Interesting kids stories


17 Short & Classic Children's Bedtime Stories In English

Children love stories. They especially love to hear a story from their mother or father just before bedtime. One of the finest ways to unwind and relax after a long day at work is to read your child a classic bedtime story. This also helps your child make cherished memories. In addition, reading bedtime stories can help kids develop their imagination and transport them to fantastical and adventurous worlds.

Reading bedtime stories to children is also a wonderful way to bond with them and encourages a love for reading. Reading to children makes them love books and become readers themselves. It also sharpens memory, improves language, and strengthens creative thinking. Nighttime stories for kids allow you to read a story to your child while also thinking back on your childhood. Children enjoy hearing well-known bedtime stories because it is a treat for them. After all, they dream about them as they sleep. Here are 17 of the best bedtime stories for children.

Benefits of Telling Bedtime Stories for Kids

A bedtime story is only one part of what you do when you read a story to a child, but in a true sense, it is much more. Here is some importance of bedtime stories:

1. Build Bonds

Whatever time you spend with your child, giving them complete attention will effortlessly help strengthen your bond. When your child is older, they may or may not remember the stories, but they will surely remember how it felt to have you sit next to their bed and enjoy that time.

2. Promote Literacy

You are introducing your child to the joy of reading when you read them a bedtime tale. Additionally, you foster a sentiment of love and care that kids will link with books long after they have grown up and left home.

3. Enhance Your Language Skills

As they listen to stories, your kids pick up a wider vocabulary and learn how to express themselves.

4. Boost Originality

Your child’s imagination can be stimulated by hearing stories that feature characters, settings, and circumstances they would not typically encounter. They may be inspired to think beyond their personal experiences as a result.

Also Read: Why Bedtime Stories are More Important Than You Think

Best Bedtime Stories for Children

Children are always active, and it can be hard to put them to sleep at times. This is when a good story can come to your aid. It helps you prepare your kids for bedtime; they’ll even look forward to it if there are good stories to hear. Below are some of the stories that you could read out to them.

1. The Ugly Duckling

Video: The Ugly Duckling Moral Story for Kids

This is one of the classic bedtime stories for kids. The story starts on a farm, where a duck sits on a clutch of eggs to make them hatch. The eggs hatch one by one, and soon, there are six yellow-feathered ducklings chirping excitedly. The last egg takes longer to hatch, and from it emerges a strange-looking duckling with grey feathers. Everybody finds the grey duckling ugly, including its mother. The dejected duckling runs away and lives alone in a swamp until winter comes. Seeing the duckling starving in winter, a farmer takes pity on the ugly duckling and gives it food and shelter at home. However, the duckling is afraid of the farmer’s noisy children and flees to a cave by a frozen lake. When spring comes, a flock of beautiful swans descend on the lake, and the duckling, which is now fully grown, but lonely, approaches the swans, expecting to be rejected. To his surprise, the swans welcome him. He looks at his reflection in the water and realises that he is not an ugly duckling anymore but a beautiful swan. The swan joins this flock and flies off with his new family.

Also Read: Top 11 Short Panchatantra Stories for Kids

2.

Midas and the Golden touch

The story of Midas is another classic bedtime tale for kids. This ancient story from Greece describes King Midas as a greedy and resentful man, who loved gold more than anything else. Once, he did a good deed for someone, and a Greek God appeared before him, saying that he would be granted his heart’s desire for doing the good deed. Midas wished that everything he touched should turn into gold instantly. God granted his wish. Midas was very excited and went about touching random objects, turning everything he touched into gold. After a while, he became hungry. However, when he touched his food, it turned gold, and he could not eat it. He was starving and dismayed that he could not eat. Seeing him troubled, his loving daughter threw her arms around him to comfort him, and she, too, turned to gold. Midas was horrified that his daughter had become a statue of gold. He regretted asking for the Golden Touch and realised that he had been greedy and that gold was not the most precious thing in the world. He cried and begged God to take back his wish. God took pity on him and asked him to take a dip in the river by his palace and then fill a pitcher of water from the river and sprinkle it on all the things he wanted to change back. He followed the instructions and changed his daughter back to normal. He was very happy to get his beloved daughter back and stopped being greedy from that moment.

Also Read: 20 Bible Stories for Children

3. The Boy Who Cried, Wolf

This story is from Aesop’s Fables and impresses the importance of being truthful. It is the story of a shepherd boy who watched a flock of sheep near his village. The area was known to have a wolf infamous for raiding the sheep flock and making away with a couple of sheep. Every villager knew of the menace and was ready to come to the aid of anyone with a problem with the wolf. But the boy overlooked this helpful nature of the villagers and in fact, ridiculed it. For his amusement, he brought out the villagers three times, by crying out for help, saying, “Wolf! Wolf!”. The ever-vigilant villagers immediately came to help him, only to find the shepherd boy having a hearty laugh. They were naturally upset when he laughed at them for getting fooled. One day, however, a wolf came and started killing and eating his sheep. When he cried for help, none of the villagers came to his aid, as they thought he was playing a prank on them again. As a result, the wolf destroyed the shepherd’s flock. The moral of the story is that no one believes a liar, even when he tells the truth.

4. The Ant and the Grasshopper

This is another tale from Aesop’s Fables and talks about the importance of hard work and planning for the future. The story tells of a grasshopper that spends the summer singing and idling away his time. Meanwhile, his neighbours, a colony of ants, work hard throughout the summer to store food for the winter. The grasshopper laughs at the ants and tells them they should enjoy the summer. The ants tell the grasshopper that he should store food for the winter or he will starve when everything is frozen. When winter comes, the ants are in their nest, resting and surviving on the food they store. The grasshopper comes to their door, hungry and cold. He begs the ants for food and says he realised the error of his ways. The ants share their food with him and make him promise to work hard next summer, to gather and store food.

5. Beauty and the Beast

This famous fairy tale tells us that we should look past outward appearances and give more importance to a person’s good nature. There once was a merchant who got lost in a storm and took shelter in a castle he found. While leaving, he plucked a rose from the garden to gift his daughter Belle. The castle belonged to a hideous beast, who imprisoned the merchant for trying to steal the rose. The merchant begged to be set free and told the beast he only wanted the rose for his daughter Belle. The Beast lets him go, on the condition that his daughter would take his place and live in the castle. The merchant returned home and told Belle everything. Belle went to live in the castle with the Beast in place of her father. The Beast fell in love with the beautiful Belle, who realised that the Beast was very good-natured and not vicious. One day, Belle asked permission to see her father. When she left, the Beast felt heartbroken. Belle returned to the castle to see that the Beast was dying. She held the Beast and cried, admitting that she loved him. All of a sudden, the Beast turned into a handsome prince. He was cursed by a witch that he would remain a Beast until a woman truly loved him, despite his hideous looks. The witch’s curse was broken when Belle said she loved the beast. The prince and Belle got married and lived happily ever after.

6. Cinderella

Cinderella is another fairy tale full of magic and adventure. Once, a beautiful girl named Cinderella lived with her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. The stepmother made her do all the housework and was very cruel to her. One day, the stepmother and stepsisters go to a ball in the King’s palace, leaving Cinderella behind. Cinderella wanted to attend the ball and felt very sad that she had been left behind. Suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared in a burst of light, and she used her magic to transform Cinderella into a princess, wearing a lovely dress and glass slippers. She also turned a pumpkin and some mice into a carriage and horses, respectively. Cinderella could now attend the ball. The fairy godmother warned her that the magic would wear off at midnight and that Cinderella should return home before that. When Cinderella arrived at the ball, the prince saw her, and they fell in love. They danced together until midnight. When the clock struck twelve, Cinderella rushed to her carriage, leaving behind one of her glass slippers. The prince searched every house in town for the mysterious girl whose foot fit into the glass slipper. He reached the wicked stepmother’s house and found the shoe belonged to Cinderella. Thus, the prince and Cinderella got married and lived happily ever after.

