King Alfred and the Cakes

From Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin

This story comes from Fifty Famous Stories Retold (1896) by American author and educator James Baldwin. It tells a famous legend about King Alfred the Great, who ruled England over a thousand years ago and defended his country from Viking invaders. The story of the burned cakes has been told for centuries to show that even a great king can make a mistake—and that he had the humility to accept a scolding from someone who did not know who he was. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 545 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fifty Famous Stories Retold, James Baldwin · 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 (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page

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.