A short story from the Magic Beans series, featuring fresh retellings of twenty-four classic fables.
A singing ant, a silly wolf and a mighty mouse are just some of the characters in this mini collection of everyone's favourite fables. After all, it's never too late to learn a new moral or two!
This story is a magic bean. It may not look much like a bean, but I can promise you that it is. For if you plant it in a young mind, it will grow into a love of story and reading. These beans are favourite fairytales and legends that will delight, thrill and thoroughly entertain. Each story has been brilliantly crafted by one of the best-loved writers for children.
This story was published by David Fickling Books as part of the Magic Beans anthology. The complete anthology is available in hardback and in ebook format.
Malorie Blackman has written over seventy books for children and young adults, including the bestselling Noughts & Crosses series, Pig-Heart Boy, Boys Don't Cry and Chasing the Stars. Many of her books have also been adapted for stage and television, including a BAFTA-award-winning BBC production of Pig-Heart Boy and a Pilot Theatre stage adaptation by Sabrina Mahfouz of Noughts & Crosses. There is also a major BBC production of Noughts & Crosses, with Roc Nation (Jay-Z's entertainment company) curating the soundtrack as executive music producer. In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children's books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children's literature, and between 2013 and 2015 she was the Children's Laureate. Malorie also co-wrote the Doctor Who episode Rosa. The sixth and final novel in her Noughts & Crosses series, Endgame, was published by Penguin Random House Children's in Autumn 2021. Malorie’s autobiography Just Sayin’ was published by #MerkyBooks in summer 2023. In 2026 Malorie was made awarded a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the King's 2026 Birthday Honours, for services to literature.
