Free short stories for 4th graders
Peabody has 22 free short stories for 4th graders at reading level 4, from about 729 to 1,697 words each, including fables, fairy tales and true stories. Each opens at once with no sign-up and reads in a few minutes. Free through the end of 2026.
| Story | Kind | Words | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Time Machine | Classic, spooky | 952 | An inventor rides a time machine into a future full of laughing, helpless people who lock their doors at night. |
| Rumpelstiltskin | Classic | 1,066 | A miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold, and the King locks her in a room full of straw. |
| Mowgli of the Jungle | Classic, spooky | 913 | Shere Khan the tiger wants the man-cub, and the whole jungle goes silent when he comes. |
| Treasure Island | Classic, spooky | 1,018 | A black spot, a blind man's tapping stick, and a map drawn in red ink pull twelve-year-old Jim Hawkins aboard a ship full of pirates, and the friendly one-legged cook is the worst of them. |
| Cinderella | Classic | 1,069 | Cinderella scrubs the floors while her proud stepsisters go to the Prince's ball. |
| The Frog Prince | Classic | 1,170 | A princess loses her golden ball in a deep, dark well, and a frog says he will fetch it if she promises him something. |
| Puss in Boots | Classic | 1,027 | A miller's youngest son is left with nothing but a cat. |
| John Henry | Classic | 1,086 | John Henry is the strongest steel driver on the railroad, and he challenges a squeaky-clean salesman and his shiny steam drill to a race through the mountain. |
| Water Uphill | Peabody story | 1,224 | Wren's pumpkin is dying, the barrel tap is rusted shut, and Grandpa says water only runs downhill unless you ask it properly. |
| The Monkey and the Crocodile | Classic | 838 | A monkey shares sweet rose-apples with a crocodile, and they become best friends. |
| Hansel and Gretel | Classic, spooky | 1,159 | In a hungry year, Hansel and Gretel get lost in the great forest and find a little house made of bread and cake. |
| Eight Arms | True story | 729 | An octopus has three hearts, blue blood, and arms that can taste. |
| The Brave Little Tailor | Classic | 1,110 | A little tailor swats seven flies with one blow and stitches the news on his belt. |
| The Magic Paintbrush | Classic | 1,029 | Ma Liang is too poor to buy a brush, so he draws with sticks and charcoal until a magic brush comes to him in a dream. |
| Snow White | Classic | 1,697 | A girl as white as snow lives with seven little men in a house in the woods. |
| Snow White and Rose Red | Classic | 889 | Two sisters, one with hair as white as snow and one with cheeks as red as roses, share their home with their mother. |
| The First Steps | True story | 755 | A true story of the day people first walked on the Moon in 1969. |
| The Long Way Down | Peabody story, spooky | 1,070 | Priya begs for ten more minutes on a summit, and then the sky turns the color of a bruise. |
| The Steadfast Tin Soldier | Classic | 1,175 | A tin soldier with only one leg stands as straight as all the others, and he loves a little paper dancer on the table. |
| The Emperor's New Clothes | Classic | 977 | Two tricksters promise a vain Emperor magic cloth that fools cannot see, and nobody dares to say they see nothing at all. |
| The Fisherman and His Wife | Classic | 1,089 | A poor fisherman lets an enchanted fish go, and his wife sends him back to the sea to ask for a wish. |
| The Cat That Walked by Himself | Classic | 1,059 | Long ago, every animal was wild, and a clever Woman made a warm cave and began to make friends. |
What level 4 reads like
Peabody works out a story's level from its text, never from the child. At level 4 a sentence is at most 32 words long and a screen holds 55 to 85 words. Reading level 4 shows the rest of the limits and a sample.
Is level 4 right for a 4th grader?
Peabody names its levels for the reading, so level 4 is the one it calls 4th grade. A 4th grader starts one level lower, at level 3, so the first stories feel easy. The level moves up as books run easy. Level 3 stories are a good fit too, and level 5 suits a strong reader.
Stories by kind
- Classics (18): The Time Machine, Rumpelstiltskin, Mowgli of the Jungle, Treasure Island, Cinderella, The Frog Prince and more.
- True stories (2): Eight Arms and The First Steps.
- Peabody's own (2): Water Uphill and The Long Way Down.
More free stories
- The whole library: free stories by reading level, no account needed.
- Classic stories retold short: fables, fairy tales, myths and legends.
- Free short stories for 3rd graders
- Free short stories for 5th graders
- Free Aesop's fables for kids, with the lesson of each
- Free classic fairy tales for kids
- By level: Level 4
Questions parents ask
What reading level are short stories for 4th graders?
Peabody calls level 4 its 4th grade level. It is worked out from the text: sentence length, words on a screen and how common the words are, not from a grade label. A 4th grader starts one level lower, at level 3. The level pages show every level's limits.
Are any of these stories scary?
5 of the 22 are marked spooky: The Time Machine, Mowgli of the Jungle, Treasure Island, Hansel and Gretel and The Long Way Down. The mark is on each story's page, and none are marked scary or horror, which are not open to visitors at all.
Do the stories cost anything?
No. Every story on this page is free to read through the end of 2026, with no account and no card.
Checked against how Peabody works on 19 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher.