Small story reading

Long Distance Phone Call – A Lesbian Short Story by Marty B – Reedsy Prompts

You can talk to the dead on the pay phone in front of Seventh Street Market in West Oakland.  

There is also a donut store where they sell burgers, and a check cashing store in the small strip mall, but everybody references the market when talking about the Phone. I didn't tell my Dad we were going to California so he could talk to his dead wife, my Mom, until we hit Olympia, Washington. 

“That is the stupidest goddamn thing I have ever heard of! We are driving to Oakland to have a seance on a pay phone?” He said when I told him our actual destination. "I thought we were going to a baseball game!” 

“Dad, come on, I want to do this. Please, come along and we’ll see how it goes. And then we’ll see your Mariners play the Oakland A’s.” 

Although I always think of him as so much bigger than me, we were about the same size now, he had lost so much weight from stress over the past year. He spent all day on his recliner, alone, he even stopped working in his garden. My dad had nothing else to do, and no matter what he said, he has always loved car trips. He needed something to shake him up, and I knew speaking to Mom again would do it.   

He looked over at me, “Don’t you have work? Did you lose your job again!” His face was turning red under his battered Seattle mariners cap.

“I had a difference of opinion with my Bruce.-” I started.

“-Let me guess, you were right, and he was wrong.” 

“He was a sexist asshole who wouldn’t know Python if it was actually a snake and bit him.” I shouted at the windshield.” I write good code, and he just-” I glanced at my dad, he was shaking his head. “Yes, I was right, but he's the Boss, so-”

“-You always blame someone else, your school or your boss or me. Maybe, just maybe- it is you?"

“You just don't understand! I don’t need your advice!”  

That ended our conversation, but I knew how to get him engaged.

I gave my Dad a map, my phone to look up yelp reviews, and the real destination. To make him work a little bit I gave him some parameters- only six hours of driving a day, restaurants had to be Mexican, Indian or Greek, and we had to fit in two tourist sites per day. Once I set it up that way, he was in. He had the map spread out and outlined our route. We could have kept going south till we hit the bottom of Argentina. He was in his element. 

I remember when I was young going on road trips all the time. Or maybe I remember talking about the road trips. He would plan out detailed itineraries, with each day's miles, gas and restaurant stops picked out in advance. Pretty amazing as this was all pre-internet. Dad would go on and on about what motel we would stay at, what we were going to see when we got there, how long we would stay, every little bit. The funny part was he was usually so happy before we left, and then miserable on the trip. Because of course, life does not follow such pre-laid plans.  I would need to make an unplanned bathroom stop or the restaurant is closed or the motel full. And then once one thing got off track, then the issues snowballed and as he would day, ‘why did I even plan at all!’ 

He understood anything mechanical, however he could not understand his daughter. I couldn’t be fixed like a fan motor. We have not really gotten along since high school. When I was little, I was the son he never had, throwing the ball, watching baseball together. But when I realized I preferred girls to boys, and made some poor choices, our relationship took a left turn. My Mom understood my need to rebel, but Dad never did. 

He worked at Microsoft, in facilities, for my whole life. He retired last year to take care of Mom, and that is when things started going sideways. Her leukemia diagnosis gave him a reason to plan, to map out her recovery. When the cancer did not follow the plan and Mom passed last month, he got lost. I had to do something. 

In Redding, California, my Dad picked a gas station several miles out of the way.  He had identified it as the lowest cost gas for the next 100 miles. As we pulled into a line of cars waiting to enter the gas station my phone rang in my Dad's hand. He showed me the caller ID, it read ‘Rosie’. 

Damn. I grabbed it to answer. 

“Hey, Rosie-”

-”No, Rocko is fine at my place, he is used to it now-”

-”No, do not bring him back to your apartment!”

-”Rosie, I’ll be back in 2 days! That is kidnapping! He will be fine where he is!” 

“No, but-"

 The phone call ended and I dropped it in the cup holder.

“It was Rosie.” I begin.” I didn’t tell you. We broke up. I moved out. Rosie is getting the apartment, and I am getting Rocko- except she just took him back”

“The cat?” my Dad said. 

The line moved up and I eased toward an open gas pump. 

