THE WOLF AND THE LADDER

Once upon a time, there was a wolf called Howler who lived in a valley where lots of fruit trees grew. Howler would often try to climb up the trees to eat the fruit they produced. But the most appetising fruit was on the very tall trees that Howler couldn’t reach.

In the valley, an elderly man named Martin also had a few fruit trees that he looked after very carefully. But as he was getting older, he began to notice that he lacked the strength to pick the fruit, for it was very tiring work.

Martin had some of the biggest and most delicious fruit trees in the valley, which was why Howler had his eye on them. So one day he decided to try and reach their fruit and started jumping up and down the trunk.

Short stories - The wolf and the ladder

Martin, who was looking out of the window, realised that the wolf was trying to steal fruit from his beautiful trees, but however much Howler jumped and howled, he couldn’t reach even the lowest branches of such a big tree.

Seeing this, Martin had a great idea: he offered Howler a ladder to climb up, but in return the wolf would have to give him half of whatever he picked. Only then would Martin continue lending him the ladder.

Howler accepted the deal and set to work collecting the fruit, and for one whole morning he went up and down the ladder filling his basket with the fruit they would then share between them. Continue reading…

THE SQUIRREL AND THE FOREST FIRE

There was once a young squirrel called Nutty, who lived in a wooden house high up in a tree in the middle of a forest. The forest where Nutty the squirrel lived was a beautiful place; it was full of plants, trees and bushes of all sizes. All of this beautiful vegetation was possible thanks to the river that burbled through the area and filled the place with life. For as Nutty the squirrel well knew, water is life.

One day, when Nutty was resting in his tree house, he heard some shouts coming from inside the forest. So he scrambled out to have a look around…

Nutty leapt from tree to tree to reach the place the shouts were coming from as quick as he could. When he arrived, he found a group of people lighting a fire on the ground for a barbecue.

Short stories - The squirrel and the forest fire

The poor squirrel was very frightened, for he knew that today – the first day of summer – people weren’t allowed to light fires in the forest because of the danger of starting a huge blaze. Continue reading…

PIPPI AND THE ROLLERCOASTER

There was once a twelve-year-old girl named Pippi, who really liked amusement parks even though she had never been to one.  Her parents had never let her go because they said they were very dangerous, but they would make an exception on her birthday and take her to the biggest amusement park of them all.

So on Pippi’s birthday, her parents bought her an all-day ticket for the park. Pippi was very happy about that, as you can imagine.

When she got there, Pippi’s jaw dropped in amazement at the amount of rides, and just how big the park actually was. Pippi and her sister ran to a new ride that had just been opened - the biggest rollercoaster in the world.

Short stories - Pipi and the rollercoaster

Just as they were about to get on, Pippi felt a fluttering in her tummy that made her stop in her tracks…

“Come on, Pippi! Get on, it’s about to go!” cried her sister. Continue reading…

THE CHILDREN AND THE SWIMMING POOL

Once upon a time there was a summer camp that was very popular with children aged up to 10. The camp had a large swimming pool for the children to enjoy refreshing dips in the water, as it was very hot.

The children usually played and dived near the edge of the pool, which really annoyed the swimming pool.

One day, the swimming pool got tired of this and decided to frighten the children so that they wouldn’t play and jump around near the edge.

Short stories - The children and swimming pool

So without warning she started to talk in a very stern and serious voice: “Boys and girls at the summer camp!! If you don’t stop jumping and playing near my edge, I will open my mouth and gobble you all up!!” Continue reading…

THE MAGIC LAMP

Many years ago there was once a wizard who had a very valuable treasure, for it made any dream come true. It was a magic lamp, which had passed from generation to generation until finally it was coming into the hands of the latest descendent, Daniel.

Daniel was about to turn twelve, and he received the magic lamp as a birthday present from his parents. The instructions were very simple, as his father explained: “Daniel, the magic lamp will make any wish come true, but it will only grant wishes that are truly good for you. And all you need to do is rub the magic lamp several times.”

That day, Daniel did not dare to pick up the magic lamp. He was a little nervous about it, for he still didn’t know what to ask or what was truly good for him. In the end, he decided to go to sleep… But in the middle of the night Daniel suddenly woke up with a start, jumped out of bed and picked up the magic lamp that he had left on his bedside table.

Short stories - the magic lamp

He had thought of something and was very intrigued to know if the magic lamp would grant it… But what could this exciting wish be? You will soon find out!

Daniel shut his eyes tightly and rubbed the magic lamp three times, then put it on the floor. After a few minutes, his wish still hadn’t been granted so he had decided to wait a little longer. He sat in front of the magic lamp, getting more and more impatient. Continue reading…

THE NEW BOY IN CLASS

It was a summer afternoon, and like most summer afternoons, a group of boys were playing together in a park. They knew each other well, as they had spent the last three years of school together and tomorrow was the start of a new term, about which they were very excited and nervous.

