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The Six Sillies

A folk tale from The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

This folk tale comes from The Red Fairy Book, a collection published by Andrew Lang in 1890. The story is from Hainaut, a region in Belgium. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. It is a silly story: everyone in the tale does something foolish, and a patient young man learns that silly people are everywhere. Children enjoy the repetition, the growing silliness and the satisfying ending where the young man keeps his word.

Band
Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5
Length
short · about 353 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures
Source
The Red Fairy Book, Andrew Lang
First published
1890
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)

Lesson at a glance

Reading
about 8 minutes at this band
Pause questions
5
Words to Know
4
Quick Check
6 questions, with the answer key
Let’s Talk
3 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.

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The same story

The Six Sillies at other bands

Yellow band

The Six Sillies

Andrew Lang

medium · 542 words · also in Purple

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