THE TWITCHY WITCH

Once upon a time, in the middle of a forest, there was a grey house that looked rather frightening. It seemed as if no one lived there, for the windows were full of spider webs and the glass was so filthy it was impossible to see inside the house.

But in fact there was someone living there… a witch known all around the world as “the twitchy witch“. The twitchy witch had a wart right on the tip of her big nose, big black eyes and grey-and-white hair. She was a witch all right, a very ugly witch, and she was scary to look at.

The twitchy witch had always lived in the forest, and on certain days of the year she would go into the village a few kilometres away and frighten the people who lived there.

Short stories - The twitchy witch

Today was one of the days that our witch, the twitchy witch, went into the village. Like all witches, she used her broom to get from place to place. So, dressed in dark clothing, she put on her pointy black hat, picked up her broom and set off.

It was getting dark by the time the twitchy witch arrived at the village. When some of the villagers out on the streets saw the silhouette of the twitchy witch flying atop her broom, they went running to their houses as fast as the blink of an eye.

The twitchy witch couldn’t stop cackling to see the people flee in fear. Continue reading…

THE TINY LITTLE MOUSE

There was once a tiny little mouse called Marvin.

He was so small that when his friends called him, he had to light a match for them to see him. At school he was always teased for being so small, but he didn’t care and remained deaf to everything people said to him.

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However, what some of them didn’t realise was that Marvin was the only mouse not to fall into the traps set by humans. Whenever he had to dodge the traps to get to his mouse hole, Marvin darted home nimbly and never once stepped on the mechanism that activated the traps.

Childrens stories - the tiny little mouse

And that wasn’t all. Whenever a human went mouse-hunting, Marvin would hide in the cheese holes and they never caught him. He was the only one who could.

Continue reading…

THE GROUCHY LIGHTBULB

Once upon a time there was a low-energy light bulb who sometimes got annoyed when he was switched on… Mr. Graham, the owner of the house, couldn’t understand its behaviour, because he had been told it would last a long time and save energy.

One day, he invited some friends to dinner, Robert and Isa. It was quite a sunny day, but the Graham family had switched on all the living room lights for the meal, and the grouchy light bulb was among them.

Robert realised that the light bulb looked angry, for it flicked on and off constantly. So he asked: “Hey, Graham, I think your light bulb is annoyed. Have you noticed?!”

Childrens stories - the grouchy lightbulb

Mr. Graham replied: “He gets annoyed and goes out every time we switch him on. I don’t know why, because we only bought him a little while ago…” Continue reading…

FLORA, THE LEAPING FROG

Once upon a time, there was a frog called Flora, who was very young and spent all day long leaping about…

Perhaps you’re thinking, ‘Yes, but that’s what all frogs do!’ Which is true – all frogs leap to get from one place to another, but our friend Flora was nicknamed ‘leap frog’ by the other frogs, so you can imagine that she certainly didn’t lack any energy.

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From the moment she awoke to the time she went to sleep, she would jump about from one spot to another. She couldn’t sit quietly even for a little while, and her parents were constantly telling her: “Flora, don’t leap so much! One day you’re going to hit something by accident and hurt yourself.”

One day when she was in the pond, leaping from one stone to the next, a very calm toad ambled up to her and said: “Hello Flora, how is it you have so much energy to leap around like that?” For a moment, Flora the frog stopped still to stare at the toad that was transmitting so much peace, then shrugged and kept on leaping.

Childrens stories - Flora the leaping frog

The next day at school she had a gymnastics exam, which consisted of leaping over the vaulting horse and … I wonder if you can guess who leapt higher than anyone else? That’s right, Flora the frog. At that moment a classmate came up to her and asked: ‘How do you do it, Flora? I’m a frog too, but I can’t leap around all day long”… And Flora answered: “I don’t know…”

Continue reading…

THE TALKING TAP

Once upon a time there was a tap that was used to wash plates… which is to say he was a tap in a kitchen in a house in the countryside.

He didn’t see people very often, so to entertain himself he learned to speak – but he only ever talked to himself. He would tell himself stories about what his life would be like if people lived in his house.

 

Childrens stories - the talking tap

One day, new owners bought the house – and they had a little daughter called Maria. The little girl didn’t have many friends nearby, for her house was quite far away from the village. So she would amuse herself by playing with the furniture and items in the house, and the thing she most liked to play with was the talking tap.

Continue reading…

THE ADVENTURES OF LOLA

If ever there was an intrepid and adventurous little girl, it was certainly eight-year-old Lola. Lola lived with her parents and grandfather in a house in a small village, surrounded by mountains, a river and lots and lots of trees.

Every day after school once Lola had done her homework, she would eat a snack and think up a new adventure. Today, Lola put on her explorer glasses and picked up her backpack, where she kept a compass, a bottle of water, a lamp and a GPS that her parents had given her for her birthday.

“Mum, I’m going into the garden for a bit“, said Lola. “Ok, Lola, but be careful and come back in before it gets dark” replied her mother.