“Rosie thinks the apartment and the cat go together, and really Rocko does too. But I don’t want to give in. Rosie is the reason we broke up! And, I don’t like living alone, so it is good to have Rocko there. We were together for three years- I don’t know if I can find someone again.” I pause to breathe out. “I feel lost, I need to map out my next step, I-”

“-Pop the hood” My Dad said as if we were not talking at all. He had opened the car door before the car had completely stopped. 

He checked the oil, checked the belts, and looked at the tires. 

I just watch him exasperated. He gets back in and looks at me,

“Did you put in the gas?”  

“Dad, you don't listen!” 

“Listen to what?” 

“Dad, I was telling you about how I feel!”    

“How you feel- about the cat?” 

“Oh my goodness.” I got out to fill up the gas.  

Leaving the gas station, I switched on the radio, loud. ‘Faith,’ by George Michael came on. 

“'Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith…” 

I was singing along, when all of a sudden, my Dad switched it off. “Do you hear that?”

“Dad, what the F- are you doing!” I switched the radio back on, louder.

My Dad switched it off again, “No listen! “

“You turned off the radio, what can I listen to!” 

“The engine, the engine! Do you hear that? What kind of gas did you put in?” 

There was a faint regular knocking sound coming from the engine.  

“The cheapest, isn't that why we went to that random gas station?”

“87!?” My dad said, “you have to put in 89, or 91 for your car! The engine will knock.”

“What are you talking about ‘knocks’?” I asked.

“ You put in the wrong gas Gina, oh goodness, we are going to have to listen to this for 300 miles!”

I looked at my Dad and shook my head. “Well how about George Michael then,” and I turned the radio back on. 

We got to West Oakland on Friday night and I smelled the San Francisco Bay. It reminded me of Lake Sammamish. It's not a good smell. My Dad had picked out a motel right across from the Port. This was the industrial part of Oakland and was had few houses, mostly factories and large buildings.

 I went for a walk by myself that night. Amazing murals covered many of the buildings. One building was entirely painted sky blue with waving trees, mythical animals and tree-people dancing around it. I stopped in front of a huge mural, a fantastical map of the universe all flowing from the open heart of a man floating in rapture. Right in front of it was a burned out shell of a car.  

If there was any place that could have a Phone to speak to the dead, it would be here. The sense of anticipation was building in me. 

Early Saturday we got to Seventh Street Market, and Dad asked me to drive around the block one more time before we pulled into the small parking lot. 

“Dad, it is a real thing. I heard about it on a podcast. ‘Mystical Dimensions’.” We were both staring at the words spray painted on the wall in smoky gray graffiti letters, ‘Speak to the Dead’. “The episode talked to people who had spoken on the phone to their loved ones who had died.” I was not explaining this well.

Inside of a plexiglass phone booth missing its doors, a dilapidated Pacific Bell payphone waited. I can't remember the last time I saw a pay phone.

 “So, I guess that is it. Do you want to talk on the Phone?” I said without turning.

 He didn’t answer. From the car we watched people go into the market, the donut shop and getting cash for their payday checks.  

“Do you want a donut?” 

“No." He just looked away.  

Everything in my life was going sideways, Gina, gone. The job, gone. And it was a good job, about to go IPO. Until I lost my temper with Bruce. Damn, what am I doing? Dad might be right, it could be me. Mom used to listen to me, give me advice when I screwed up. I don’t know how to talk to my Dad. I want to have a connection to him again. I had hoped this road trip would be a chance to connect, but nothing had changed. 

“Hey. I’ll go.” I got out of the car and walked up to the beat-up pay phone. A large portion of the bottom of the phone is missing. Was this a good idea? Maybe I was trying to escape my own problems. For the first time, the idea of a pay phone to talk to the dead seemed really dumb. This whole trip has been a bust, another well planned, poorly executed trips. 

I pick up the receiver, and listen to the silence. Maybe I am supposed to speak first. 

 “Hello, Mom, I brought Dad…”

While I listened for a response, I looked inside the market and saw a profile of a woman who looked exactly like my mother. I looked at the receiver in shock and then looked inside again. The dusty phone booth blurred my view into the store. 

 A strong wind began to blow and I suddenly became aware of the feeling of the phone in my hand, the ground underneath me. The back of my neck buzzed, I had goosebumps on my arms. The wind swirled trash and leaves into a small dust devil just outside the booth.  

