Purple bandReady now · Open and print today

The Naughty Boy

A fairy tale retold from Andersen's Fairy Tales, by H. C. Andersen

This fairy tale was written by Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish storyteller from the nineteenth century. Cupid was a figure from old Roman stories—a mischievous boy with a bow whose arrows made people fall in love. Andersen retells the myth as a cautionary tale: kindness is not always repaid, and some companions bring heartache rather than joy. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story is worth a child's time because it teaches that not everyone who seems charming can be trusted, and that actions have consequences.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 336 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Andersen's Fairy Tales, H. C. Andersen

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 (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · 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.

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