Genre: Children’s

The Curse of the Pig

Nov 12, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Bone, Catch wind, Curse, Dragon, Forbid, Iron, Ladder, Mud, Pass by in a blur, Pork, String, Tell the future, Tie around, Transform, Wear out

Word Count: 4280

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

A princess finds a book that tells her future. When she grows up, she will have to marry a pig. The girl doesn’t want to believe it, but one day a pig comes knocking on her door. But things are not as they seem. This is a curse, and there has to be a way to break it…
Three Kisses

Oct 29, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Bathtub, Courage, Dragon, Grief, Ruby, Seagull, Servant, Slave, Smash, Witch

Word Count: 2405

Original Author: Gordon Urquhart

Leah’s mother dies, and her brother leaves home, and Leah is so sad that she cannot speak. Her father plants a rose garden on her balcony, and every day she gives a white rose to a seagull and kisses it three times, sending it to her brother. But dark magic is also travelling across the sea, and soon Leah will find that every rose is not so sweet…
Strange Friends (Advanced)

Jul 2, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: “For all the good it will do you”, Altar, Christening, Crumbs, Disposition, Fantasise, Godmother, Kitty, Might as well, Ponder, Savour

Word Count: 1554

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

A cat and a mouse live together as friends, and what strange friends that makes! One day, the cat suggests they store some food for the winter, so they buy a pot of fat and hide it in a church. But while the mouse happily cleans the house, the cat starts to think about the food…
The Kind-Hearted Pea

Jun 4, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Afford, Blow, Crack, Harvest, Kind-hearted, Pea, Pod, Shaped like, Shoo, Water (verb)

Word Count: 1081

Original Author: Saviour Pirotta

The wind carries a pea to a crack by a window. Inside the house, a boy is sick and dying. The pea wants to help the boy, and slowly it grows into a plant. When the boy sees the plant he is so happy, and he helps the plant grow.
The Emu and the Kangaroo

Apr 9, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Australia

New Vocabulary: Desert, Emu, Feather, Hole, Kangaroo, Rub, Scratch, Shelter, Spirit, Thorn, Twig

Word Count: 741

Original Author: Prue Clarke

Dinewan gets married to Bohra the kangaroo, and they go for a walk in the desert. But Dinewan soon gets bored. Bohra is a magic kangaroo, and his spirit can walk through the sky. Dinewan thinks it would be interesting to see Bohra’s spirit…
How the Narwhal Got Its Tusk

Dec 19, 2023

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Greenland

New Vocabulary: Bolt of lightning, Exile, Flesh, Grumble, Harpoon, Igloo, Keen (ear), Migrate (illness), Narwhal, Raven, Rot, Tusk, Whittle, Yank

Word Count: 2831

Original Author: Howard Norman

A blind boy lives in Greenland with his parents and his aunt. The aunt is always complaining, so the boy’s mother sends her away, but one night, there is a storm and the boy hears his aunt being struck by lightning. The aunt goes mad, and only the blind boy can save her, but he’ll have to travel far from home to do so…
The Giant Turnip

Dec 5, 2023

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Giant, Granny, Ground, Llama, Nanny, Pull on, Snake charmer, Turnip, Waste, Weak

Word Count: 1061

Original Author: Slavic Fairy Tales

A woman grows a really big turnip. She wants to pull it out of the ground but she can’t. Her husband helps her, but together they still can’t pull the turnip out of the ground. How much help will they need?
Doggo and Kitty Tear Their Trousers (Advanced)

Nov 7, 2023

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Curl up, Giggle, Knot, Needle, Parasol, Peck, Seamstress, Thorn, Thread, Uneven, Unravel, Wriggle

Word Count: 1766

Original Author: Josef Čapek

It’s a lovely day, and Doggo and Kitty go for a walk in the forest. But when Doggo gets into a fight with a rabbit, he tears his trousers, and now everyone is laughing at him! How can they mend his trousers when they’re just a dog and a cat?
The Three Goats

Sep 26, 2023

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Annoying, Drown, Eldest, Flow, Goat, Greedy, Middle child, Narrow, One by one, Silly, Troll

Word Count: 1232

Original Author: Fairy Tales

Three goats live happily in a field eating grass. But one day, there’s no more grass. They decide to cross a bridge to another field. But when they try to cross, a monster jumps out, and he wants to eat them!
The Elephant and the Hare (Intermediate)

Aug 1, 2023

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Crush, Hare, Herd, Hop, Sack, Savanna, Skin (verb), Spit, Trunk (Elephant), Wily

Word Count: 1294

Original Author: Fairy Tales

An elephant is travelling to meet his family, bringing delicious honey as a gift. He stops to give a hare a ride over the river, but the hare smells the honey and can’t resist just having a taste…