Books in the Wonder-Story Books series are collections of fairy tales and folktales that were also used as reading primers. They were first published in the late 1930s, but their copyrights were renewed, and the books were reprinted in the 1950s and 1960s.

Some printings of the books also include sections of poetry in the back. The poems typically tell a story or reference fairy tale elements, but themes vary. Some of them are nursery rhymes, but others are poems by well-known children’s authors.

The illustrations in these books are beautiful! Some are black-and-white, and others are full color.

Books in the Series:

I Know a Story (1938, 1953, 1962)

Book 1 in the series. The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Stories

The Gingerbread Boy
The Three Bears
Billy Goats Gruff
Mr. Vinegar
The Straw Ox
Little Red Riding Hood
The Boy Who Went to the North Wind

Stories in Poetry

The Rabbit
Mice
In the Fashion
Chipmunk
Mother Goose Rhymes
Indian Children
The Woodpecker
The Animal Store
A Visit from St. Nicholas

It Happened One Day (1938, 1953)

This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Stories in This Book

The Three Little Pigs
The Lion and the Mouse
Lazy Jack
The Twelve Sillies
The Donkey and His Band
The Old Woman and the Fox
The Dog and the Cat
The Monkey and the Bananas
Drakesbill
Jack and the Beanstalk

After the Sun Sets (1938, 1953, 1962)

Book 3 in the series. The 1962 version includes a section of poems that doesn’t seem to appear in earlier printings.

It Must Be Magic (1953, 1962)

Book 4 in the series. This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive. The stories in the book are grouped into categories:

Magic Everywhere

The Wonder Stone by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
The Frog Prince by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
The Doll-in-the-Grass by Peter Christen Asbjornsen

Stories to Laugh At

Mr. Possum by Joel Chandler Harris
Tom Tit Tot by Joseph Jacobs
The Squire’s Bride by Peter Christen Asbjornsen
Good-Man on the Hillside by George Webbe Dasent

There Were Fairies Then

Little Man in the Red Jacket by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Marushka and the Twelve Months by Parker Fillmore
The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen

Only Magic Can Do It

The Magician’s Apprentice by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Master of Magic by George Webbe Dasent
Dapplegrim by George Webbe Dasent

Mighty Giants

Jack and the Giants by Joseph Jacobs
Long, Broad, and Sharpsight by Katharine Pyle
Young Paul Bunyan by Wallace Wadsworth

Stories in Poetry

Dogs and Weather by Winifred Welles
Clover for Breakfast by Frances Frost
Prairie-Dog Town by Mary Austin
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
The Mysterious Cat by Vachel Lindsay
Fog by Carl Sandburg
Silver by Walter de la Mare
Up the Airy Mountain by William Allingham
The Little Green Orchard by Walter de la Mare
The Visitor by Rachel Field
The Jumblies by Edward Lear
Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore by William Brighty Rands
The Old Bridge by Hilda Conkling
If Once You Have Slept on an Island by Rachel Field
Lincoln by Nancy Byrd Turner

They were Brave and Bold (1976)

Book 5 in the series. This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive. The stories in the book are grouped into categories:

Stars, Wind, and Snow

Why There Are Four Seasons in the Year – Chippewayan Indian tale by Natalia Belting
Febold Feboldson – North American legend by Paul R. Beath
What Happened to Six Wives Who Ate Onions – Mono Indian myth by Anne B. Fisher

Vast Oceans

Old Stormalong – North American folk tale by Frank Shay
Little Annie and the Whaler Captain – North American folk tale by M. Jagendorf
Sinbad of the Sea – The Arabian Nights

It Can Be Done

Masha and the Bear – Russian folk tale by Bonnie Carey
“Timber!” – North American legend by Dell J. McCormick
Cap O’Rushes – English folk tale by Joseph Jacobs
Grandpa Hopewell and His Flying Tractor – North American yarn by Wilbur Schramm

Heroic Deeds

Queen of the Tinkers – Irish folk tale by Seumas MacManus
Pecos Bill – North American legend by Edward O’Reilly
Bianca – Modern fairy tale by Jane Yolen

All’s Well That Ends Well

The Giant Who Had No Heart in his Body – Norwegian folk tale by Ruth Manning-Sanders
Fin M’Coul – Irish fairy tale by Joseph Jacobs
The White Cat – French folk tale by Madame La Comtesse D’Aulnoy

Stories in Poetry

Nancy Hanks 1784-1818
The Runaway
Yarns
An Indian Summer Day on the Prairie
Travel
Wind on the Hill
Clipper Ships and Captains
The Hare
The Fairies Have Never a Penny to Spend
A Lobster Quadrille
Stranger
The Oregon Trail

These Are The Tales They Tell

Book 6 in the series. This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive. The stories in the book are grouped into categories:

They Were Americans

A Boatman and a Bear by Carl Carmer
Tony Beaver by Margaret Prescott Montague
A Mississippi River Pilot by Mark Twain
Captain Ichabod Paddock and the Mermaid by Jeremiah Digges

They Knew Treasure and Magic

Treasure on the Hudson by Washington Irving
Riquet with the Tuft by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
The Magic Sampo from the Kalevala

They Were Heroes of Greece

The Three Golden Apples by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Winged Horse by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Jason and the Golden Fleece by Nathaniel Hawthorne

There Are Americans, Too

Joe Magarac, Man of Steel by Owen Francis
Kemp Morgan of the Oil Fields by Frank Shay

Stories in Poetry

Hills by Hilda Conkling
Milk-White Moon, Put the Cows to Sleep by Carl Sandburg
The Falling Star by Sara Teasdale
The Unicorn by Ella Young
Behind the Waterfall by Winifred Welles
The Flower-Fed Buffaloes by Vachel Lindsay
Daniel Boone by Arthur Guiterman
Johnny Appleseed, 1775-1847 by Rosemary Carr Benet
Primer Lesson by Carl Sandburg
Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson
Sea Fever by John Masefield
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson
The Listeners by Walter de la Mare
Lochinvar by Sir Walter Scott

Once Upon a Time (1962)

This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Stories:

The Little Red Hen
The Boy and the Goat
Chicken Little
The Pancake
The Little Old Woman and the Pig

Stories in Poetry:

Rain, Rain, Go Away
Once I Saw a Little Bird
Jack and Jill
Pease Porridge Hot
Jack Be Nimble
One, Two