7. The Hungry Mouse

This is among the short bedtime stories for kids. It talks about how greed can get people into bad situations. There once was a mouse starving and had not eaten in days. He had grown really thin. After a lot of searching, the mouse found a basket full of corn. There was a tiny hole in the basket through which he could just fit in. So, he crept into the basket and ate his fill of corn. However, he did not stop eating once he was full. The mouse ate more and more, even though he was feeling full. The mouse had grown more significant from all that food and could no longer fit through the hole to get out. He was worried and wondered how to escape. A rat that was passing by heard the mouse and told him that he had to wait until he had grown thin again in order to get out through that hole. The mouse regretted being greedy and overeating.

8. I’m Bored

This is another short bedtime story for kids. The story is about a girl who whines about boredom until she meets a potato. The potato tells her that kids are boring. The little girl is surprised and tells the potato that kids are not boring and lot of fun. The potato asks the girl to prove this. The little girl tells the potato everything children do to have fun. She tells the potato that kids can play games, do cartwheels, skip, walk on their hands, have a race, and play on the swing. She also tells the potato that better than everything else kids can imagine. This story is a way to remind children of all the fun things they can do when they are bored. This story can also be interactive if you ask your child to recount all the fun things they like to do.

9. The Emperor’s New Clothes

This is a  funny bedtime story for kids. A proud and boastful emperor only cares about displaying himself in beautiful clothes and finery. He hires two weavers and promises them a reward if they make for him the best suit of clothes ever worn by anyone. The weavers are con-men who tell the king that they are using a special invisible fabric to anyone stupid or unfit for his position. The weavers are tricking the king by only pretending to stitch the clothes, by miming making clothes. Thus, even though no one, including the emperor and his ministers, can see the clothes, nobody admits it for fear of being called stupid or unfit for his position. The weavers claim to have finished the suit and mime-dressing the emperor, who then marches before his subjects to show off his new clothes. The townspeople go along with this, as they do not want to admit that the king is naked and risk being called stupid. Then, a child watching the procession screams that the emperor has no clothes. The child does not understand the reason to keep up the pretence. Hearing the child, others in the crowd also join the child in saying that the emperor is naked. The emperor is very embarrassed. He realises that his pride and foolishness put him in a situation where he became the object of ridicule.

Also Read: Top 10 Inspirational Indian Mythological Stories With Moral Lessons for Kids

10. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

This is a story from The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights. It is a story full of magical adventures. It tells the tale of Aladdin, a poor tailor’s son. After his father dies, Aladdin’s mother earns money by spinning cotton. One day, a wicked magician comes to Aladdin and says he will pay him money for doing a small job. He also gifts him a ring as a token of advance. He then takes him to a hidden cave and asks him to go inside and bring him a lamp. The cave is full of gold and treasures. Aladdin finds the lamp and brings it to the opening of the cave. The magician asks Aladdin to give him the lamp, but Aladdin asks him to help him climb out of the cave first. The magician gets angry and says magic words that trap Aladdin inside the cave. A desperate Aladdin absently rubs the ring on his finger, and a genie magically appears, saying it will grant him any wish. Aladdin asks the genie to help him get out. He then takes the lamp and goes home. He tells his mother everything. The next day, his mother rubs the lamp while cleaning it, and again, a genie appears. It grants Aladdin and his mother anything they wish for. They now become wealthy and live in comfort. Aladdin also marries the princess of the land and lives luxuriously in a palace built for them by the genie.

Meanwhile, the magician disguises himself as a lamp seller and comes to the palace, claiming to exchange new lamps for old ones. The princess gives away the magic lamp, not knowing what it is. The magician then takes the genie of the lamp to take away Aladdin’s riches, palace and even the princess. Aladdin is in despair and tries to find a way to get everything back. He suddenly remembers the magic ring and uses the genie of the ring to bring back his palace, the lamp, and the princess. Aladdin then sets the genies of the lamp and ring free and lives happily ever after with the princess.

11. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This is one of those lovely bedtime storybooks with pictures for kids. This book has colourful illustrations and differently shaped pages, with holes showing the caterpillar’s trail through various foods. The story goes that one Sunday morning, a red-faced caterpillar hatches from an egg on a leaf and begins to look for food. He eats a leaf but is very hungry. He then eats various foods, in increasing quantities, over the next five days. The caterpillar eats through one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday. Then, on Saturday, the caterpillar has a huge feast of one piece each of a chocolate cake, ice-cream cone, pickle, Swiss cheese, salami, lollipop, cherry pie, sausage, cupcake and watermelon. After this, the caterpillar gets a bad stomach ache from overeating food. The caterpillar feels better on Sunday after he returns to his usual diet of a large green leaf. He then spins a cocoon around himself, in which he remains for two weeks. After two weeks, the caterpillar emerges from the cocoon as a beautiful butterfly with colourful wings. This book teaches little children about numbers, names of various foods, days of the week, and the life cycle of a butterfly.

12. Goodnight Moon

This is a lovely picture book for children. It features a bunny saying goodnight to everything around it. The sentences form a rhyming poem and describe how the bunny says goodnight to various living and inanimate objects around it, such as a red balloon, a dollhouse, two kittens, the moon, and so on. It goes, “Goodnight room, Goodnight moon, Goodnight cow jumping over the moon, Goodnight light, and the red balloon. Little children love the rhymes, and the soothing rhythm of the story quickly lulls them to sleep.

13. Interrupting Chicken

This story is about a red chicken which is so excited to finish a story that he interrupts it every time, much to the exasperation of his dad. Papa chicken is putting the little red chicken to bed. Papa chicken agrees to read a bedtime story to the red chicken and tells his son not to interrupt. The father starts reading Hansel and Gretel after the red chicken agrees. As the story nears the end, the little red chicken gets excited, interrupts the story, and finishes telling it on his own. The red chicken then, interrupts again when his dad reads him the stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little. Finally, Papa chicken runs out of stories and asks the little one to read to him instead. Little red chicken starts reading a story, and within minutes, the dad is fast asleep, snoring in the little one’s bed.

14. Is it Bedtime, Wibbly Pig?

This story is in a question-and-answer format. The narrator asks Wibbly Pig if it is bedtime already, and each time, Wibbly Pig gives amusing excuses to avoid going to bed. For example, wibbly Pig is taking a shower when the narrator asks if it is bedtime. Wibbly Pig replies that it is not since she is still in the bath. When asked if she has finished the bath, she says she is still drying her toes. The story continues, with Wibbly Pig coming up with various excuses to avoid bedtime. The story ends when Wibbly finally falls asleep with her cuddly toys, Dimple the teddy bear, Pigley the pig, and Flop, the bunny.

15. Oh, the Places You’ll Go

This is a book full of rhyming verses and colourful illustrations. It tells children that life is a balance of good and bad things but it can be fun if you want it to be. Each verse tells children about different stages of life and the choices they can make to deal with the various situations they face. It teaches the children that they must decide where and what to do in life. It also says that life will not always be easy, but the children can face any situation and keep moving ahead.

16. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

This is the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fairytale. This timeless story is retold with a contemporary interpretation of what it means to be “Fair.”

The evil queen kills her innocent stepdaughter because she is envious of Snow White’s beauty, but she later learns that Snow White is still alive and is hidden in a cottage with seven dwarfs. The queen, posing as a nag, tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, sending her into a death-like coma; that is when the prince comes to her rescue and kisses her, awakens the girl, and they live happily ever after.

17. Sleeping Beauty Fairy Tale Story

This is the tale of Princess Aurora/Briar Rose from the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. This timeless fairy tale is reinterpreted with a contemporary conclusion. A wicked fairy curses a princess to sleep for a hundred years; at the end of those years, a gorgeous prince wakes her up. This is a classic fairy tale. The good fairy uses her wand to put every animal and living thing in the palace to sleep so that they will awaken when the princess does, thinking that the princess would be terrified if she awoke alone.