Childrens stories - The adventures of Lola

Lola ran out into the garden, which was as big as a football pitch, and her grandfather, who was sitting on the veranda, said: “What’s today’s adventure? If you need a companion on your travels, just let me know“.

“Oooh, yes please, Granddad,” said Lola. “Come with me – I need you to help me complete a really, really important mission!!!”

So Lola and her grandfather went to a part of the garden where Continue reading…

THOMAS AND THE FLYING SNEAKERS

There was once a pair of old dirty sneakers that lived in a house outside New York. The house was situated in a rich neighbourhood and the owners were rich, too. The sneakers could be found in the room belonging to their young son Thomas.

Now, Thomas had lots of sneakers, but he only ever wore two or three pairs. One day, Thomas was cleaning his room when he discovered the old dirty sneakers at the bottom of his wardrobe. In fact, they were so grubby that he decided to clean them up.

He began rubbing them with a cloth, and as he scrubbed he remembered that he had only worn these sneakers once in his life. “I know“, he thought, “I put these sneakers on the day I went to play in the mud in the park.”

Childrens stories - Thomas and the flying sneakers

Once they were completely clean, he noticed a detail he had never noticed before: the sneakers had a shining button on the undersole. It looked like a diamond and was so bright it dazzled his eyes. Thomas wondered what the button was for, so he pressed it and was amazed. A pair of white cloth wings the size of Thomas’s head had sprouted from the sneakers, and leapt to the window of their own accord.

In excitement, Thomas pulled on the sneakers and they flew through the window, dragging Thomas through the air. He began to scream and yell but the sneakers only stopped completely when he blurted out the word: “Stop!” Continue reading…

SEBASTIAN, THE SNAIL IN LOVE

Sebastian was a very popular snail who was nice to everyone, and wherever he went he made people laugh with his humour and cheeky nature.

One sunny day, Sebastian the snail was getting ready to go out for a crawl on the lawn where he lived. But he wasn’t the only one who had decided to enjoy that splendid morning – his friend Lucy, a very beautiful and intelligent snail, was also out and about.

Sebastian, seeing that Lucy was there, stretched his horns out into the sun as far as he could, and resolved to slide over to his friend. “Hello Sebastian“, said Lucy, “I see I’m not the only one who felt like getting some sunshine; I’m so pleased you’ve come out!” Hearing these words, Sebastian felt on top of the world, for he had never imagined that Lucy might like his company so much… And he began to think that he might even be in love with his old friend.

Childrens stories - Sebastian the snail who was in love

From a young age, they had always played together and Sebastian had always liked her. But he had never told her this, fearing that she might say she didn’t feel the same and they would stop being friends. But Sebastian couldn’t hide it; in fact, after hearing Lucy’s words, his face began to get redder and redder…

“How are you, Lucy? It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?!“, replied Sebastian, not knowing what else to say… Continue reading…

THE DUCKS IN THE LAKE

Just like every day at the lake, the ducks were waking up to the first rays of sun bouncing off the water and bringing glorious colour to all the beautiful vegetation around there.

Dory, for that was the name of the strongest little duck in the lake, was helping the other little ducks as well as getting her children some food. Life at the lake was an oasis of peace.

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But then something unexpected happened… Ever since the lake had been built, a villager called Steven had been in charge of cleaning the lake. Steven respected the ducks as well as all the plants that surrounded them. But Steven wasn’t there today – instead, a man called Horace was now in charge.

Children´s stories - the ducks in the lake

Horace did not think the ducks were as important as making the lake as pretty as possible to surprise all the villagers.

One beautiful day when the first rays of sunshine were beginning to peep out, Horace arrived at the lake pushing a wheelbarrow in which he was carrying a strange object. Dory the duck, who was already awake and looking for food for her children, paddled silently over to the place where Horace and his wheelbarrow were, but couldn’t make head or tail of what was inside it.

After a few hours, Horace had finished his work of art. He placed a fountain right in the middle of the lake, with all kinds of pipes sticking out everywhere – poor Dory couldn’t begin to guess what they were for. Continue reading…

THE RABBIT AND BAMBOO ISLAND

Once upon a time there was a rabbit that lived on an island full of bamboo canes. He was called Robbie, and every day he would run from his warren at one end of the island to where all the grass grew on the other, dodging the bamboo canes as he went.

One day, Robbie thought: “Why can’t I just go and eat the grass without having to hop round all those bamboo canes?” An idea came to him, and he set to work ripping away the bamboo stalks to create a path straight to his food.

Just as he was pulling out the second bamboo cane, he heard a little voice crying out: “Little rabbit Robbie! Don’t rip out more bamboo, for if you do all of us who live on this island will vanish!!”

Childrens stories - the rabbit and bamboo island

Robbie was surprised to hear the voice, and quickly realised that it came from a bamboo cane. He answered: “I’m sorry, Mrs Bamboo Cane, but I’m making a road to get to my food quicker.”

But the bamboo cane kept talking to Robbie and told him: “I understand your reasons for pulling us up, but the whole island is in danger if you do!!” Continue reading…