- Who is it for?
- Ages 10–14
- How long is it?
- 27 min
- What does it include?
- Synced read-along and a quiz
- What does it cost?
- Premium access in Emma's Library
About this audiobook
Princess Irene, kept safe in a great house on the mountainside, discovers a secret tower where her mysterious grandmother lives, spinning a thread so fine it is almost invisible. Below ground, the goblins — driven underground long ago, hating the sun-people — plan to flood the mines and steal the princess for their prince. The miner's son Curdie, who keeps the goblins at bay with songs and rhymes they cannot stand, uncovers their scheme and is captured. Guided by her grandmother's ring and the invisible thread, Irene walks straight into the goblins' caverns and frees Curdie; together they foil the flood and the kidnapping, turning the goblins' own rising water against them, and Curdie learns to believe in the grandmother he could not, at first, see.
Why it's worth a listen
High in a lonely mountain house, Princess Irene climbs a forgotten stair and finds a beautiful great-great-grandmother spinning by moonlight — and far below, in the mines, the brave miner-boy Curdie overhears the goblins plotting against the people above. It is the fairy tale that inspired Tolkien and Lewis: shivery goblin caverns, a magic ring on an invisible thread, and the quiet courage of trusting a light and a love you can't always see. And it turns on the question this telling leaves you with: can you follow a thread you can barely feel, and trust a help you cannot see?
What listeners will learn
Subjects: literature, storytelling, historical imagination.
- character
- setting
- conflict
- choice
- consequence
- theme
- retelling
- princess
- goblin
- classic
Questions for after listening
- Retell the central conflict in order.
- Name one important choice and what happened because of it.
- How did the setting or tradition shape the story?
A question to keep
Can you follow a thread you can barely feel, and trust a help you cannot see?
Chapters
- The Tower of the Silver Thread
- The Song in the Dark
- Shadows on the Mountainside
- The Ring and the Invisible Thread
- Into the Deep Mountain
- The Flood and the Light
- A Question to Keep
Editorial review
Quality reviewed · 98/100 on . Certificate EL-C33F-2F6A is bound to the exact narrated script.
The review checks factual care, audience fit, teaching quality, structure, tone and source honesty. Read the editorial standards.
Published 2026-07-11 · Updated
