The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

A fairy tale from Grimms' Fairy Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

This tale comes from Grimms' Fairy Tales, collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s in Germany. The brothers gathered stories told by ordinary people and published them for everyone to enjoy. This story explains why beans have a black line down their side — a playful "why" tale with talking objects who become friends. Like many Grimm tales, it mixes everyday life (an old woman cooking) with a bit of magic (objects that talk and travel). This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 353 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Grimms' Fairy Tales, Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm · Project Gutenberg

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

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.