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Genre: Philosophical
Whose Child Is It?
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: MedievalNew Vocabulary: Adviser, Breastfeed, Complain, Give birth, Lie, Midwife, Miserable, Real (true), Smother, Split in two, WhoseWord Count: 857Original Author: Fairy TalesTwo women come to the king with a baby. Both say that the baby is theirs. Who is the real mother? The king must decide.
Big Peter and Little Peter
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Basket, Chop off, Heaven, Let someone out, Priest, Scared, Shove, Stupid, Tell the future, WoollenWord Count: 2016Original Author: Norwegian MythsAs Little Peter rode his horse, he held the basket so that the priest could not get out. ‘Help! Help!’ shouted the priest. ‘Shh!’ said Little Peter. ‘Do you hear that?’ They were by a river, and the priest listened to the water. ‘Most baskets do not talk, so if you can talk, you must be a magic basket. And I don’t like magic. I think I’ll throw you in the river!’
The King’s New Clothes
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Adviser, Knight (verb), Loom, Moth, Outfit, Rule, Thread, Train (clothes), Trickster, Unfit for office, WeaveWord Count: 1772Original Author: Hans Christian Andersen‘My dear king,’ said the first brother. ‘We have travelled through the whole country, and we have heard all sorts of stories about your fantastic outfits.’ ‘You have?’ said the King, satisfied that his efforts were being seen. ‘How wonderful.’ ‘We have a proposal,’ said the second brother. ‘We wish to weave you a beautiful outfit, so that your fame might spread not only to our kingdom, but to the whole world.’
Love Like Salt
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Bland, Cloak, Frown, Get into trouble, Lord, Maid, Make up, Marsh, Once (after), PretendWord Count: 1490Original Author: Fairy TalesSatisfied, he asked the third daughter, ‘How much do you love me, my dear?’ The third daughter was more creative than the other two. She often got into trouble by saying clever things. So she said, ‘I love you like fresh meat loves salt.’ Her father frowned. ‘You don’t love me at all!’ he cried. ‘Get out of my house.’ And so he threw her out of the house. The girl cried and cried, but…
Head in the Clouds
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Buffalo, Daydream, Equestrian school, Famine, Head in the clouds, Herd, Illustrate a point, Light at the end of the tunnel, Puddle, Thrust, Topple overWord Count: 737Original Author: Fairy TalesOne day, Dai received a gift from his sister: it was a pot of lamp oil. Over the next few weeks, as Dai used the pot, he noticed it had a strange quality. No matter how much oil he used, the pot was always full the next day. That night, Dai lay down in bed, but he was so excited he could not sleep. He stared up at the pot on his shelf and daydreamed.
New Year, New Me
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: All at once, Childhood, Frown, Go off (sound), Gym, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s resolution, Pour, Serious (person), Smile, Spontaneous, WiseWord Count: 1515Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyDiana was surprised. ‘You don’t make resolutions? But you’re the most serious person I know! You go to the gym, and cook healthy food, and read books… How do you do all that without New Year’s resolutions?’ Minerva drank some wine. ‘Let me ask you something. How much are you planning on drinking tonight?’ Diana frowned. ‘You plan how much you’re going to drink?’
Open Sesame
He gasped. The mountain was full of treasures! There was gold and silver and thousands of jewels. They sat in piles, like piles of seeds, but these treasures were so much better than seeds. The poor man did not know what to take. He did not want the thieves to kill him. So he took just a bit of gold, filling his pockets. He wanted to take the jewels, but he thought that the thieves…
Mother Death
‘You wicked boy!’ they spat. ‘I raised you, I gave you everything you needed, and you disobeyed me!’ ‘I did not,’ said Mortimer, smiling wickedly. ‘You stood at the head of his bed, and so the King was supposed to survive.’ Death raised a bony finger at Mortimer. ‘If you ever trick me again, it will mark the end of your life.’
[100th episode celebration!] The Wind in Her Hand
Once upon a time, there was a land where the sun never set. Every hour of every day, it shone bright and hot. The people of this land lived in huge cities, where everyone who walked down the street held a parasol. All the parasols pressed together and formed a wall that blocked out the sun, and yet, the people still felt its heat. At night, they covered their windows with thick curtains, and yet,…
You Can’t Please Everyone
‘Why do you have a donkey, but you don’t ride it? Donkeys should be ridden.’ So the man said to his son, ‘Get on the donkey and ride it.’ They kept on going. A few hours later, a group of old women walked past. ‘Look at that lazy young boy,’ said one of the women. ‘Shame on him! He makes his father walk while he rides. His father should ride on the horse.’