THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs that were going to build a house to be safe from a wolf, who was hanging around destroying houses and eating the pigs that were inside.
The three little pigs had different ideas and so each pig built a different house. Fatty was the youngest and most impatient. He wanted to finish his house soon and so he decided to build a house of straw and then he went to play with the other little pigs.

Hammy, the middle brother built a house of sticks as it wouldn’t take him much time either, and so when he had finished he could also go out to play.

Short stories - the scatterbrained fairy


Porky, the oldest brother, decided to build his house of bricks. Even if it was going to take him longer, it was going to be a very strong house and a safe place from the wolf.

One day the wolf appeared and the three little pigs ran to Fatty´s house made of straw. But the wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house down, so the three little pigs ran to Hammy´s house. The furious wolf followed them to the house of sticks, and huffed and puffed and blew that house down too. So they ran to Porky´s house. Continue reading…

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

A summary of one of the most famous short stories in the world, Little Red Riding Hood. Next, the original short story.

SUMMARY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Little Red Riding Hood. One day, her mother said: “Little Red Riding Hood, take this basket full of cakes to your grandmother, she is ill. Don’t get distracted on the way, the forest is dangerous and there is a wolf around.

“Yes Mum!” – Said Little Red Riding hhood.

foto caperucita roja

Little Red Riding Hood walked happily to her grandmother’s house, but suddenly, a wolf appeared.

–          Where are you going, Little Red Riding Hood?

–          To my granny´s house, to give her these cakes.

The wolf convinced the girl to take a longer path while he took the short path, so he could arrive before her and eat her grandmother. Then he ate Little red Riding Hood.

Later, after eating them, the wolf fell asleep beside the river. Suddenly, a woodcutter saw him and took the little girl and her granny out of the wolf´s stomach and saved their lives.

Then he filled the wolf´s belly full of big stones and threw him into the river.

THE END

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, ORIGINAL SHORT STORY, BROTHERS GRIMM (1812) 

Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she wouldn’t give to the child. Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet, which suited her so well that she never wore anything else; so she was always called ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Continue reading…

ALLEGRA

Allegra was born in May in Cuernavaca, a city full of brightly coloured flowers.  The weather in Cuernavaca was so pleasant, the grass so green and shiny, and the flowers so colourful that the city was known as the City of Never-Ending Spring.

As Allegra grew, she became friends with Nico and Frida, a little boy and girl from her nursery.  Allegra enjoyed playing with her friends and she also she felt safe playing with them in the big classroom.

Short stories - Springtime and the flowers

One morning, when Allegra arrived at school, she noticed that her friends were not there.  She was very sad.  She started to think that she would never find friends that loved her as much as Nico and Frida, and that made her scared.

Continue reading…

THE CACTUS AND THE ANNOYING BIRD

In the heart of the Bardenas desert in Spain, there lived a green cactus named Thorny. Since Thorny was a plant and couldn’t move, he would spend his days looking at the world around him.

Thorny was a large cactus with large thorns.  There was also lots of space between his thorns, and so small birds could land on his thorns without getting pricked.

short-stories-cactus

On the outside Thorny looked dangerous, with big thorns and tough skin, but on the inside, he was full of water, which was a big surprise to many.

The desert birds knew that Thorny had water inside, so for a few days they flew around him. Continue reading…

FERMIN AND THE PAMPLONA BULLS

There was once a man called Fermín who loved running with the bulls in the Spanish town of Pamplona.  Fermín was from a small village in Spain, and every year in early July he would pack his bags and set off for Pamplona to join lots of other people at the festival. It was a very popular event called the “Sanfermines” – a bit like his name. But the first year he went, he didn’t realise just how big the bulls were and just how fast they ran.

Fermín dressed all in white with a red neckerchief around his neck and prepared himself to run with the bulls. There were hundreds of people there, singing a traditional song to Saint Fermín to protect them in the chase… and after a few minutes, they released the bulls from the pens.

Fermín was very afraid when he saw the bulls running towards him, for he had never seen such big bulls before. He froze in sheer fright from the chaos of all the people running and all the bulls hurtling along behind them.