Tips on Making Story Time Interesting

Love for reading begins at home. Here’s how you can make nighttime stories for kids the most looked forward to a part of your child’s day:

1. Use different voices for each character; change tempo and pitch as you read. This keeps your kids interested in the story and builds engagement.

2. Make your child trail over the words with their finger as you read. This helps in the identification of alphabets and words and boosts progress in reading.

3. Spend 5-10 minutes after the story time talking about the story you just read. You can ask your child what they learnt or would do if put in the situation of one of the characters. Doing so boosts imagination and builds strategic thinking.

4. Another way to boost imagination is by asking your child to continue the story or add a character that doesn’t exist in the story. This is fun and maybe entertaining for you and your kid.

5. Break a long story into several parts and read one daily. This keeps your child’s attention focused, little at a time, and builds suspense.

Reading kids’ bedtime stories is a great way to teach them good manners, right from wrong, and respect for others. They develop moral values and a civic sense. Apart from that, there are many gains in cognitive development as well. This nighttime routine helps you understand your child’s viewpoint and thinking. Hearing bedtime stories also helps a child build vocabulary and attain mastery of the language. To further encourage creative and imaginative abilities in your child, you can consider buying a kid’s activity kit; it will encourage your child to cultivate an active imagination and open a doorway to writing and reading more.

Also Read:

Short Princess Bedtime Stories for Kids to Read
Best Akbar and Birbal Stories for Children
Best Motivational and Inspirational Stories for Kids
Interesting Short Stories from Ramayana for Kids
Short Moral Stories for Kids to Read

4 Short Funny Stories for Kids

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Searching for some funny stories for kids to read to your class or at bedtime? Your kids will love these!

There are two little bears who try to wake their mother at the end of winter, an elephant and a lion who have a battle of wills, five rats who try to sneak past a sleeping cat, and a brave kitten who gets lost.

These funny bedtime stories about animals are a great way to start building your child’s pre-reading and listening skills from a young age.

1.

Wake Up Mum

Written by Christina Wither

Illustrated by Dannaria

Two little bears peeped out of their cave. Winter was over and they could smell the fresh spring air. It was time to get up and play after their long sleep.

“Let’s run under the trees,” said Ben.

“I want to roll in the grass,” said Bessie.

“We’d better ask mum,” said the bears together.

Ben and Bessie went into the cave where they had slept with their mum. There she was in the far corner. Mother bear was still fast asleep.

The two little bears tiptoed over to their mum and shook her gently.

“Wake up mum. The snow has melted and it is time to play,” said Ben.

Mother bear did not even move. She grunted and rolled over to carry on sleeping.

“What can we do?” asked Bessie. “We need our mother to wake up and take us into the forest to have some fun.

The two little bears sat outside the cave and tried to think of a way to wake up their mum.

“I know, let’s get some tickly spiders and see if they will wake up our mother,” said Ben.

The two bears went to find some tickly spiders. Bessie was feeling a bit scared of the spiders but Ben collected them on a big leaf. He took them to where his mum was lying.

The spiders walked off the leaf and across Mother bear’s back. Mother bear giggled in her sleep, but she did not wake up.

“I think we should ask a noisy cuckoo,” said Bessie.

The bears went out to the trees near the cave. Sitting in the tree was a cuckoo.

“Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,” sang the bird.

The two bears asked the cuckoo to follow them back to the cave and call out to their mom.

“Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,” sang the bird but mom just rolled over and carried on sleeping.

The two little bears did not know what to do. They had tried tickling, making a loud noise and calling out to mum.

“I know,” said Ben. “What about something she likes to eat?”

“Honey!” said the bears together.

Off they ran to a beehive. They talked politely to the bees and the bees gave them some honey. They ran back to the cave and tiptoed in to see if their mum would smell the honey.

Mum’s big brown bear nose began to twitch. Then her nose began to wiggle and she opened one eye. The baby bears took a few steps backwards.

Mother bear opened both her eyes and blinked. The baby bears took a few more steps back. Now they were up at the opening of the cave. Mother bear sat up and gave a big sniff.

“I smell honey,” she said.

Mother bear was awake at last. Ben and Bessie were so happy.

The little bears took a few more steps out of the cave and happily mother bear followed them. At last, they had found the best way to wake up mum!

Three happy bears skipped into the forest to enjoy the spring and have fun together.

2.

The Mighty Meeting

Written by Christina Wither

Illustrated by Dannaria

It was a hot, sunny day in Africa.   Elephant was walking down the path on his way to his favourite water hole. He was looking forward to the cool water and a mud bath.

Lion was also walking along the path. Lion was on his way to the grassy plains. He was going to lie down and wait for his lunch.

Elephant turned the corner and lifted his trunk in the air. He smelt the water at the water hole. Lion turned into the same corner. He was getting closer to his favourite hunting spot.

Suddenly the two animals met in the middle of the path.

“Out of my way,” roared the lion.

“Out of my way,” trumpeted the elephant.

“Make way for the king of the jungle,” growled the lion.

“Certainly not! Where shall I go?” answered the elephant.

The path was blocked. The two strong animals stood facing each other.

The elephant would not move. The lion would not move.

Other animals began to walk along the path. Some were standing behind the elephant and others behind the lion.

Lion and elephant just stared at each other and refused to move.

A monkey came running past. He greeted the other animals. Then he reached the lion and the elephant. He looked at the fierce lion. He looked at the enormous elephant.

The monkey started to chuckle. He ran off into the jungle to get some ‘monkey vine’ that hung from the trees. He rushed back to the lion and the elephant.

“I know how to solve your problem,” said the monkey.

All the animals behind the elephant and the lion wanted to get a look at what was going on. They saw the monkey arrive with a long piece of monkey vine.

He tied one end around the elephant and the other around the lion. He stood on an anthill nearby and shouted!

“Friends, we are going to have a tug of war. When I say ‘heave’ then it is time for the lion and the elephant to pull the monkey vine!”

“May the best animal win,” shouted the monkey.

Elephant was very strong and pulled hard at the rope. Lion dug his extra sharp claws into the path and pulled hard too.

Suddenly there was a clap of thunder! The animals looked up into the sky. They saw huge dark rain clouds. A storm was on its way.

Then Lion felt the first drops of rain. He let go of the monkey vine and ran off into the bushes.

“My mane, my beautiful mane. I combed it as smooth as silk this morning!” he cried.

Lion ran to hide under an Acacia Tortillas, the umbrella thorn tree.

“I win,” cried Elephant, as he stood in the rain. Elephant’s thick skin was like a raincoat. He was not worried about getting wet.

Monkey hopped about with delight. He wanted Elephant to win.

Suddenly all the animals heard a mighty roar! “No, rain stopped play, there is no contest.”

Lion did not want the animals to think he had lost. No contest meant there was no winner.

Elephant nodded his head and walked down the path. He did not care if he got wet and he was looking forward to getting muddy too.

3.

Five Rats and a Funny Top Hat

Written by Christina Wither

Illustrated by Dannaria

Samson, the big black cat, lay across the mat fast asleep. He was a very big, fat cat. Samson looked as if he was asleep, but he really had one eye open all the time.

Samson’s one eye was looking right at the hole in the wall where a family of rats lived. One, two, three, four and five little rats.

Five little frightened rats were peeping out from behind the hole in the wall. The five rats wanted to get away from the big, black cat.

Samson yawned and stretched and turned over to sleep a bit longer. The rats were quivering with excitement.  Now was their chance to escape. One rat tiptoed out to cross the room. He started to run towards the door.

Suddenly the door opened! In walked a tall man wearing a top hat. The man threw the top hat onto a chair but it missed the chair and fell on the floor.

Samson jumped up and hissed. The rat ran back to his hole with the other rats. The chance to escape had gone.

Slowly Samson went back to sleep. The rats looked at the cat and then they noticed the top hat lying on the floor and it gave them an idea.

The rats nodded to each other as they made a plan. They would hide under the hat and see if they could sneak past the big, black cat. Carefully, one by one, they wriggled under the hat and waited.