She is at the cash register, I could only see her from the back. The way of she held her head, it was exactly how I remembered mom. Was this possible? 

Suddenly I felt the loss of my Mom course through me, the bottom has been ripped out. She was the only one who I could talk to, who would listen to me. I desperately needed to see her again, to hold her hand like I did at the end when she couldn't get out of bed. 

I saw her begin to leave and I turned to watch the front door. My heart grew with anticipation. A woman of about 30 walks out, her hair style exactly like my Mom had when I was young, but this woman is a stranger. She saw me starting, nodded and walked away. My heart was racing and I breathed. She was truly gone and the tears' blurred my vision.

“Mom, please help me know what to do with my life.” I hang up the receiver and get back in the car. Another 30 minutes went by and I brought it up again. 

“Dad, do you want to try now?”

 I see his hands clenched tighter.  

“I miss Mom.” I said.

“I do too.”  

We watched people from the neighborhood come and go, and then a minivan parked and an entire family got out. Asian, they are dressed differently than anyone we have seen yet, more corporate than streetwear. A man, a woman holding a baby, and a teenage girl walked up to look at the phone. The young girl looks back at her Mom, and then goes to the pay phone and picks up the receiver. 

I get out of the car, and my Dad does too. 

“Excuse me ma’am, are you here for the Phone?” My Dad asks the Mom.  

The woman looks over and smiles.

“Yes, We drive down every couple months.  Our son, Ayaka’s little brother, died of cancer last year. Today would have been Yoshi’s birthday, and...” She tears up, and looks down at her sleeping baby. 

“My wife passed away last month.” Dad paused and looked around the parking lot. “Does Yoshi answer back?” Dad asked. 

“It depends what you mean by ‘answer’.” The mom gave a soft smile, and then took Ayaka’s place at the phone, followed by the Dad.  

Ayaka looked over at us, and then went back inside the phone booth and picked up the receiver.  

““I am sorry for your loss.” The Mom says, as she put the baby in the car seat.

Ayaka hung up the phone and turned to my Dad. 

“I asked Yoshi to go get your wife so you can talk to her.”

The family gets in the minivan and drove off. 

Finally, my dad walked up to the phone booth. He reached out and picked up the receiver. After a few minutes I watched him begin to sob, his shoulders shaking. 

He hung up the phone and got back in the car.

“Your Mom said you should come live with me, at least until you are back on your feet." He said. "You can even bring the cat.”

“She said that?” 

My Dad looked at me and smiled, the first I had seen in a long time. 

“I think we both need to figure out where we are going.” 

“OK, Dad. Let’s go see a baseball game. You have the map, show us where we need to go.”

Mom answered after all.

100 Great Short Stories

Okay, I lied. There are so many great short stories that I was unable to trim the list to 100 titles; so here are 160 Great Short Stories for you to enjoy. Click a button to find the best short stories from the authors below. We also have a great collection of Short Stories for Students and a library full of Children's Stories.

