Most fairy tales fix a child’s problem by sending in a fairy godmother, a prince, or a curse that finally breaks. Timmy The Elf does something rarer. The hero gets exactly what he asks for, hates it, goes back to the wizard, and the wizard simply undoes the wish. No punishment. No twenty-year sleep. Just a quiet, “Okay, you’ve changed your mind.”
That is a beautiful thing to read aloud to a four-year-old, especially one who has just announced they no longer want the haircut, the new shoes, or the big-kid bed they begged for an hour ago.
Timmy The Elf – Fairy Tale
Timmy the elf, who lived in a wonderful world.He had, for company, his little friends and the woodland animals.
His house was a beautiful toadstool in which he was happy and contented.
Early in the morning, he did his household chores-sweeping, dusting and washing his clothes.
He always had plenty of helpers around him. ‘What a lovely day it is!’ said Timmy, “Today I shall get all the washing dry.”
In his spare time, he amused himself playing with the animals in the wood as he was so tiny that he could play all kind of games. “Look! how Timmy is amusing himself,” cried two little mice.
But Timmy the elf did not like at all being so small.
One day, he went to see a wizard.
He said to him, “Sir, make me very tall so that I may rise to a greater height.”
The wizard gave him magic drink.
It was a syrup made from mysterious herbs. Having drunk it,
Timmy started to grow and grow. “Wow !” cried Timmy, was very pleased, ‘It has done a miracle.
I have become a giant’. His wish had come true. He was in high spirit. To his utter sorrow, he could not get into his little house.
The squirrel and other animals were amazed to see the giant Timmy and were frightened of him.
They hid when they saw how big he was.
‘Oh dear! Being a giant is not as nice as I thought.
Now, I cannot get into my little house,’ said Timmy.
Tears began to trickle down his cheeks.
A very disappointed Timmy went back to see the wizard again and said to him, “Please turn me back to my original size.
I have become so enormous that I have nowhere to live and my friends do not want to play with me.”
The wizard observed, “You wished to be something you were not.
Do not feel bad about who you are.” The wizard took pity on Timmy and returned him to his normal size.
A very contented Timmy was now able to go back and play with his little friends.
He was now same old Timmy the Elf.
From that day on, he never wished such a wish again.
“What fun it is to have a ride on the back of a tortoise!” said Timmy the elf.
He was elated once again.
Things to talk about with your child
Three questions that work well at bedtime, around the dinner table, or during a circle-time wrap-up:
This opens up a conversation about wanting things we do not have, and it works for very small children because the answer is right there in the picture: he was small, and small felt boring to him.
Kids will usually answer “his friends were scared” or “he couldn’t fit in his house.” Both are right. Either one is a chance to talk about what we lose when we get what we wished for.
This is the question worth waiting for. Most young children have a story ready, the haircut, the big-kid bed, the new shoes that hurt. Timmy’s wizard never tells him off for changing his mind, and that quiet detail is the one to point out.
What young children pick up from this story
Without anyone teaching it as a lesson, a child hearing this story absorbs four small ideas:
- Moral of the Story – Moral of the Story is “Be content with what you have,”
- Wanting is allowed; insisting is the problem. Timmy wanted to be tall. That was fine. He acted on it without thinking about what tall would actually mean, and that is the part the story gently corrects.
- Bodies are not the same as worth. Timmy is not a worse elf for being small. The wizard says so directly.
- A grown-up can help you undo a mistake. This may be the most important takeaway for a young listener. The wizard does not lecture. He fixes it.
Read Timmy Alongside Other Fairy Tales
If your child enjoyed this one, Thumbelina is the natural next read, another tiny hero who learns that small does not mean less. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty work for the same age group when you want a longer bedtime story.
The full Fairy Tales collection has more fascinating stories.
Curriculum Alignment: Aligned with Common Core State Standards: RL.K.2 (retell familiar stories, including key details), RL.K.5 (recognize common types of texts, e.g., storybooks). Suitable for Preschool Read-Aloud, Kindergarten Read-Aloud, and Homeschool fairy tale units.
Madhu is the founder and lead author of SmallKidsHomework.com, a free learning site she started in 2009. She writes the poems, fairy tales, folktales, coloring pages, and kindergarten worksheets here, many tagged to Common Core standards. She tests printables with real children and keeps everything free, with no signup needed.