The rats heard Samson snoring. They thought they would start to walk towards the door under the shelter of the hat. Slowly the hat slid across the floor. The cat did not wake up.

The rats reached the door. It was open just enough for them to slip out and go on down the road. The hat, with the rats, went out of the door.

At the same time Samson woke up. His greedy eyes saw the hat moving across the steps and out of the door. 

He jumped up and started to walk towards the door. The rats knew they would have to start to run.

The cat was getting closer and the rats could see no escape. Behind them was the cat and in front of them was the road and it led to a duck pond. Oh, what should they do?

Whoosh, a sudden gust of wind blew down the road. It tipped the hat over and the rats fell inside. They hung on tightly.  What would happen now?

The hat blew down the road and into the pond. The rats peeped over the edge. They saw that they were floating on the pond. Now the hat was a boat!

Samson looked at the rats floating on the pond. He was very angry. He could not swim. The rats had escaped in their funny top hat. The little rats laughed at the cat. Samson hissed and went home.

4.

The Spotty Grey Kitten

Written by Christina Wither

Illustrated by Dannaria

Grady was a little, grey kitten. He had a white spot on his back and a black spot on his nose. Grady lived with his mum and two sisters on a farm.

Grady’s sisters were white with black spots. Both of his sisters were very good. Grady was the naughty one. He was always getting into trouble.

Grady was very adventurous. He wanted to explore the farm. One day he went out into the farmyard to see what was in the big wide world.

Grady said to himself, “I am not afraid of anything!”

Suddenly a big monster roared out of the garage and sent Grady spinning into the bushes. He did not know what had roared past. He picked himself up and decided it was time to go home.

Grady looked left and he looked right, but there was nowhere that looked like home. He was lost.

‘Oh dear,’ Grady thought. ‘Now what shall I do?’ He walked across a field and suddenly he stopped!

There in front of him was a furry, white animal with spots on its back. Grady thought it must be one of his sisters.

Grady ran up to the furry, spotted animal.

“Can you take me home?” asked Grady.

“No,” said the furry animal. “You do not belong in my home.

“Look at you, you do not have big ears and you do not hop like me,” said the furry animal.

Grady realized he did not belong with this animal. Grady ran to the farmyard where he saw another spotty animal. It was a bit bigger than Grady, but it had spots on its back.

Grady ran up to the spotty animal.

“Can I come home with you? You look just like me with all those spots,” said Grady.

The big animal grunted and jumped into a mud puddle.

“I have mud spots on my back. Come and roll in the mud if you want mud spots,” said the muddy spotty animal.

“No thanks,” said Grady. He did not want to get muddy. Grady ran away again.

Grady was getting worried. He was hungry too.

Then Grady saw another spotted animal. This animal had a loud voice.

“Ruff, ruff,” said the voice. “Can I help you?”

Grady just nodded. He felt himself being lifted up and carried away. A spotty dog had found Grady. He scratched at the front door. A little girl opened the door. She jumped up and down.

She was so happy to see the spotty dog and the kitten. She took Grady right back to his mother. She was lying in a basket in the kitchen.

Grady saw his mum and his two sisters. Grady listened to their soft purring.

“Purr, purr,” said the other kittens. They were happy too.

Grady was put back in his basket. He felt happy as he snuggled up with his family. He was safe now and he was going to get some milk for his supper.

Purr, purr, purr!

I hope you liked these stories. For a printable version of these stories, scroll to the FREE downloads at the end of the post.

Here are more short, bedtime stories for kids and here is some info on the importance of listening skills in early childhood.

These stories are written by Christina Wither and illustrated by Dannaria.

About the Author:

Christina Wither lives in the Natal Midlands of South Africa. She loves writing stories for children. She believes stories are a great way of empowering parents to connect with their children.

‘A story a day will bring happiness your way,’ says Christina, who especially enjoys writing quirky stories for the very young.

Christina is a co-writer for Empowered Parents and is also the creator of the awesome children’s brand Wart and Fish – Play and Learn.

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Stories for children 7-8-9-10 years old

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Dragunsky's funny and instructive story about how Denis imagined himself as an adult. The boy dreamed about how he would reprimand his father, mother and grandmother for misbehavior: being late, walking without a hat, talking at dinner, etc. This ...

An interesting and informative story about two friends who bought two toy phones to talk to each other . Yes, only Mishka decided to disassemble his apparatus and see how it works. And to collect, as it was, and ...

A story about two friends who were left alone at the dacha for two days. When leaving, my mother explained how to cook porridge and soup. Yes, only the boys did not listen to advice at all. Read how the friends caught the escaping porridge, got out the bucket...

A funny story about how the yard dog Bobik came to visit his master Barbos. Bobik was surprised by everything in the house: a wall clock, a hairbrush, a mirror, a TV set. Watchdog, as a hospitable host, explained to a friend about the purpose of objects. And then…

A funny story about a boy who didn't want to eat semolina. Mom promised to take him to the Kremlin if he ate all the porridge. Deniska adds sugar, salt, water and even horseradish to the porridge to make it more…

Dragunsky's story about Denis and Mishka doing their homework together. At the same time, Deniska tells a friend about lemurs. Then the boys decide to check each other's work and find many mistakes - everything needs to be redone. After…

Dragunsky's story about three guys who didn't pronounce the letter Sh. It all started when a truck with a Christmas tree drove into the yard of the house. Alyonka says: “Look, there are detectives hanging on the Christmas tree.” This is where it started…

Dragunsky's story about Denisk, who came to visit his friend Mishka. Mishka gathered a lot of guys. And then it was decided to play hide and seek. Deniska decided to outsmart everyone and hide in one of the communal rooms….

A story about how a teacher witty weaned Fedya Rybkin from laughing in class. The boy was smeared with mascara, the whole class could not look at him without laughing. This made Fred very happy. The teacher, discovering the reason for the fun, said that on ...

An instructive story about the blacksmith's son Vasya. The boy was very fond of riding a cart drawn by his father's horse. The blacksmith did not approve of this. Once Vasya took a cart and went to the forest. A branch got into the wheel and started whipping the boy…

A story about rescuing a dog and a kitten on a river during an ice drift. The guys threw a board on the ice floe and the dog in its teeth with the kitten moved to the shore. She missed her master very much and was very happy when he…

Nosov's instructive story, which teaches that one should not take someone else's property. Pavlik and Kotka once picked cucumbers in the collective farm garden. Kotka's mother saw cucumbers in her son's pocket and found out how he got them. This is strong for her…

A story about a boy, Kotka, who was sitting at home and did not want to build a hill. However, when the guys built a slide and went home, Kotka went out into the yard to skate. And he wanted to ride from a new mountain. Climb up…

A cautionary tale about honesty. Minka got an A at school and got so upset that he forgot his diary on a park bench. They brought him a new diary and again put a unit there. In the evening a guest came and brought a forgotten diary…

Dragunsky's story about the boy Deniska's sympathy for a circus performer. One day he went to the circus with his class. He liked the show very much. Especially the number with a huge blue ball on which a little girl danced. After the performance of Denis was ...

A humorous story about Denis and Mishka, who were assigned to sing a duet with satirical verses at a concert. The boys rehearsed for a long time, but during the performance Mishka got excited and repeated the first verse three times. The whole hall was falling from…

The commander left the horse wounded in the leg in the village and the miller Pankrat cured him. But he could not feed the horse, so the horse walked around the village and everyone fed him little by little. But one day the unkind boy Filka hit...

A funny story about how three friends went on a trip around the world, taking with them a dog and a whole bag with things: plates, forks, pencils, pillows and other utensils. Read how their campaign ended and Styopka succeeded ...

