The following tales are similar to the Hans Christian Andersen original fairy tale, Thumbelina. The tale is classified under Aarne-Thompson 700: Tom Thumb. I have included the English language tales of this type which have been gathered by D. L. Ashliman in his guide to folktales: A Guide to Folktales in the English Language and from other sources. I have also included tales from other tale types when I have deemed them appropriate to my purpose. The tales come from many cultures and are similar to the Thumbelina story in various ways. I have placed the tales in alphabetical order with a small discussion and links to other pages which have texts of the stories if a text is available on the world wide web.
Also see the tales of AT-327B: The Small Boy Defeats the Ogre on SurLaLune at Tales Similar to Hop O' My Thumb.
A web version of this tale is available at The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon Child.
This tale comes from Japan. It is not AT-700, but has many similar themes.
An English language version is available in:
Ozaki, Yei Theodora. Japanese Fairy Tales. New York: A.L. Burt, 1903.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at Boy-Man.
This tale is a Native American tale. Compare it to The Mouse and the Sun.
An English language version is available in:
Wade, Mary Hazelton. Indian Fairy Tales. Great Neck, NY: Core Collection, 1979.
Wade, Mary Hazelton. Indian Fairy Tales As Told to the Children of the Wiguam. 1906.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Great Britain.
An English language version is available in:
Briggs, Katherine M., ed. A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970, 1971. Part B, v. 1, p. 205.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale shares elements with AT types 700, 1539, and 1535. It is an Amhara tale from Ethiopia.
An English language version is available in:
Ashabranner, Brent and Davis, Russell. The Lion’s Whiskers: Tales of High Africa. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1959.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale shares elements with AT-700. It comes from Burma.
An English language version is available in:
Htin Aung, Maung. Burmese Folk Tales. London: Oxford University Press, 1948.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at Doll in the Grass.
While it is best classified as AT-402, this tale shares elements with AT-700. It comes from Norway.
An English language version is available in:
Asbjornsen, Peter Christen and Moe, Jorgen. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. George Webbe Dasent, translator. Popular Tales from the Norse. Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1888.
Also available in reprint under:
Dasent, George Webbe. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. New York: Dover, 1970.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale shares elements with AT-700 and AT-327: Hop O' My Thumb. It comes from Africa although the specific African origin is unknown. It uses Motif K1611.
An English language version is available in:
Arnott, Kathleen. African Myths & Legends. New York: Henry Z. Walck, 1962.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale comes from Turkey. It is a variant of AT Type 700 (Motif F535.1.1).
An English language version is available in:
Walker, Barbara K. A Treasury of Turkish Folktales for Children. Hamden, CT: Linnet, 1988.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from France.
An English language version is available in:
Delarue, Paul. French Fairy Tales. New York: Alfred E. Knopf, 1968. p. 217.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Bukovina in Europe. According to Margaret Read MacDonald, "Bukovina is a region in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains straddling the border of Romania and the Ukraine."
An English language version is available in:
Lang, Andrew, ed. The Yellow Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1966. (Original published 1894.) p. 222.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at The Life and Death of Tom Thumb.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from England. This is one of the earliest known versions of the tale in print.
An English language version is available in:
Halliwell-Phillips, James Orchard. Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. London: John Russell Smith, 1849.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This comes from Russia. It is a variant of AT Type 700 (Motif F535.1 .1).
An English language version is available in:
Carey, Bonnie. Baba Yaga’s Geese and Other Russian Stories. Bloomington: Indiana Umversity Press, 1973.
A web version of this tale is available at Little Chick-Pea.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Italy.
An English language version is available in:
Crane, Thomas Frederick. Italian Popular Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1885.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700. The tale comes from Vietnam.
An English language version is available in:
Vuong, Lynnette Dyer. The Brocaded Slipper, and Other Vietnamese Tales. Vo-Dinh Mai, illustrator. New York: Lippincott, 1985, c1982.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover and paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at Little Lasse.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Finland.
An English language version is available in:
Lang, Andrew, ed. The Lilac Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1968. (Original published 1910.) p. 132.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Japan.
An English language version is available in:
Seki, Keigo. Folktales of Japan. Robert J. Adams, translator. Folktales of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. no. 28.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.
Also try these picture book versions:
A web version of this tale is available at The Mouse and the Sun.
This tale comes from Canada. Compare it to Boy-Man.
An English language version is available in:
MacMillian, Cyrus. Canadian Wonder Tales. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Armenia.
An English language version is available in:
Villa, Susie Hoogasian. 100 Armenian Tales. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1966. no. 29.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.
A web version of this tale is available at Pepper-Corn.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Italy.
An English language version is available in:
Crane, Thomas Frederick. Italian Popular Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1885.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Italy.
Calvino, Italo. Italian Folktales. George Martin, translator. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. no. 91.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale shares elements with AT-700. It comes from Chile.
An English language version is available in:
MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb: The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series. Phoenix: Oryx, 1993.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
It originally appeared in:
Morel, Alicia. Cuentos Aruacanos: La Gente de Ia Tierra. Santiago: Editorial Andres Bello, 1982.
Saunieres, S. de. Revista Chilena de Historia y Geografia. Vol. 26, 1918.
A web version of this tale is available at The Strange Adventures of Little Maia.
This tale is AT-700. It's source is unknown.
An English language version is available in:
Lang, Andrew, ed. The Olive Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1968. (Original published 1907.) p. 130.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at Thomas of the Thumb.
Campbell, J. F. West Highlands. v. 3, p. 127.
A web version of this tale is available at Thumbikin.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Norway.
An English language version is available in:
Asbjornsen, Peter Christen and Moe, Jorgen. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. George Webbe Dasent. New York: Dover, 1970. (This is a reprint of all the Asbjornsen and Moe stories in Popular Tales from the Norse. Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1888.) p. 372.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at Thumbkin.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Europe.
An English language version is available in:
Jacobs, Joseph, ed. European Folk and Fairy Tales. New York: G. P Putnam's Sons, 1916. no. 24.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.
A web version of this tale is available at Thumbling.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Germany.
An English language version is available in:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, translator. New York: Bantam, 1987. no. 37.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884. no. 37.
Thompson, Stith, ed. One Hundred Favorite Folktales. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974. no. 68.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale is available at Thumbling's Travels.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Germany.
An English language version is available in:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, translator. New York: Bantam, 1987. no. 45.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884. no. 45.
A web version of this tale is available at Tom Thumb (England).
This tale is AT-700 and comes from England.
An English language version is available in:
Briggs, Katherine M., ed. A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970, 1971. Part A, v. 1, p. 531.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt, 1890.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in deluxe hardcover, hardcover orpaperback.
Opie, Iona and Peter. "Tom Thumbe." The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. p. 41.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from France.
An English language version is available in:
Massignon, Genevieve, ed. Folktales of France. Jacqueline Hyland, translator. Folktales of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968. no. 19.
A web version of this tale is available at The Annotated Thumbelina.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Denmark.
The tale is known as "Tommelise" in Andersen's original Danish. In English translations, it is most often known as "Thumbelina" and "Inchelina" depending on the translation.
An English language version is available in:
Opie, Iona and Peter. "Tommelise." The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. p. 290.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Andersen, Hans Christian. The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories. Erik Christian Haugaard, translator. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1983.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Andersen, Hans Christian. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. Mrs. Henry H. B. Paull, translator. London: Warne & Co., [1875].
A web version of this tale is available at The Young Giant.
This tale is AT-700 and comes from Germany.
An English language version is available in:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, translator. New York: Bantam, 1987. no. 90.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884. no. 90.
