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The Story of the Three Bears

A fairy tale retold from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

This story is from English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs and first published in 1890. Jacobs gathered traditional tales told across England for generations. In this version, the visitor is an old woman; in later tellings, she became a little girl named Goldilocks. The tale teaches children about respecting others' homes and belongings, and shows that curiosity without permission can lead to trouble. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band
Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5
Length
short · about 351 words in 5 sections · 4 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 (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
4
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 Story of the Three Bears at other bands