The Boy And The Filberts The Night Came Slowly One Summer Night The Coming of the King A Blunder Ex Oblivione Fat And Thin Hearts And Hands Amy's Question My Financial Career The Aged Mother Hermann The Irascible The Man in the Brown Coat The Death Of A Government Clerk The Father The Little Match Girl Louisa May Alcott: A Child's Biography The Terrible Old Man A Vine on a House The Open Window Witches' Loaves The Cats of Ulthar Mark Twain: A Child's Biography The Romance of a Busy Broker A Dead Woman's Secret A Chameleon A Respectable Woman On The Day of the Crucifixion The Dreamer Henry David Thoreau: A Child's Biography The Student The Unkindest Blow The Night Moth With a Crooked Feeler Alexandre The Thorny Road of Honor The Vendetta The Selfish Giant The Looking Glass Vanka The Merino Sheep A Duel The Cripple A Defensive Diamond The Wolves of Cernogatz The Child's Story Esme The Yarkand Manner The Diary of a Madman What Christmas Is As We Grow Older The Disappearance of Crispina Umberleigh The Schartz-Metterklume Method A Baby Tramp The Boarded Window Sredni Vashtar The Man In The Moon Eveline The Veteran The Log The Huntsman An Alpine Divorce A Defenseless Creature What You Want A Cosmopolite in a Cafe A Holiday Task The Model Millionaire Bertie's Christmas Eve The Colonel's Ideas The Tell-Tale Heart Transients in Arcadia Gentle Hand Jim Baker's Blue-Jay Yarn Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas The Sphinx Without a Secret The Hand The Interlopers A Lickpenny Lover How the Leopard Got His Spots Two Friends A True Story, Repeated Word for Word As I Heard It The Lumber Room Babes in the Jungle The Unrest-Cure After the Race Springtime a la Carte The Last Dream of Old Oak Hyacinth According to Their Lights How I Edited an Agricultural Paper The Fly The Princess And The Puma The Striding Place The Nightingale and the Rose The Cop and the Anthem Federigo's Falcon The Masque of the Red Death The Mockingbird The Notary of Perigueux A Telephone Call Hands The Last Leaf The Cask of Amontillado Gabriel-Ernest The Way to the Dairy A Father's Confession The Furnished Room Chickamauga A Horseman in the Sky The McWilliamses And The Burglar Alarm Aloha Oe The Shoemaker And The Devil How the Widow Won the Deacon The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County A School Story The Necklace A Retrieved Reformation The Bet The Doll's House Christmas Every Day Turkeys Turning The Tables The Last Fight In The Coliseum The Story of Keesh The Nice People The Affair at Coulter's Notch The Laughing Hippopotamus Berenice The Picture in the House One Autumn Night Pigs Is Pigs The Shed Chamber The Happy Prince Keeping Watch Skeleton Lake: An Episode in Camp The Moonlit Road The Alchemist "Girl" The Pimienta Pancakes The Enchanted Bluff Two Gallants The Old Man of the Sea The Velveteen Rabbit Man From The South The Olive Miggles A Hunger Artist The Tomb The Wind's Tale The Girl Who Got Rattled The Ransom of Red Chief Extracts from Adam's Diary Gooseberries "His Wife's Deceased Sister" The Star Gentlemen: The King! The Egg Mademoiselle Fifi The Namesake The Hungry Stones A Call The Darling A Little Cloud

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Short stories for children.

This section of our site contains short stories Russian writers for children of all ages.
Small works are more easily perceived by young readers. The child can listen to short stories to the end with pleasure. A little later, he himself will begin to read these small masterpieces of literature.
Parents often do not have enough time to read long books. For example, before going to bed or on the road. In these cases, our selection of short stories will be very useful to you.
In addition, short stories will help the child learn to retell texts :
— Before reading the story, explain to the child the meaning of all incomprehensible words and situations;
- After reading a short story, ask questions to find out the degree of understanding of the text. If the child is not ready to retell the text in full, then you can start with a partial retelling. For example, you tell the text, and the child completes individual words or sentences.
- Then ask them to retell the text on their own. If difficulties arise, then your tips and leading questions will help to master the retelling!
- You can tell the text in turn. So you teach your child not only to talk, but also to listen carefully.

A well-known story about two friends and a kitten whose hat fell off 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...

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

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…

A story about a boy and a girl who read the fairy tale Three Little Pigs and decided to build a house out of blankets and chairs. And suddenly it seemed to the boy that a gray wolf grabbed his leg ... The story of the Entertainer read We and ...

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 candy from the New Year tree and opened presents… Christmas tree read…

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 a boy named 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...

One day 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 outbuilding or a feat in the ice read We…

Pyotr Terentyev, going 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…

This story is about a four-year-old boy, Petya. Mom took great care of him, fed him with a spoon and dressed him. One morning, mother put Petya on his feet from the bed, and he fell. Mom was terribly scared and even called ...

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 it... Story...

Dragunsky's humorous story about two friends, Denisk and Pavel, who met on the last day of summer. The boys ate watermelon and talked about how they spent their holidays. And then Pavel began to brag that he had been studying English all summer. Deniske…

A story about two brothers who came with their mother to Moscow to visit their aunt. When the adults left home, the boys also decided to see the city and ride the subway. Yes, but the brothers are underground...