The first day of school came, and all the boys from the park the day before were put in the same class. They jumped for joy all morning long. After lunch, the teacher came into the classroom with a boy they had never seen before. He was from China, and none of them had ever met anyone from that country.

All the children were quiet, waiting for the teacher to speak. And this is what she said: “Hello everyone, this is our newest class member. His name is Meipei and he’s six years old, just like all of you. Meipei comes from China, but he knows some English so I hope you will help him settle in and make him feel at home.”

Short stories - The new boy in class

Then one of the children said to Meipei: “How come you speak differently?” so Meipei answered: “In my country, we all talk this way. But we’re just the same as you.” Continue reading…

GEORGE AND HIS LITTLE BABY SISTER

My name is George, and I’m going to tell you a story that happened last year just after my birthday. For a few months, I had noticed that mum and dad were acting differently towards me – they weren’t paying me so much attention.

My parents were very happy; they laughed a lot, and even my father, who is quite serious, wouldn’t stop cracking jokes to everyone. I just couldn’t understand why they were behaving so differently. Maybe it had to do with my mum’s growing tummy…

One day at breakfast, they said to me: “George, we’ve got some good news for you; you’re going to have a little sister!”

Short storie - George and his little baby sister

“A little sister? So… that’s what’s wrong with you!” I said.

“What do you mean?” Dad asked.

“Well, you’ve been ignoring me because you’re going to have another baby!” I said. Continue reading…

THE LITTLE VILLAGE SHEEP

Many years ago when I was a little girl, there were lots of shepherds with their flocks of sheep. It was very strange not to find one in each village, for being a shepherd was a very normal job in those times. These days, very few children have seen a flock of sheep, except in stories and photos.

The little sheep in my village lived in an enclosure where they had a basin of water on one side for when they were thirsty, and straw on the other side for when they were hungry. Inside the enclosure was a shed that the sheep used as a shelter on days when it was rainy and cold.

The shepherd looked after them very well. It was he who gave them the straw to eat and water to drink. He also milked them and went out into the fields with them all.

Short stories - The little village sheep

What I remember most about this time was the noise of the little sheep coming back from grazing in the fields, for Nino the shepherd would put a bell on them and you would hear a tinkling “ding ding ding” sound as they trotted by, and all the children would run behind them laughing and jumping around.

The flock of sheep always passed in front of my house, and I have to admit that I was a little scared when I saw the shepherd go with them, for Nino also had a couple of goats and they frightened me a great deal – for these goats had horns. Continue reading…

THE TRAFFIC LIGHT AND THE ZEBRA CROSSING

Once upon a time there was a school situated in the middle of a very big city and surrounded by very busy roads. The children would often run out of school and start playing, not realising how dangerous it was to have a road so close by. There had already been accidents when children crossed the road without looking, or when they ran around near the traffic lights.

To stop this happening again, a local traffic light thought to himself: “Why don’t I warn the children by shouting when cars are coming? Or perhaps I should grab them by the backpack…?”

He thought this would be a very good idea, so he told his friend the zebra crossing. But the zebra crossing said: “If we do that, we will only cause children in a different neighbourhood to have an accident, because they will rely on us to save them. But we won’t be there!” The traffic light thought this through, and realised that the zebra crossing was right.

Short stories - The traffic light and the zebra crossing

So they decided to do something different: “From now on, every day we’ll explain to each child the dangers of crossing the road without looking, and we’ll use videos so they can see the dangers for themselves.” Continue reading…

THE WISE AND PATIENT CAVEMAN

There was once a very, very big mountain where there were lots of trees and bushes. It was also the home of a group of humans that lived in caves dug out of the mountain rock. In fact, there were two families there. One lived in a grey-coloured cave, the other in a greenish cave (which was due to the type of rock). Naturally, they were known as the Greys and the Greens.

The Greys had a father, a mother and a fourteen-year-old son called Peter, while the Greens had a father, a mother, a four-year-old boy and a wise old grandfather.

The two families sometimes ate together, when they would talk about the mountain trees and how to fell them to obtain the wood with which to make fire and heat. One time, Peter felt he was ready to join the conversation. The wise grandfather listened intently to the young man, because Peter believed that the trees were there to be felled, and that it didn’t matter if they were replanted or not because they took so long to grow back.

Short stories - The wise and patient caveman

Once Peter had given his opinion, the wise grandfather told him this: “Nature is patient, and we humans must be patient too,” and he proposed a challenge: “I’m going to shave all my hair off, and we shall see what nature does to maintain the balance on my head. Come and see me in a month.”

Young Peter couldn’t understand what on earth the grandfather meant by this, and went home none the wiser. Continue reading…