Cuentos infantiles Cuentos infantiles  

Tales about consideration

JOEY’S SOCKS

There was once a little boy called Joey, who played a lot of sport. Every day he went through three pairs of socks – all of them sports socks.

He wore sports socks when he went to play basketball and sports socks when he went to play football. All that was normal. But Joey also wore sports socks when he went to school, and when he went to visit his grandparents, and in fact any time he left the house.

But in his drawers there were all sorts of other socks, including ordinary socks.

short-stories-Joeys-socks

 

One morning when Joey got up, he saw a sock jump onto his pillow and squeak: “Joey, me and my friends in the drawer, the ordinary socks, well, we’re very worried that you’re not wearing us.”

Joey quickly recognised the sock – it was one his mother had given him two years ago now. Read the rest of this short story »

THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON

There was once a very beautiful princess named Claudia, who lived in a very big castle, for her father was the king of Dragoland. The young princess usually spent her days playing with friends in the castle dungeons. But one day, Claudia and her chums went for a walk around the castle walls where there was a forest full of trees.

Claudia was the most beautiful of all her friends. Her long blonde hair and big green eyes meant that people noticed her wherever she went.

As they entered the forest, the girls noticed something moving among the tree branches, but couldn’t see who or what it was… Suddenly, an enormous dragon came flying out of the undergrowth and grabbed Claudia with his claws. Then, as quickly as he had come, the dragon flew back deeper and deeper into the forest. Terrified, the other girls ran back to the castle to tell the king what had happened.

Short stories - The princess and the dragon

The King of Dragoland was so alarmed at hearing the news that his daughter had been kidnapped by a dragon that he ordered an army of a thousand men to rescue her. Meanwhile, the dragon had already reached his lair with the princess. Read the rest of this short story »

TIP THE CURIOUS ANT

It was springtime and, as is usual for this time of year, the ants were coming out of their anthills in search of food to store for the winter. Tip, who was only a few days old, wondered: “Why do we have to collect food in spring and summer to eat it in winter?” However much Tip tried, he couldn’t find an answer, for he had not yet left the anthill and had no other ant to talk to that could shed light on his question.

After a day of hard work, Tip’s mother returned to the anthill. She had barely got through the door when Tip came running out asking: “Mum, why do you have to collect food for winter now?” So Tip’s mother calmly came in, sat on the sofa and said: “Son, we collect food at this time of year because we ants can’t go outside in winter. It becomes very cold then, and sometimes it rains or even snows. If any of us go out in winter, we are in serious danger.” To which Tip answered: “So … the cold, rain and snow are bad?”

Well, no, Tip. Actually, we need them to live, but just imagine a heavy downpour of rain: we’re so small that if we go outside we could drown because just one drop could kill us,” replied his mother.

Short stories - Tip, the curious ant

But Tip was a very curious ant, and he began to wonder what rain or snow was really like. So he decided to wait for the first rainfall in autumn to see for himself.

Eventually, there came a cold rainy day in autumn. Tip decided it was the perfect opportunity to go outside for the very first time. He waited until his mother had gone out for a cup of tea with her friends, then slipped out of the house towards the anthill exit.

Tip was still very small and didn’t know the dangers he could face. Although deep down, he knew that disobeying his mother was wrong, he still went ahead with his plan. As he approached the anthill exit, a strange thundering noise became louder and louder. “What on earth could that be?” he wondered and grew more and more curious to get outside and see the rain.

Just as he was about to leave the anthill, a guard ant stepped into his path and said: “Where do you think you’re going, little one? Don’t you know it’s raining?” Tip froze, for he didn’t expect to be stopped just as he was about to discover what rain was… Read the rest of this short story »

THE BIRD AND MR. RED HEART

There was once a bird called Hawthorn, who loved to flutter about near the electrical cables that exist in lots of towns. In particular he liked to be near the lamp posts, because it was nice and warm there and the birds had somewhere to perch.

On the cables there was a strange red object, which the birds called “Mr Red Heart“. This peculiar red heart was as round as a ball, and as red as a pepper. There were other red hearts scattered across the cable, which attracted the birds’ attention.

One day, another bird called Lucas (who was known to tell lies), told Hawthorn: “You have to be very, very nice to the red heart, for he saves us from hitting the cables.”

Short stories- The bird and mr red heart

Lucas was right about one thing: the red heart told the birds that there was a cable there so they wouldn’t fly into it, for the cable isn’t very visible in the air. In fact, humans call the red heart “bird guards“. Read the rest of this short story »

THE DAY AND THE NIGHT

There was once a planet called Earth, half of which was night and the other half was day.

Five-year-old Julia had realised that during the day there was light but that at night everything went dark. One evening, Julia was reading a bed-time story when her mother came to give her a kiss and wish her goodnight. “Night night, Julia, sweet dreams,” said her mother as she tucked her in. “Mummy, why is everything dark at night and there’s no sun?” asked Julia.

So Julia’s mother sat on the edge of the bed beside her and said: “Ok, tonight I’ll tell you a story about night and day, and then I’m sure you’ll understand why they exist.

Short stories - The day and the nigth

Julia was very eager to hear the story, because it would help her understand lots of the questions she had about the sun and the moon.

Julia’s mother started her tale. “A long time ago, the planets were created and among them was the planet where we live, called Earth. Our planet is like a spinning top, but there’s one difference: Earth spins more slowly; in fact, it takes 24 hours to go round once. That’s why it’s called earth rotation.”

All this while, Julia was listening hard to everything her mother told her, for she had never heard anything about the planets and the sun. Julia’s mother continued: “So as Earth spins around, the sun will shine its light on one side of it and it will be day. But the side facing away from the sun will be dark, and that means it’s night-time. So while it’s day on one side of the Earth, it’s night-time on the other.

After the story, Julia understood that day-time is when the sun gives us light because we are facing it, and it becomes night-time as we move away from the sun’s rays.

Today Julia had learned something she didn’t know before, and even though she was only a little girl she sensed that what her mother had told her was very important for all the inhabitants of Earth, for thanks to the sun there is life on our planet.

THE END

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. Read the rest of this short story »

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!!Read the rest of this short story »