A story about Mishenka, to whom his mother promised a lollipop for his good behavior. While mom was not at home, the boy climbed into the sideboard, found a lollipop in the sugar bowl and began to suck it. Having eaten all the candy, he decided to put the sugar bowl on…

A story about Lyola and Minka, who were visited by their grandmother. Grandma brought cakes. But Lele wanted something else and she asked her grandmother about it. The grandmother was angry with the girl, depriving her of a gift - new coins. They are all…

"Four Wishes" tells about the delights of all seasons. The boy Mitya did not want winter to end, then he really liked spring, then summer ... And all because every season is beautiful in its own way! Four wishes to read Mitya...

A short story about how dad taught Mitya to be neat. The boy quickly planed the stick and it turned out not very smoothly. Papa said that the knife was in a hurry and he had to be taught patience. A hasty knife to read Mitya planed a stick, planed ...

A story about a boy, Alik, who was very afraid of policemen. Once Alik got lost, a policeman approached him, but the boy started to run. Then he was caught, but he still did not want to talk to the law enforcement officer... The story of the policeman read More...

The story is about a girl Tanya, who herself grew currants from cuttings. To do this, she had to work hard: pull out the mugs, dig up the sod, plant cuttings and take care of them. But the work was not in vain. Already next year…

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• Wives in the mirror

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• Fearless Giovannino

  Italian fairy tale

  A fairy tale about the fearless guy Giovannino, who decided to spend the night in a castle from which no one had ever left alive in the morning. Giovanino not only survived, but also became rich. "Fearless Giovannino" read Once upon a time there was one guy ....

• The Orange Princess

  Italian fairy tale

  A fairy tale about a prince who could not choose a princess for himself, they all seemed ugly to him. And so he sat on a good horse and rode around the world to look for a bride for himself ... "Princess of Orange" read Once upon a time there was a prince in the world, ...

• Parsley

  Italian fairy tale

  Once upon a time there was a husband and wife. When the wife was expecting a child, she really wanted parsley and she tore it in the witches' garden. For this, the sorceresses ordered to give them the child when he grows up ... "Petrushechka" read Once upon a time there was a husband and ...

  A story about how a goose and her goslings got into a polynya on the Yenisei. The hero of the story and his friends saved the geese from death, they risked themselves. "Geese in the polynya" read Freezing on the Yenisei comes gradually. First…

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  Astafiev V.P.

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  Nekrasov N.A.

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• Lines about war and love

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• What's a girl to do

  Burns R.

  What's a girl to do? What shall I do, little girl? How shall I, little girl, live with my hubby? He is grouchy and sick, always dissatisfied. There is coldness in his chest, ice in his hands. He groans, ...

• has analogues in the tales of many other peoples. Our site presents a version of a folk tale in the processing of A.N. Tolstoy. "Kolobok" read Once upon a time there was an old man with an old woman. Here ...

• 2 - Little Red Riding Hood

  Charles Perrault

  A short story about a trusting 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…

• 3 - Three little pigs

  Mikhalkov S.

  A fairy tale about three pig brothers 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 - Turnip

  Russian folk tale

  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 - 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 ...

• 6 - Wolf and seven kids

  Russian folk tale

  The tale tells about an evil wolf who changed his voice, made his way into the goat's house and ate the 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 - Seven-flower flower

  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 receive any pleasure and only made her last wish ... test and melt even an icy heart! "The Snow Queen" read Table of contents: ♦   The first story, which tells about ...0018

• 10 - 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, ...

• 11 - Geese-Swans

  the swan geese carried the boy away and the little 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…

• 12 - 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 by the American writer Frank Baum "The Wise Man of Oz" with some changes. In 1959, a new edition of the book was published, significantly revised ...

• 13 - 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 ...

• 14 - 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 down…

• 15 - Winnie the Pooh and everything

  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 ...

• 16 - 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…

• 17 - 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 didn’t ask for anything, but when he returned home, he told about…

• 18 - 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 hen laid an egg, yes…

• 19 - The Little Mermaid

  Hans Christian Andersen

  A touching tale about the Little Mermaid's strong 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…

• 20 - 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, which she saved earlier, endures…

• 21 - Puss in Boots

  Charles Perrault

  The tale of an unusual cat, which was inherited by the younger brother from the miller's father. The young man was not very happy at first 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 ...

• 22 - 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…

• 23 - 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 in…

• 24 - 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…

• 25 - 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……

• 26 - Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka

  a Russian folk tale -there was an old man and an old woman, they had ...