Once Deniska and Mishka played hockey and were late for the lessons. They came up with a good reason, but never agreed. As a result, the deceit came out. A fire in an outhouse or a feat in the ice read We…

Pyotr Terentyev, preparing to go to war, received from his son a beetle, which he found in the garden, as a gift. Peter put him in a box, fed him and let him fly. The beetle went through the whole war with the soldier. Adventures of a rhinoceros beetle…

Site news

This section of our site contains stories of favorite Russian writers for children 7-8-9-10 years. Many of them are included in the main school curriculum and the extracurricular reading program for grades 2 and 3. However, these interesting stories for children are worth reading not for the sake of a line in the reader's diary. Being classics of Russian literature, the stories of Tolstoy, Bianchi and other authors have educational and educational functions. In short children's stories, the reader is faced with good and evil, friendship and betrayal, honesty and deceit. Younger students learn about the life and way of life of previous generations.

The stories of the classics not only teach and edify, but also entertain. Funny stories of Zoshchenko, Dragunsky, Oster are familiar to every person since childhood. Plots understandable to children and light humor made the stories the most readable works among junior schoolchildren aged 7-10. Read interesting stories of Russian writers online on our website!

  • Unkind Lado

    Nivkh fairy tale

    The hunter Chumdag from the Dungu clan had a daughter, Lado. The old people did everything to ensure that their daughter grew up good, beautiful and happy. And Lado grew up to be a beauty-beauty. Only one thing turned out badly: Lado didn’t know how to do anything…….

  • The fox and the bear

    Nivkh fairy tale

    The tale about the cunning fox. She lived in the taiga, she was very dexterous, she caught pheasants, quails, and sandpipers. But then the fox got old, she began to see badly, her strength diminished. The hunt became unsuccessful, he wanders all day in the taiga, but…

  • Nikan bride

    Nivkh fairy tale

    A fairy tale about how the son of a rich Nivkh, Solodo Hoing, was looking for a bride for himself. Solodo's father was rich and greedy. He had a lot of good things, but he wanted more and more. His son Alyumka was not distinguished by beauty ...

  • Brave Azmun

    Nivkh fairy tale

    In ancient times there was a village on the banks of the Amur. Somehow guys and men are sitting on the shore, looking at the water, smoking pipes, mending nets. They look - a raft of logs is floating along the Amur, on it stands a pole with ...

  • Running on the waves

    This is a romantic story about how important it is to follow the goal without giving up and not paying attention to various life obstacles. The protagonist, chasing a dream, goes through many adventures, in which he is assisted by the legendary patroness of sailors….

  • First love

    Turgenev I.S.

    The story of the first youthful love and adult relationship between the heroine and Volodya's father. The author shows the character of the heroine not from the best side: she is cunning, prudent. In addition to Volodya, she had several other potential suitors ... Table of contents: I ...

  • Arena

    Frederic Brown

    A fantastic story about an irreconcilable war between the inhabitants of the earth and aliens. Pilot Carson and the Alien are at war for the future of civilization and whoever wins will grant great prosperity and existence to this civilization. "Arena" read Carson...

  • Netochka Nezvanova

    Dostoevsky F.M.

    The most lyrical and poignant of all the stories of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky about the life of a little girl who lives in constant dreams, and completely misunderstands everything that is happening around her. Table of contents: Chapter I Chapter II Chapter…

  • Poems about spring for children 3-4-5 years old

    Poems about spring for children 3-4-5 years old

    Welcome to the section of our website dedicated to poems about spring for children 3-5 years old! Spring is the time of the year when everything around wakes up from hibernation, the earth begins to turn green, flowers bloom, and birds return from ...

  • Poems about spring for children 5-6-7 years old

    Poems about spring for children 5-6-7 years old

    Welcome to the section of our site devoted to poems about spring for children 5-7 years old! Spring is the time of the year when a new cycle of life begins. During this wonderful period, children especially love to walk in the street, watch ...

  • Poems about summer for children 5-6-7 years old

    Poems about summer for children 5-6-7 years old

    Here you will find bright and colorful poems about summer adventures, about animals and nature in summer, as well as about how pleasant it is to spend time outdoors in the warm season. Poems teach children to feel poetic ...

  • Poems about summer for children 3-4-5 years old

    Poems about summer for children 3-4-5 years old

    Welcome to the section of our site devoted to poems about summer for children 3-5 years old! Summer is a wonderful time of the year when children especially want to play outdoors, swim, pick berries and fruits, have picnics...

  • 1 - Little Red Riding Hood

    Charles Perrault

    A short tale about a gullible girl and a cunning gray wolf. Disobeying her mother, the girl turns off the road and talks to a stranger - a gray wolf ... "Little Red Riding Hood" read Once upon a time there was a little girl. Her mother loved her without memory, and her grandmother ...

  • 2 - Kolobok

    Russian folk tale

    The tale about Kolobok is found in Russian and Ukrainian folklore, and also has analogues in fairy tales of many other nations. Our site presents a version of a folk tale in the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. "Gingerbread Man" read Once upon a time there was an old man with an old woman. Here ...

  • 3 - Three little pigs

    Mikhalkov S.

    A fairy tale about three little pigs who built houses for themselves. One brother built a house out of straw, another out of twigs and twigs, and a third out of bricks. "Three Little Pigs" read Once upon a time there were three little pigs in the world. Three brothers. All…

  • 4 - The turnip

    Russian folk tale

    The turnip is a famous fairy tale for the little ones with a lot of repetitions. The child quickly remembers the sequence of presentation and a simple plot. "Turnip" read Grandfather planted a turnip and says: - Grow a turnip, sweet, sweet! Grow big, big! A turnip has grown, sweet and big, big….

  • 5 - Puss in Boots

    Charles Perrault

    The tale of an unusual cat that was inherited by a younger brother from a miller's father. The young man at first was not very happy with his share of the inheritance, but the cunning and intelligent cat made him the richest man and son-in-law of the king ... "The cat in ...

  • 6 - A wolf and seven kids

    Russian folk tale

    The fairy tale tells about an evil wolf who changed his voice, made his way into the goat's house and ate little kids. But the mother goat will be able to save her children and get rid of the wolf. "The Wolf and the Seven Kids" read Once upon a time there was a goat with kids ....

  • 7 - The Tale of Tsar Saltan

    Pushkin A. S.

    The tale of Tsar Saltan, of his son, the glorious and mighty hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the beautiful Swan Princess was created on the basis of the folk tale "Wonderful Sons". Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin enriched the folk work with new plot twists, ...

  • 8 - Wizard of the Emerald City

    Volkov A.M.

    "The Wizard of the Emerald City" - a fairy tale story by Alexander Volkov written in 1939 based on the fairy tale "The Wise Man of Oz" by American writer Frank Baum with some changes. In 1959, a new edition of the book was published, significantly revised ...

  • 9 - The Bremen Town Musicians

    Entin Yu.S. and Livanov V.B.

    The story of the animals and the young Troubadour who went to the city of Bremen to become street musicians. In the city they stopped in front of the royal castle. The king and princess came out onto the balcony of the palace, the townspeople ran to the square and it began . ..

  • 10 - Flower of seven flowers

    Kataev V.P.

    A fairy tale about a girl Zhenya, who was presented with a magic seven-flower flower. It had seven petals and could grant any seven wishes. Zhenya spent the first six wishes, but did not get any pleasure and only made her last wish...

  • 11 - Three Bears

    Russian folk tale

    Three Bears is a fairy tale about a girl who got lost in the forest and ended up in a house of bears. There she behaved very rudely: without permission, she ate from every cup, sat on every chair, lay down in every bed, ...

  • 12 - Winnie the Pooh and all, all, all

    Alan Milne

    A cheerful and beloved fairy tale about Winnie the Pooh does not obey the laws of the fairy tale genre. The tale is devoid of negative characters, the struggle between good and evil forces. The main characters of the tale are the toys of the boy Christopher, with whom funny situations happen in a magical . ..

  • 13 - Gena the crocodile and his friends

    Tale about a lonely crocodile Gena. Coming home from work from the zoo, he was left alone and bored. Crocodile Gena decided to make friends with someone. He wrote an ad that he was looking for friends, hung them around the city and ...

