With our Rapunzel story, your child can improve their English and learn more about important grammar points like time words and negative sentences. Our take on Rapunzel has been designed for young readers, and we hope that it helps your child become a stronger reader.
The Rapunzel fairy tale started in the early 1800s when it was published by the Brothers Grimm. It has since been adapted numerous times, most recently in the Disney movie Tangled. Rapunzel is the story of a young girl that is sent to live with a witch. The witch traps Rapunzel in a tower that she cannot escape from. One day, she is discovered by a Prince, and they fall in love. After a confrontation with the witch, Rapunzel and the Prince are able to live happily ever after.
A Note On Our Fairy Tale
This fairy tale has been rewritten so that it is suitable for people learning English. We have tried to only use the simple present tense throughout the story, with some present continuous and simple past where it cannot be avoided.
All hyperlinks in the text will send you to a definition for any words we think might prove tricky. We hope that you find our story useful for improving your English skills.
If you have any questions, please click on the image below or comment on this post.
Rapunzel
In a kingdom far away lives a King, a Queen, and their baby.
But, the Queen is very sick.
To help her, the King visits a witch and asks her to save the Queen.
The witch agrees and gives the King a magic potion.
In return, though, the King must give the witch their only child.
Although he does not want to, the King agrees.
The next day, the King returns home with the potion.
The Queen drinks it and quickly feels better.
While the Queen is sleeping, the King takes their baby back to the witch.
The baby’s name is Rapunzel.
Many years later, Rapunzel is all grown up.
She is very beautiful with long, long, long golden hair.
Rapunzel lives in a tower by herself.
The witch visits her every day.
Rapunzel is very lonely.
She cannot leave because there are no stairs.
To get into the tower, the witch calls to Rapunzel and says,
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
From her tower window, Rapunzel lets her hair down.
It is so long that it reaches all the way to the ground.
It is so strong that the witch can climb up it to visit Rapunzel.
One day, a Prince is walking in the woods near the tower.
He hears a voice call, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
He sees the witch climb the hair up into the top window of the tower.
He can also see a beautiful girl with long, golden hair.
The Prince waits for the witch to leave and then walks to the tower.
He calls, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
Rapunzel is surprised. That is not the witch’s voice.
She looks out her window and sees a handsome Prince.
Rapunzel lets down her hair, and the Prince climbs up.
The Prince and Rapunzel talk and talk and talk.
The Prince comes back every day, and soon Rapunzel and the Prince fall in love.
But, one day, the Prince is not careful.
The witch sees him enter the tower.
The witch is very angry.
When the Prince leaves, the witch takes Rapunzel and cuts off her hair.
The witch then sets a trap for the Prince.
The next day, the Prince returns.
He calls, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
Rapunzel’s hair comes down, and he climbs up.
But at the top, he does not find Rapunzel. He sees the witch.
The Prince pulls out his sword, and they fight.
As they fight, Rapunzel is in the corner, tied up.
She pulls and pulls and pulls.
She breaks the rope and gets free.
Together Rapunzel and the Prince fight the witch.
The witch cannot win.
The witch turns into a bird and flies away.
Rapunzel and the Prince leave the tower.
They soon get married and live happily ever after.
The Rapunzel Story Vocabulary List
Kingdom
Sick
Visit
Save
Potion
While
Tower
Every
So
Surprised
Soon
Trap
Together
Break
Cannot
What Can We Teach with This Fairy Tale?
At the end of the day, you can teach almost anything with a good story. Whether it is focusing on verbs, adjectives, or basic sentence structure, there is always lots to learn and practice.
Negatives
What kid doesn’t like to say no? The Rapunzel story is full of people who can’t or don’t do things. Rapunzel can’t leave her tower, the prince can’t climb it, and the king doesn’t want to give Rapunzel to the witch.
Use this story to help your child review negative sentence structures so that they can tell you “no” in English.
Time Words
One of the big struggles for children reading stories is that, in stories, we need certain words and phrases to show how different events connect. Whether these are specific time words like yesterday, tomorrow, or next year, or more general terms like then, soon, or next, they all help us understand the story better.
Since Rapunzel’s story takes place over a long period of time, we need to use some of these words in our stories. So you could try to introduce your child to these words and then have them reinforce that learning by reading Rapunzel.
Extra Fun Activities
Books aren’t just about learning English. They also help with teaching your child about anything that piques their interest. Here are some possible ideas for activities you could do with them around the Rapunzel story.
Learn About Tensile Strength
One of the key aspects of Rapunzel is how she can carry a whole person with her long hair. Although we don’t advise that you try that, you could do a fun STEM project to teach your child about the strength of fibers.
Try showing your child what one thread can hold, next a couple of threads bound together, and then a whole bunch of threads wound tight. They will be amazed at what they can carry.
Build a Tower
Kids are natural engineers that love to build things. Try to have your children test their skills by building Rapunzel’s tower. You can use the materials you have laying around whether they are blocks, marshmallows, or something else.
Read More Stories with The Learner’s Nook
There are never too many stories for you and your young ones to read together. Encourage their love of reading by checking out our other fairy tales specifically written to help children improve their English-reading skills.
Click here to explore more fairy tales.