• 27 - Fear has big eyes

  Russian folk tale

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

• 28 - 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 pecking 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 hen…

• 29 - 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 ...

• 30 - 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 a kind cat ... Baba Yaga read Once upon a time there was a husband and wife, and they had a daughter. The wife fell ill and died. Grieved, grieved…

• 31 - Crocodile Gena and his friends

  Uspensky E.N.

  The tale of the 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 ...

• 32 - Teremok

  Russian folk audio tale

  Listen to the Russian folk tale "Teremok" online on the Mishkina Books website!

• 33 - 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…

• 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.

  An old man lived in a village and 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. Starting…

• 36 - Alice in Wonderland

  Carroll L.

  A captivating story about a girl Alice, who met a talking White Rabbit and ended up in amazing worlds where she met very unusual characters ... Chapter 1. Down the rabbit hole Alice got bored of sitting with his sister 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. Dedication I ask the children to forgive me for dedicating this book to an adult. I’ll justify it: this one…

20 reading texts for children aged 5-6-7-8

A child who has learned to put sounds into syllables, syllables into words, and words into sentences needs to improve his reading skills through systematic training. But reading is a rather laborious and monotonous activity, and many children lose interest in it. Therefore, we offer texts of small size , the words in them are divided into syllables.

First read the work to the child yourself, and if it is long, you can read its beginning. This will interest the child. Then invite him to read the text. After each work, questions are given that help the child to understand what they have read and comprehend the basic information that they have learned from the text. After discussing the text, suggest reading it again.

Mo-lo-dets Vo-va

Ma-ma and Vo-va gu-la-li.
In-va ran and fell.
It hurts no-ha, but Vo-va does not cry.
Wow!
_{B. Korsunskaya}

Answer questions .
1. What happened to Vova?
2. What made him sick?
3. Why is Vova doing well?

Clever Bo-beak

Co-nya and co-ba-ka Bo-beak gu-la-li.
So-nya played-ra-la with a doll.
So So-nya in-be-zha-la to-my, and the doll for-would-la.
Bo-bik found a doll-lu and brought it to So-ne.
_{^{B. Korsunskaya}}

Answer the questions.
1. Who did Sonya walk with?
2. Where did Sonya leave the doll?
3. Who brought the doll home?

The bird made a nest on a bush. De-ti our nest-up and took off on the ground.
- Look, Vasya, three birds!
In the morning, de-ti came, and the nest-before it was empty. It would be a pity.
_{^{L. Tolstoy}}

Answer questions.
1. What did the children do with the nest?
2. Why was the nest empty in the morning?
3. Did the children do well? How would you do?
4. Do you think this work is a fairy tale, a story or a poem?

Pete and Mi-sha had a horse. They began to argue: whose horse. Did they tear each other apart.
- Give me - my horse.
- No, you give me - the horse is not yours, but mine.
Mother came, took a horse, and nobody's horse became.
_{^{L. Tolstoy}}

Answer the questions.
1. Why did Petya and Misha quarrel?
2. What did mother do?
3. Did the children play horse well? Why do you think so
?

It will be interesting for children to read selected texts, they affect the emotional world of the child, develop his moral feelings and imagination . Children will get acquainted with the works of L. Tolstoy, K. Ushinsky, A. Barto, S. Mikhalkov, E. Blaginina, V. Bianchi, E. Charushin, A. Usachyov, E. Uspensky, G. Snegiryov, G. Oster, R. Rozhdestvensky, as well as fairy tales of different nations.

It is advisable to show children the genre features of poems, stories and fairy tales using the example of these works.

Fairy tale is a genre of oral fiction containing events unusual in the everyday sense (fantastic, wonderful or worldly) and distinguished by a special compositional and stylistic construction. In fairy tales there are fairy-tale characters, talking animals, unprecedented miracles happen.

Poem is a short poetic work in verse. The verses are read smoothly and musically, they have rhythm, meter and rhyme.

Story — small literary form; a narrative work of small volume with a small number of characters and the short duration of the events depicted. The story describes a case from life, some bright event that really happened or could happen.

In order not to discourage reading, do not force him to read texts that are uninteresting and inaccessible to him.

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