  • 14 - Geese-swans

    Russian folk tale

    Geese-swans - a fairy tale about how a boy was carried away by swan geese and his sister went to look for him. The stove, apple tree and river helped the girl save her brother. Read the fairy tale in the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. "Geese-swans" read There lived a man and a woman. At…

  • 15 - Hen Ryaba

    Russian folk tale

    Hen Ryaba is the first fairy tale-parable that mothers read to their babies. Children quickly grasp a simple plot and remember it by heart. Hen Ryaba read Once upon a time there was a grandfather and a woman. And they had a Ryaba Hen. The chicken laid an egg, yes ...

  • 16 - The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish

    Pushkin A.S.

    The tale of a poor fisherman who caught a golden fish in his net. The old man took pity on the fish, released it into the sea. For this, the fish promised to fulfill his every wish. The old man did not ask for anything, but when he returned home, he told about…

  • 17 - The Frog Princess

    Russian folk tale

    The Frog Princess is a Russian folk tale where the main character, Ivan Tsarevich, married a frog by the will of fate. Ivan had no idea that his wife was Vasilisa the Wise, turned by Koshchei into a frog. Ivan hurried, burned the frog skin and had to ...

  • 18 - Masha and the Bear

    Russian folk tale

    Masha and the Bear is a fairy tale about a girl who got lost in the forest and ended up in a bear's hut. The bear did not let Mashenka go home, however, the girl came up with a way to return to her grandparents. “Masha and…

  • 19 - The Fox and the Crane

    Russian folk tale

    The Fox and the Crane is a fairy tale about friendship between a cunning fox and a clever crane. The crane could not eat the semolina porridge, which the Fox smeared on a plate. He invited her to his place and treated her to a delicious okroshka, which he put ...

  • 20 - The Snow Queen

    Hans Christian Andersen

    The Snow Queen is one of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous fairy tales about love that can overcome any trial and melt even an icy heart! The Snow Queen read Table of Contents: The first story that tells about a mirror…

  • 21 - Thumbelina

    Hans Christian Andersen

    The fairy tale about Thumbelina is loved by children all over the world. A tiny girl born from a flower goes through many trials on the way to her happiness. Fate rewards Thumbelina for her kind heart. The swallow she rescued earlier endures...

  • 22 - The Little Mermaid

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A touching tale of the Little Mermaid's intense love for the prince. The little mermaid is ready to give up everything that is dear to her for the sake of the human soul and the love of the prince ... The fairy tale formed the basis of the plots of many films, cartoons and musicals. Little Mermaid read In the open…

  • 23 - Sleeping Beauty

    Charles Perrault

    A fairy tale about a beautiful princess who was cursed by an offended fairy at a celebration in honor of her birth. The old fairy predicted the girl's death from a spindle prick, but the good fairy was able to commute the sentence. The girl did not die, but fell asleep on ...

  • 24 - Ax porridge

    Russian folk tale

    Ax porridge is a short fairy tale about a witty soldier. The greedy old woman did not want to feed the soldier, but he outwitted her and got porridge with butter . .. Read porridge from an ax The old soldier went on a visit. Tired of…

  • 25 - The Ugly Duckling

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A fairy tale about the miraculous transformation of an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. The duckling was born unlike his brothers, the inhabitants of the poultry yard disliked him for his dissimilarity to the others. The duckling had to leave the house and go through many trials before he…

  • 26 - Twelve months

    Samuil Marshak

    Do you know how many months there are in a year? - Twelve. And what are their names? — January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. As soon as one month ends, another immediately begins. And…

  • 27 - The Princess and the Pea

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A short story about how the prince wanted to marry a real princess. One day, a girl knocked on the gate, who was soaked to the skin, but assured that she was a real princess. She was allowed to sleep, and the old queen gave her a check……

  • 28 - Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka

    Russian folk tale

    Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka is a fairy tale about how the younger brother disobeyed his sister, got drunk from a hoof and turned into a kid… Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka read Once upon a time an old man and an old woman, they had…

  • 29 - Bean seed

    Russian folk tale

    The cockerel and the bean seed is a Russian folk tale about a rooster who was always in a hurry when he pecked at the seeds. The hen warned him all the time and asked him to peck more slowly. One day he choked on a bean seed and fell down. But the chicken ...

  • 30 - Fear's eyes are big

    Russian folk tale

    Fear's eyes are big - a short fairy tale about the fact that from fear you can see what was not really . .. (from M.M. Serova's collection) Fear has big eyes read Once upon a time, there was an old grandmother, a laughing granddaughter, a chicken-klokhtushka and a little mouse. Every…

  • 31 - Teremok

    Russian folk audio fairy tale

    Teremok is a short fairy tale for kids about a house that sheltered many animals. However, the tower could not accommodate a huge bear and broke.

  • 32 - Sivka Burka

    Russian folk tale

    Sivka-Burka is a fairy tale about the adventures of Ivan the Fool and his gallant horse. Sivka Burka read The old man had three sons: two smart ones, and the third Ivanushka the Fool; day and night the fool is lying on the stove. The old man sowed wheat, and it grew ...

  • 33 - Baba Yaga

    Russian folk tale

    A fairy tale about a girl who was able to get out of the clutches of Baba Yaga, thanks to the advice of her own aunt and kind cat … Read Baba Yaga Once upon a time there was a husband and wife, and they had a daughter. The wife fell ill and died. Grieved, grieved ...

  • 34 - The tale of the priest and his worker Balda

    Pushkin A.S.

    The tale of the stingy priest and resourceful worker Balda. Somehow Balda was hired for the service for three clicks on the forehead of the priest. When the time of reckoning was approaching, the priest decided to give Balda an impossible task in order to get rid of him. But Balda…

  • 35 - Little Humpbacked Horse

    Ershov P.

    There was an old man in a village who had three sons. They grew wheat and sold it in the market. But then someone got into the habit of trampling wheat in the field at night ... Table of contents: Part one. The fairy tale begins...

  • 36 - Alice in Wonderland

    Carroll L.

    A captivating story about a girl Alice, who met a talking White Rabbit and got into amazing worlds where she met very unusual characters. .. Chapter 1. Down the rabbit hole Alice got bored of sitting with her sister idle on the shore…

  • 37 - The Little Prince

    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    A fairy tale about how a pilot, who remained a child at heart, met the Little Prince in the desert, who arrived from another planet. Table of contents: Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter…

Stories for children aged 5-6

Search by title on the page

A well-known story about two friends and a kitten whose hat fell from a chest of drawers. The boys at first thought that the hat had come to life and were very frightened. But soon the secret of the hat was discovered... The story The living hat read The hat was lying on...

An interesting and informative story about two friends who bought two toy phones to talk to each other. Yes, only Mishka decided to disassemble his apparatus and see how it works. And to collect, as it was, and . ..

A story about two friends who were left alone at the dacha for two days. When leaving, my mother explained how to cook porridge and soup. Yes, only the boys did not listen to advice at all. Read how friends caught the escaping porridge, took out a bucket...

A funny story about Mishutka and Stasik, who told each other all sorts of fables - they competed who would lie to whom. One day neighbor Igor sat down on the bench. The boy told how he really deceived his mother by eating half a can of jam ...

A funny story about how the yard dog Bobik came to visit his master's Barbos. Bobik was surprised by everything in the house: a wall clock, a hairbrush, a mirror, a TV set. Watchdog, as a hospitable host, explained to a friend about the purpose of objects. And then…

A funny story about a boy who didn't want to eat semolina. Mom promised to take him to the Kremlin if he ate all the porridge. Deniska adds sugar, salt, water and even horseradish to the porridge to make it more…

Dragunsky's story about three guys who didn't pronounce the letter Sh. It all started when a truck with a Christmas tree drove into the courtyard of the house. Alyonka says: “Look, there are detectives hanging on the Christmas tree.” This is where it started...

An instructive story about shame, about not taking other people's things, about the fact that a misdemeanor will be punished. Read the story about Lyola and Minka, who ate candies from the New Year tree and opened their presents… Read the tree…

Dragunsky's story about Denisk, who came to visit his friend Mishka. Mishka gathered a lot of guys. And then it was decided to play hide and seek. Deniska decided to outsmart everyone and hide in one of the communal rooms….

