Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2018 i Storytime

“We’ve got a garden now – you can see that from your bedroom window instead!” said Dad. “It’s lovely and peaceful round here,” said Mum with a contented sigh. “You’ll never make new friends if you keep grumping around,” said Leo’s big sister, Alice. Leo went up to his room and stared glumly out at the garden. It was a huge garden. There was a wood behind it and the trees looked great for climbing. Maybe he could even hang a swing from one of them. Wait… what was that? “Did I just see…?” Leo was sure he’d seen something moving in the trees. Something big. He pressed his nose against the glass. There it was again. The top of the tallest tree seemed to bow down to the ground…

With his axe and chisel, Zenzele could turn gnarled old stumps into beautiful carvings of animals. His sculptures decorated the village where they lived. Zenzele’s creations made his family and neighbours happy, but when the sun had set, during the long, dark nights, everyone was bored. “We have nothing to do!” cried the children. “Can you tell us some stories?” Zenzele and Manzandaba thought hard, but there weren’t any stories to tell. One day, Manzandaba said to her husband, “You are an artist – you carve and bring happiness. I will be our storyteller, but first I must find some stories to tell.” Manzandaba said farewell to her family, and set off to find some stories. She decided to ask every animal she passed if it had a story to…

However, nobody admired Narcissus more than he admired himself – and no declarations of love could melt his heart. Narcissus was only happy in his own company and had no interest in anyone else. Not far from where Narcissus liked to go wandering, there lived a pretty mountain nymph called Echo. She had been a maid to the great goddess Hera, but she had annoyed the goddess with her constant chattering and fondness for fibbing. One day, Hera lost her temper and banished Echo to the woods. Hera punished Echo by taking away her voice and making her only able to repeat the last few words that were spoken to her. One day, as Echo sat on a fallen tree, she caught a glimpse of Narcissus chasing a deer through…

Slowly, so slowly, we stroll over to meetThe sloth all sluggish, dangling by its feet.Awake now and smiling, it munches a leaf,But for most of the day, it’s fast asleep. Some sloths have two toes; this one has three,Slow-motion dweller of the rainforest tree.Next stop – hold your noses... just in case!We visit the skunk with its black and white face. It won’t spray a stink bomb unless it’s scared,It will hiss and stomp first, so be prepared!But truly, it’s timid, this American beast,And happiest at night with an insect feast. The super sugar glider is nocturnal too,It loves sticky tree sap and sweet honeydew.It can glide for fifty metres, sometimes more.The mid-air marsupial – see it soar! The sea lion flaps a flipper to say hello,Then slides into the…

It hurt him so much that poor Donal couldn’t stand straight and his back soon grew a big hump. But Donal didn’t complain – instead he worked as a weaver and spent his days hunched over, making the finest baskets for many miles. One evening, Donal was walking home from the market when he came to the old hill at Knockgrafton. Now this old hill had a moat around it, and the water looked cool and inviting, so Donal took off his boots and dipped in his feet. The moon was rising and Donal was about to leave when he heard a wonderful melody coming from deep inside Knockgrafton hill. It sounded like hundreds of tiny voices singing together in harmony. Donal couldn’t help tapping his feet and, as he…

How to Play To play, you need one dice and two players. If you play as Mouse, start at the Mouse Hole and travel all the way round the farmyard and back again. If you play as Cat, your aim is to catch Mouse by landing on the same square. Print out our counters from storytimemagazine.com/free Both players roll the dice. The person with the highest score is Cat and the other player is Mouse. If you are Mouse, start at the Mouse Hole. You can only travel clockwise around the board. If you are Cat, start at the Farmhouse. You can travel in both directions around the board and change direction whenever you like. Mouse rolls the dice first and moves forward the correct number of spaces.…

“Don’t stay out too long,” said Mr and Mrs Mouse, fussing over him. “Be quick and be careful – and be cautious about who you talk to.” Little Mouse nodded and peeped out of the hole. The farm looked big and scary, but it was time to be brave. “Bye, Mummy! Bye, Daddy!” he squeaked. He scampered out of the hole and didn’t look back. Mr and Mrs Mouse scurried up and down waiting for him, their whiskers twitching trying to sense trouble. After a long wait, Little Mouse darted through the hole. “How was it, son?” asked Mr Mouse. “Oh, it was brilliant!” said Little Mouse, beaming. “But it was a bit scary too.” “Why?” fussed Mrs Mouse. “What happened to you?” “Well, when I was exploring, I saw…

1 STORY SPY Starting with the first letter, cross off every other letter to see the message Zenzele carved for Manzandaba. Write the answer below. 2 ECHO ECHO! Only one word in this box doesn’t have an echo (isn’t in a pair). Circle it when you find it. 3 FLYING FAIRIES The Knockgrafton fairies have come out to play. How many can you spot? Write your answer here. 4 MAKE A CLOTHES PEG CAMEL! Create your own lumpy, bumpy, humpy camel, inspired by our fun poem! • Find two wooden clothes pegs. If you don’t have wooden pegs, plastic ones will do. • On a piece of brown card or paper, draw an outline of a camel’s body, without the legs. It can have one hump or two. Use the…

MEET OCTAMERDOG! Artist: Lara McKeating Age: 6 Lara from Southport blew us away with her super-creative imaginary animal. Our judge Luke Flowers loved Octamerdog too. He thought it was a great idea with fun colours, a fantastic combination of animals and “a really well crafted creature!” We agree! Lara’s prize will be books and a framed print of her awesome creation. Congratulations, Lara! BOOK OF THE MONTH MY WORST BOOK EVER! by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman (Thames and Hudson) is a story that adults will enjoy as much as kids – and you will certainly relate to some of the events in the book. More than that, it’s a fascinating insight into how a book is created, which readers rarely get to see. Zany, unexpected at times, and a…