activity and a drawing prompt

About 35 minutes with one story, all of it.

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.

Report a concern about this reader · What’s in a HummingRead reader

The same story

The Three Sillies at other bands

Yellow band

The Three Sillies

Joseph Jacobs

medium · 564 words · also in Green

Ready now