A story about how a teacher witty weaned Fedya Rybkin from laughing in class. The boy was smeared with mascara, the whole class could not look at him without laughing. This made Fred very happy. The teacher, having discovered the reason for the fun, said that on ...

An instructive story about the blacksmith's son Vasya. The boy was very fond of riding a cart drawn by his father's horse. The blacksmith did not approve of this. Once Vasya took a cart and went to the forest. A branch got into the wheel and started whipping the boy…

A story about rescuing a dog and a kitten on the river during ice drift. The guys threw a board on the ice floe and the dog in its teeth with the kitten moved to the shore. She missed her owner very much and was very happy when he…

A story about a boy, Bobka, who had wonderful khaki pants. Climbing over the fence, the boy tore his pants, and his mother got angry and did not sew them up. Bobka decided to put the patch himself... The story Patch to read U...

A story about a boy, Kotka, who was sitting at home and did not want to build a hill. However, when the guys built a slide and went home, Kotka went out into the yard to skate. And he wanted to ride from a new mountain. Climb up...

Dragunsky's story about a boy and his favorite toy - a teddy bear. One day, six-year-old Deniska decides to be a boxer and asks his dad to buy him a punching bag. Dad with a laugh refuses the boy to buy. Then mom takes out…

A humorous story about Denis and Mishka, who were assigned to sing a duet with satirical verses at a concert. The boys rehearsed for a long time, but during the performance Mishka got excited and repeated the first verse three times. The whole hall fell from ...

An instructive story about Vitalik, who traded a crucian for a whistle. The boy did not immediately tell about his act. And my mother thought that the cat had eaten the fish... Read Karasik's story Mom recently presented Vitalik with an aquarium with a fish. Very good…

The commander left the horse wounded in the leg in the village and the miller Pankrat cured him. But he could not feed the horse, so the horse walked around the village and everyone fed him little by little. But once an unkind boy Filka hit...

One day Deniska and Mishka played hockey and were late for lessons. They came up with a good reason, but never agreed. As a result, the deceit came out. A fire in an outbuilding or a feat in the ice read We are with ...

A funny story about how two friends dreamed of driving a car. Once a car drove into the yard and the boys began to find out what brand it was. And then Mishka sat on the bumper and offered to ride on it… Story…

Site news

This section of our site contains stories of favorite Russian writers for children aged 5-6. By this age, the child develops certain preferences in children's literature. Some guys like only encyclopedias and books for viewing, someone likes fairy tales about princesses and elves, etc. But do not limit children to a few genres. You should always expand the range of literature studied and offer something new for review. For example, funny stories by Nosov, Dragunsky, Zoshchenko and others. We are sure that the child will not remain indifferent and will fall in love with these stories once and for all.

The main characters of the stories are children. They get into different situations, constantly invent something and have fun. Young readers associate themselves with the characters in the books, begin to repeat new expressions for themselves, and act out similar situations. Thus, the child expands vocabulary and develops social intelligence.

Read the best stories of Russian writers online on our website!

  • Unkind Lado

    Nivkh fairy tale

    The hunter Chumdag from the Dungu clan had a daughter, Lado. The old people did everything to ensure that their daughter grew up good, beautiful and happy. And Lado grew up to be a beauty-beauty. Only one thing turned out badly: Lado didn’t know how to do anything…….

  • The fox and the bear

    Nivkh fairy tale

    The tale about the cunning fox. She lived in the taiga, she was very dexterous, she caught pheasants, quails, and sandpipers. But then the fox got old, she began to see badly, her strength diminished. The hunt became unsuccessful, he wanders all day in the taiga, but…

  • Nikan bride

    Nivkh fairy tale

    A fairy tale about how the son of a rich Nivkh, Solodo Hoing, was looking for a bride for himself. Solodo's father was rich and greedy. He had a lot of good things, but he wanted more and more. His son Alyumka was not distinguished by beauty ...

  • Brave Azmun

    Nivkh fairy tale

    In ancient times there was a village on the banks of the Amur. Somehow guys and men are sitting on the shore, looking at the water, smoking pipes, mending nets. They look - a raft of logs is floating along the Amur, on it stands a pole with ...

  • Running on the waves

    This is a romantic story about how important it is to follow the goal without giving up and not paying attention to various life obstacles. The protagonist, chasing a dream, goes through many adventures, in which he is assisted by the legendary patroness of sailors….

  • First love

    Turgenev I.S.

    The story of the first youthful love and adult relationship between the heroine and Volodya's father. The author shows the character of the heroine not from the best side: she is cunning, prudent. In addition to Volodya, she had several other potential suitors ... Table of contents: I ...

  • Arena

    Frederic Brown

    A fantastic story about an irreconcilable war between the inhabitants of the earth and aliens. Pilot Carson and the Alien are at war for the future of civilization and whoever wins will grant great prosperity and existence to this civilization. "Arena" read Carson...

  • Netochka Nezvanova

    Dostoevsky F.M.

    The most lyrical and poignant of all the stories of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky about the life of a little girl who lives in constant dreams, and completely misunderstands everything that is happening around her. Table of contents: Chapter I Chapter II Chapter…

  • Poems about spring for children 3-4-5 years old

    Poems about spring for children 3-4-5 years old

    Welcome to the section of our website dedicated to poems about spring for children 3-5 years old! Spring is the time of the year when everything around wakes up from hibernation, the earth begins to turn green, flowers bloom, and birds return from ...

  • Poems about spring for children 5-6-7 years old

    Poems about spring for children 5-6-7 years old

    Welcome to the section of our site devoted to poems about spring for children 5-7 years old! Spring is the time of the year when a new cycle of life begins. During this wonderful period, children especially love to walk in the street, watch ...

  • Poems about summer for children 5-6-7 years old

    Poems about summer for children 5-6-7 years old

    Here you will find bright and colorful poems about summer adventures, about animals and nature in summer, as well as about how pleasant it is to spend time outdoors in the warm season. Poems teach children to feel poetic ...

  • Poems about summer for children 3-4-5 years old

    Poems about summer for children 3-4-5 years old

    Welcome to the section of our site devoted to poems about summer for children 3-5 years old! Summer is a wonderful time of the year when children especially want to play outdoors, swim, pick berries and fruits, have picnics...

  • 1 - Little Red Riding Hood

    Charles Perrault

    A short tale about a gullible girl and a cunning gray wolf. Disobeying her mother, the girl turns off the road and talks to a stranger - a gray wolf ... "Little Red Riding Hood" read Once upon a time there was a little girl. Her mother loved her without memory, and her grandmother ...

  • 2 - Kolobok

    Russian folk tale

    The tale about Kolobok is found in Russian and Ukrainian folklore, and also has analogues in fairy tales of many other nations. Our site presents a version of a folk tale in the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. "Gingerbread Man" read Once upon a time there was an old man with an old woman. Here ...

  • 3 - Three little pigs

    Mikhalkov S.

    A fairy tale about three little pigs who built houses for themselves. One brother built a house out of straw, another out of twigs and twigs, and a third out of bricks. "Three Little Pigs" read Once upon a time there were three little pigs in the world. Three brothers. All…

  • 4 - The turnip

    Russian folk tale

    The turnip is a famous fairy tale for the little ones with a lot of repetitions. The child quickly remembers the sequence of presentation and a simple plot. "Turnip" read Grandfather planted a turnip and says: - Grow a turnip, sweet, sweet! Grow big, big! A turnip has grown, sweet and big, big….

  • 5 - Puss in Boots

    Charles Perrault

    The tale of an unusual cat that was inherited by a younger brother from a miller's father. The young man at first was not very happy with his share of the inheritance, but the cunning and intelligent cat made him the richest man and son-in-law of the king ... "The cat in ...

