Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i Storytime

There was once a prince who was so wealthy, he could have anything he desired for his entertainment. Jesters, jugglers, jiggers and high jumpers: he had seen them all. He’d watched fire-eaters, stilt-walkers, trapeze artists and even a man with a beard of bees. He’d heard every singer, laughed at every joke, and marvelled at every magic trick… and he was bored. “Is that all there is?” he yawned, as the court ballerinas swirled and twirled, performing a dance they had created especially for him. “Must I really watch more of this nonsense?” The prince’s chief advisor dismissed the dancers and they tiptoed away with tears in their eyes. “I want to see something new!” cried the prince. “Something nobody has ever seen. Something that isn’t boring!” “Yes, Sire. Anything,…

Not so long ago or far away, a father and his son lived on a farm in a green, green valley. Their animals were happy, their crops were healthy, and they were the best of friends. They divided their jobs fairly so that the old man kept the house tidy, cooked the meals, and looked after the poultry in the yard, while the young man took care of the sheep and the cattle, and sold them at the local market. This went on for many years, until one day, the young man met a lady at the market and they fell in love. Soon they were married and the young lady, whose name was Caitlin, moved into their house with a wonderful gift – a large, colourful blanket she had…

Once upon a time, there were three brothers. The eldest brother was called Jacob, the middle brother was called Rolf and the youngest brother was called Fritz, but people called him Simpleton. Such a mean nickname for such a nice young man! But his older brothers were bullies, and poor Fritz had to put up with their teasing every day. One morning, the three brothers set out for the forest to chop some wood. “Let’s split up and see who can get the most timber,” said Jacob. “Not that you’ll be much competition, Simpleton!” Jacob and Rolf laughed at their younger brother and went their separate ways, but Fritz decided to stay put, right next to a big old oak tree. As the morning wore on, the eldest brother Jacob…

How to Play You’ll need a bingo caller and three or more people to play. You’ll also need our Flamingo Bingo Cards (each one is different and there are two bingo cards per A4 sheet), plus our Call Sheet from storytimemagazine .com/free . Each player will also need a pen. Place the Flamingo Bingo Cards face down and each player chooses one. The bingo caller can either choose animals from their sheet or cut it up into individual characters and pick them randomly from a pile. When the bingo caller calls out an animal that’s on your card, cross it out with your pen. If you don’t hear one of your animals called out, better luck next time – or use your ‘Free’ square, which can be any…

Once, on the plains of Africa, some jungle animals were lining up ready to race. There was a hippopotamus, an ostrich, a tiger and a leopard. The tiger roared and the race began! All the animals ran as fast as they could, but soon the tiger and the leopard were fighting for first place. The leopard was so determined to win, she ran faster than she had ever run before. She even ran faster than her own spots, which went flying off. The leopard was so busy watching her spots zoom away that the tiger overtook her and won the race! The poor leopard crossed the finish line last and, when she got there, nobody recognised her without her spots – except for the tiger, who had seen everything, but…

BOOKS OF THE MONTH! This month’s brilliant books have very different stories, but two common themes – animals and caves. We won’t say any more or we’ll ruin a surprise. You’ll love them both! THE CAVE by Rob Hodgson (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books). Hungry wolf is desperate to lure a little animal out of its cave, and then gobble it up for dinner. When nothing works, he resorts to a doughnut with sprinkles. Will it work, or is greedy wolf in for a shock? With great humour, stand-out illustrations and a fun twist, this is one to treasure. HORRIBLE BEAR by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Zachariah Ohora (Andersen Press). When bear accidentally squishes a little girl’s kite and gets a severe telling off, he decides to show her how…