PETER AND THE WOLF

Once upon a time, there was a little Shepherd who lived in a town near the woods. His name was Peter, and he always took of his flock.

He was often bored and alone on the field and he used to play alone and invented many games to entertain himself. One time he had an idea to have fun at the expense of his neighbours.

Short stories - The wolf and the ladder

One day, Peter started to shout –“Help, help! the wolf is coming!”- The alarmed neighbours ran out to help him but they just found Peter laughing at them -“Ha, ha, ha, You are so silly, I was joking!”. The neighbours were really angry and went back home. Continue reading…

FEARLESS JOHN

John was a boy who lived with his father and his big brother in a small town.

John´s brother was really smart unlike John. Everybody admired him, even his father.

One day, John´s brother injured his hand in a domestic accident and it started to bleed. His father went to John and said “John, your brother´s hand is bleeding, don´t look at him, you might be afraid”.

John didn´t understand his father and asked him – “What is fear?”.-  His father couldn’t believe what he was saying, – “You don’t know what fear means? Ok, go to the woods and you will discover what it means”. And so that is what John did. Continue reading…

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

Once upon a time there was a little town called Hamelin, located among the montains and surrounded by beautiful fields.

One day, a lot of rats arrived in Hamelin. The rats ran around everywhere and so the terrified citizens went to plead with the town councillors to free them from this plague.

Childrens stories - the tiny little mouse

The Mayor was in his office trying to think of a plan, when a young man with a golden flute appeared, and offered to rid him and the town of rats in exchange for one million euros. “If you solve this problem I will pay you.” – said the Mayor. Continue reading…

PUSS IN BOOTS

Once upon a time, there was a young boy who lived on the street with his cat. He had no money and wore old clothes. He had little to eat and would scavenge in garbage bags for him and his cat.

One day the cat realised that his master couldn´t cope with this situation any more. So he took a pair of boots a hat and a cape, cleaned them and put them on. From that moment, the cat was known as Puss in boots.

Puss in boots went hunting, captured a wild boar and brought it to the King  – “Sir, here is a magnificent wild boar, which belongs to my lord, the Marquis of Carabas, and he told me to offer it to your majesty”. The King was grateful and that night he and his family had roast wild boar for dinner.

The day after, the cat took his boots and went hunting again, and likewise he gave his prey to the King in the name of the Marquis of Carabas. Continue reading…

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…

THE LAMPPOST WITHOUT LIGHT

Once upon a time, there was an old lamppost named Claudia, which had always lived in the central square of a small village by the sea. Claudia the lamppost had spent her entire life illuminating the central square of this coastal town together with a few other lampposts.

Every day, when the sun disappeared over the horizon things were hard to see, so Claudia would turn her great light bulb on, and shed light and happiness over the town.

bedtime-lamppost

One day something horrible happened. As the sun was setting on the horizon, neither Claudia the lamppost nor any of her friends lit up. “Do you know what is happening?” Claudia asked her friend Izzy, “It’s the first time in 50 years that something like this has happened to me” – “I have no idea what is going on,” replied Izzy just as surprised as Claudia, “but look around you, the entire town is dark,” she said.  Continue reading…

PAPPY THE PAPER BAG

Plastic bags are used all over the world to carry everyday items such as bread, shopping, clothes, toys and lots of other things. But Pappy, the hero of our story, wasn’t a plastic bag like all the rest – he was a very special paper bag. And Pappy had a mission to complete…

Pappy knew that all over the world there were millions of plastic bags that had been abandoned by people and ended up floating in the seas and oceans, contaminating the water and causing damage to the creatures that lived nearby.

Pappy didn’t want things to go on this way, so he came up with a plan to put an end to plastic bags being thrown away. One day he went to visit a big supermarket to talk to the manager.

“Hello Mr. Manager, my name is Pappy and as you can see I’m a paper bag. I wanted to propose an idea to avoid using plastic bags in shopping,” Pappy declared. Continue reading…