  • 6 - A wolf and seven kids

    Russian folk tale

    The fairy tale tells about an evil wolf who changed his voice, made his way into the goat's house and ate little kids. But the mother goat will be able to save her children and get rid of the wolf. "The Wolf and the Seven Kids" read Once upon a time there was a goat with kids ....

  • 7 - The Tale of Tsar Saltan

    Pushkin A.S.

    The tale of Tsar Saltan, of his son, the glorious and mighty hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the beautiful Swan Princess was created on the basis of the folk tale "Wonderful Sons". Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin enriched the folk work with new plot twists, ...

  • 8 - Wizard of the Emerald City

    Volkov A. M.

    "The Wizard of the Emerald City" - a fairy tale story by Alexander Volkov written in 1939 based on the fairy tale "The Wise Man of Oz" by American writer Frank Baum with some changes. In 1959, a new edition of the book was published, significantly revised ...

  • 9 - The Bremen Town Musicians

    Entin Yu.S. and Livanov V.B.

    The story of the animals and the young Troubadour who went to the city of Bremen to become street musicians. In the city they stopped in front of the royal castle. The king and princess came out onto the balcony of the palace, the townspeople ran to the square and it began ...

  • 10 - Flower of seven flowers

    Kataev V.P.

    A fairy tale about a girl Zhenya, who was presented with a magic seven-flower flower. It had seven petals and could grant any seven wishes. Zhenya spent the first six wishes, but did not get any pleasure and only made her last wish. ..

  • 11 - Three Bears

    Russian folk tale

    Three Bears is a fairy tale about a girl who got lost in the forest and ended up in a house of bears. There she behaved very rudely: without permission, she ate from every cup, sat on every chair, lay down in every bed, ...

  • 12 - Winnie the Pooh and all, all, all

    Alan Milne

    A cheerful and beloved fairy tale about Winnie the Pooh does not obey the laws of the fairy tale genre. The tale is devoid of negative characters, the struggle between good and evil forces. The main characters of the tale are the toys of the boy Christopher, with whom funny situations happen in a magical ...

  • 13 - Gena the crocodile and his friends

    Tale about a lonely crocodile Gena. Coming home from work from the zoo, he was left alone and bored. Crocodile Gena decided to make friends with someone. He wrote an ad that he was looking for friends, hung them around the city and . ..

  • 14 - Geese-swans

    Russian folk tale

    Geese-swans - a fairy tale about how a boy was carried away by swan geese and his sister went to look for him. The stove, apple tree and river helped the girl save her brother. Read the fairy tale in the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. "Geese-swans" read There lived a man and a woman. At…

  • 15 - Hen Ryaba

    Russian folk tale

    Hen Ryaba is the first fairy tale-parable that mothers read to their babies. Children quickly grasp a simple plot and remember it by heart. Hen Ryaba read Once upon a time there was a grandfather and a woman. And they had a Ryaba Hen. The chicken laid an egg, yes ...

  • 16 - The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish

    Pushkin A.S.

    The tale of a poor fisherman who caught a golden fish in his net. The old man took pity on the fish, released it into the sea. For this, the fish promised to fulfill his every wish. The old man did not ask for anything, but when he returned home, he told about…

  • 17 - The Frog Princess

    Russian folk tale

    The Frog Princess is a Russian folk tale where the main character, Ivan Tsarevich, married a frog by the will of fate. Ivan had no idea that his wife was Vasilisa the Wise, turned by Koshchei into a frog. Ivan hurried, burned the frog skin and had to ...

  • 18 - Masha and the Bear

    Russian folk tale

    Masha and the Bear is a fairy tale about a girl who got lost in the forest and ended up in a bear's hut. The bear did not let Mashenka go home, however, the girl came up with a way to return to her grandparents. “Masha and…

  • 19 - The Fox and the Crane

    Russian folk tale

    The Fox and the Crane is a fairy tale about friendship between a cunning fox and a clever crane. The crane could not eat the semolina porridge, which the Fox smeared on a plate. He invited her to his place and treated her to a delicious okroshka, which he put ...

  • 20 - The Snow Queen

    Hans Christian Andersen

    The Snow Queen is one of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous fairy tales about love that can overcome any trial and melt even an icy heart! The Snow Queen read Table of Contents: The first story that tells about a mirror…

  • 21 - Thumbelina

    Hans Christian Andersen

    The fairy tale about Thumbelina is loved by children all over the world. A tiny girl born from a flower goes through many trials on the way to her happiness. Fate rewards Thumbelina for her kind heart. The swallow she rescued earlier endures...

  • 22 - The Little Mermaid

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A touching tale of the Little Mermaid's intense love for the prince. The little mermaid is ready to give up everything that is dear to her for the sake of the human soul and the love of the prince . .. The fairy tale formed the basis of the plots of many films, cartoons and musicals. Little Mermaid read In the open…

  • 23 - Sleeping Beauty

    Charles Perrault

    A fairy tale about a beautiful princess who was cursed by an offended fairy at a celebration in honor of her birth. The old fairy predicted the girl's death from a spindle prick, but the good fairy was able to commute the sentence. The girl did not die, but fell asleep on ...

  • 24 - Ax porridge

    Russian folk tale

    Ax porridge is a short fairy tale about a witty soldier. The greedy old woman did not want to feed the soldier, but he outwitted her and got porridge with butter ... Read porridge from an ax The old soldier went on a visit. Tired of…

  • 25 - The Ugly Duckling

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A fairy tale about the miraculous transformation of an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. The duckling was born unlike his brothers, the inhabitants of the poultry yard disliked him for his dissimilarity to the others. The duckling had to leave the house and go through many trials before he…

  • 26 - Twelve months

    Samuil Marshak

    Do you know how many months there are in a year? - Twelve. And what are their names? — January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. As soon as one month ends, another immediately begins. And…

  • 27 - The Princess and the Pea

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A short story about how the prince wanted to marry a real princess. One day, a girl knocked on the gate, who was soaked to the skin, but assured that she was a real princess. She was allowed to sleep, and the old queen gave her a check……

  • 28 - Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka

    Russian folk tale

    Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka is a fairy tale about how the younger brother disobeyed his sister, got drunk from a hoof and turned into a kid… Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka read Once upon a time an old man and an old woman, they had…

  • 29 - Bean seed

    Russian folk tale

    The cockerel and the bean seed is a Russian folk tale about a rooster who was always in a hurry when he pecked at the seeds. The hen warned him all the time and asked him to peck more slowly. One day he choked on a bean seed and fell down. But the chicken ...

  • 30 - Fear's eyes are big

    Russian folk tale

    Fear's eyes are big - a short fairy tale about the fact that from fear you can see what was not really ... (from M.M. Serova's collection) Fear has big eyes read Once upon a time, there was an old grandmother, a laughing granddaughter, a chicken-klokhtushka and a little mouse. Every…

  • 31 - Teremok

    Russian folk audio fairy tale

    Teremok is a short fairy tale for kids about a house that sheltered many animals. However, the tower could not accommodate a huge bear and broke.

  • 32 - Sivka Burka

    Russian folk tale

    Sivka-Burka is a fairy tale about the adventures of Ivan the Fool and his gallant horse. Sivka Burka read The old man had three sons: two smart ones, and the third Ivanushka the Fool; day and night the fool is lying on the stove. The old man sowed wheat, and it grew ...

  • 33 - Baba Yaga

    Russian folk tale

    A fairy tale about a girl who was able to get out of the clutches of Baba Yaga, thanks to the advice of her own aunt and kind cat … Read Baba Yaga Once upon a time there was a husband and wife, and they had a daughter. The wife fell ill and died. Grieved, grieved ...

  • 34 - The tale of the priest and his worker Balda

    Pushkin A.S.

    The tale of the stingy priest and resourceful worker Balda. Somehow Balda was hired for the service for three clicks on the forehead of the priest. When the time of reckoning was approaching, the priest decided to give Balda an impossible task in order to get rid of him. But Balda…

  • 35 - Little Humpbacked Horse

    Ershov P.

    There was an old man in a village who had three sons. They grew wheat and sold it in the market.


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