I once tried to impress a French friend by casually mentioning Le Petit Chaperon rouge /lə pə.ti ʃa.pə.ʁɔ̃ ʁuʒ/ — Little Red Riding Hood.
I pronounced chaperon like an overconfident yak chewing marbles, and he stared at me as if I had just reinvented the French language in the worst possible way. That was the day I learned two things: fairy tales are beloved in France… and French vowels show no mercy.
This reference guide gathers the most famous French fairy tales you’ll ever see in classrooms, children’s books, or polite dinner conversations where someone casually says, “Ah oui, Perrault, bien sûr,” as if everyone routinely reads 17th-century storytellers for fun.
Quick Primer
France has three big sources of fairy tales:
- Charles Perrault — the superstar of French folklore
- Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont — queen of moral tales
- Traditional folk tales — spooky, magical, often chaotic
These stories appear in everyday French culture, idioms, children’s books, and even grammar exercises. Knowing their French titles helps you recognize references and build vocabulary naturally.
Perrault’s Classics (The Essential Set)
These are the “you absolutely should know these” fairy tales.
| French | IPA | English |
| Le Petit Chaperon rouge | /lə pə.ti ʃa.pə.ʁɔ̃ ʁuʒ/ | Little Red Riding Hood |
| Cendrillon | /sɑ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/ | Cinderella |
| Le Petit Poucet | /lə pə.ti pu.sɛ/ | Tom Thumb |
| La Belle au bois dormant | /la bɛl o bwa dɔʁ.mɑ̃/ | Sleeping Beauty |
| Le Chat botté | /lə ʃa bɔ.te/ | Puss in Boots |
| Le Petit Chaperon bleu (rare variant) | /lə pə.ti ʃa.pə.ʁɔ̃ blø/ | Little Blue Riding Hood |
| Peau d’âne | /po dan/ | Donkeyskin |
| Les Fées | /le fe/ | The Fairies |
| Barbe bleue | /baʁb blø/ | Bluebeard |
These are so iconic that French kids learn the names before they learn multiplication.
Fairy Tales By Leprince de Beaumont
Her stories are moral, emotional, and so French they might come with a croissant.
| French | IPA | English |
| La Belle et la Bête | /la bɛl e la bɛt/ | Beauty and the Beast |
| Le Prince Chéri | /lə pʁɛ̃s ʃe.ʁi/ | Prince Darling |
| La Curiosité Punie | /la ky.ʁjo.zi.te py.ni/ | Curiosity Punished |
Traditional French Folk Tales
Strange, funny, spooky, sometimes slightly traumatic in the classic European way.
| French | IPA | English |
| Le Roi Grenouille | /lə ʁwa ɡʁə.nu.j/ | The Frog King |
| Le Serpent aux mille têtes | /lə sɛʁ.pɑ̃ o mil tɛt/ | The Thousand-Headed Serpent |
| Jean de l’Ours | /ʒɑ̃ də lurs/ | John of the Bear |
| La Biche au Bois | /la biʃ o bwa/ | The Doe in the Woods |
| Le Cheval Mallet | /lə ʃə.val ma.lɛ/ | The Mallet Horse |
| Le Garçon et le Loup | /lə ɡaʁ.sɔ̃ e lə lu/ | The Boy and the Wolf |
Modern French Children’s Fairy Tales (Popular Today)
These aren’t “classic folktales” but are widely recognized by modern French families.
| French | IPA | English |
| Le Géant de Zéralda | /lə ʒe.ɑ̃ də ze.ʁal.da/ | The Giant of Zeralda |
| Le Prince de Motordu | /lə pʁɛ̃s də mɔ.tɔʁ.dy/ | The Prince of Motordu |
| Le Petit Nicolas (quasi-fairy-tale status) | /lə pə.ti ni.kɔ.la/ | Little Nicolas |
Usage Notes & Cultural Tips
- French fairy tales are darker than the sanitized English versions.
- Bluebeard references appear everywhere, even in jokes about suspicious spouses.
- Puss in Boots is called Le Chat botté, not Le Chat dans des bottes. (Yes, I said that once. No, I was not forgiven quickly.)
- Many titles appear in B1 reading exams.
- When someone says, “Ce n’est pas un conte de fées” /sə nɛ pa ɛ̃ kɔ̃t də fe/ — it’s not a fairy tale — you know things are about to get realistic.
Regional Notes
In Québec and Belgium:
- Many Perrault tales are the same, but
- Folk tales differ more: giants, devils, talking animals, tricksters
- Québec uses far more oral storytelling traditions
France = books
Québec = stories told by your cousin at 2 a.m. in the woods
Mini Dialogues
Dialogue 1
tu connais La Belle au bois dormant ?
/ty kɔ.nɛ la bɛl o bwa dɔʁ.mɑ̃/
Do you know Sleeping Beauty?
bien sûr, c’est un classique.
/bjɛ̃ syʁ sɛ ɛ̃ kla.sik/
Of course, it’s a classic.
Dialogue 2
quel est ton conte préféré ?
/kɛl ɛ tɔ̃ kɔ̃t pʁe.fe.ʁe/
What’s your favorite fairy tale?
Le Petit Poucet, sans hésiter.
/lə pə.ti pu.sɛ sɑ̃ ze.zi.te/
Tom Thumb, no hesitation.
Dialogue 3
tu as déjà lu Barbe bleue ?
/ty a de.ʒa ly baʁb blø/
Have you ever read Bluebeard?
oui, ça m’a traumatisé.
/wi sa ma tʁo.ma.ti.ze/
Yes, it traumatized me.
Quick Reference
| French | IPA | English |
| conte de fées | /kɔ̃t də fe/ | fairy tale |
| personnage | /pɛʁ.sɔ.naʒ/ | character |
| histoire | /is.twaʁ/ | story |
| sorcière | /sɔʁ.sjɛʁ/ | witch |
| prince | /pʁɛ̃s/ | prince |
| princesse | /pʁɛ̃.sɛs/ | princess |
| géant | /ʒe.ɑ̃/ | giant |
| loup | /lu/ | wolf |
| château | /ʃa.to/ | castle |
| magie | /ma.ʒi/ | magic |
Five-Minute Practice Plan
- Say the titles of five fairy tales out loud using the IPA.
- Choose one tale and summarize it in two sentences in French.
- Practice the words sorcière, château, géant, fée — focus on the vowels.
- Read one dialogue aloud with dramatic flair.
- Try to pronounce Barbe bleue without sounding like a blender.
Conclusion
Once you learn these titles, you start catching little nods to fairy tales everywhere in French life—classroom jokes, movie references, even casual conversations about troublesome wolves (metaphorical ones, usually). It’s a small doorway into French culture, and a surprisingly charming one… at least until Bluebeard shows up.