Short stories - Fermin and the pamplona bulls

Unfortunately, Fermín had frozen in the middle of the most dangerous street in the chase, Estafeta Street. Just when the bulls were about to reach him,a man came racing up to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him over the barrier. Continue reading…

FLEUR AND THE PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Once upon a time, there was a white daisy called Fleur who lived in a very big field full of other daisies. All the plants had a very important function in life, and that was to perform photosynthesis.

Fleur was a very young plant, but she was also very intelligent because from the moment she was born she never stopped observing the actions of a yellow daisy that lived beside her.

One day, when she was just a little daisy, Fleur asked the yellow flower: “Yellow daisy, what’s photosynthesis? The other plants say that’s what we do.” And the yellow daisy answered: “Well, photosynthesis is when we plants absorb the light from the sun and water from the ground to feed ourselves and grow. That way we also help the nature maintain its balance.”

Short stories - Fleur and the photosynthesis

“But how do we help it maintain its balance? What exactly do we do?” Fleur asked, for she was very curious. Continue reading…

THE MOLE WITH GLASSES

Once upon a time there was a mole called Molly, who lived in a field in the middle of nowhere. Lots of other moles in her family lived there, too.

The moles usually spent their time digging holes in the earth and hideouts hidden under the ground. Although moles have an excellent sense of smell, their sight is very bad and they can barely see beyond their noses.

Molly was a very special mole, for she had decided to wear glasses to see better and therefore be able to dig tunnels more quickly. All the moles in the field laughed at her for this, and she felt very depressed.

Short stories-the-mole-with-glasses

But one day the Mole Olympics were held in the field, and Molly put herself forward for the event of “most extraordinary digger.” This consisted of digging a tunnel more than two kilometres long, leaving from one point in the field and arriving precisely at that same point through the tunnel. Continue reading…

THE TURTLE AND THE MOPED

Somewhere in a large coastal city, there was an enormous beach where the turtles went to raise their newborn young. That was where Juliet was born, and she is the main turtle in our story.

When Juliet was a baby turtle, she was protected all day long by her mother so that nothing would happen to her. But as she grew older, she began to realise that she was a born explorer and she enjoyed going off on her own to explore new beaches.

When Juliet was old enough, she decided that to explore the world she would have to get a vehicle in which to travel, for turtles were very, very, very slow.

Short stories - the turtle and the moped

So she asked her mother to buy her a moped so that she could go off and discover new lands further away. But Juliet’s mother said: “Certainly not! I’m not going to buy you a moped because they’re very dangerous for turtles – they are not made for us.” Continue reading…

THE HAM SANDWICH AT THE BEACH

Once upon a time, there was a ham sandwich called Sandy, who was taken to the beach in a bag every summer. But Sandy was fed up because every time she went she would get covered in sand, particularly when there was a lot of wind. Not even bags could prevent it from happening.

The ham sandwich usually went to the beach with her friend the tomato, who also thought the same thing – the beach was disgusting!

One day, a little girl realised that the ham sandwich and the tomato were suffering from all the sand and said to her parents: “Mum, dad, don’t you see that every time you bring sandwiches and tomatoes to the beach, they get filled with sand? It’s our food and it deserves respect!”

short stories - the ham sandwich at the beach

To the family’s complete astonishment, the ham sandwich suddenly began to talk and said: “Parents, you should be proud of your daughter. She is able to put herself in someone else’s shoes, and that’s very important. I am food, so I deserve respect, and I especially don’t need to have sand all over me!” Continue reading…

GLUG AND THE WATER CYCLE

Once upon a time, there was a little drop of water called Glug who lived in a river. Even though she didn’t know it, she had a very important mission on Earth, and that was in the cycle of water.

Glug was a very young water drop so she didn’t know why her mother would often leave the river and return a few days later. So one morning when the sun was shining brightly, Glug asked: “Mum, why do you leave the river sometimes?” Her mother answered: “Well, because we water drops have a very important job to do: we must ensure that the cycle of water continues.”

Glug was very surprised, for she had never imagined that her mother was so important to Earth. However, Glug wasn’t very sure exactly what this mission actually was, so she asked:

short stories - glug and the water cycle

“So what’s the important mission, Mum?”

“It’s not just my mission, but yours too, and all the water drops on Earth.”

Glug was open-mouthed, for she too was part of this important mission for the planet. Continue reading…