King Canute on the Seashore

A story retold from Fifty Famous Stories by James Baldwin

This story comes from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin, published in 1896. King Canute (also spelled Cnut) really was king of England in the early 1000s, and this famous tale has been retold for centuries to show the difference between earthly power and divine power. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story is worth reading because it shows how a wise leader can teach an important lesson with actions instead of just words, and because it reminds us that no person, however great, is all-powerful.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 541 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.