Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2021 i Storytime

Long before people first came to Australia, there was an age called the Dreamtime, when animals could speak and spirits walked the land. During this time, there was once a long drought. The rivers stopped flowing, the billabongs dried up, and the animals were worried that they might die of thirst. They held a great meeting called a corroboree, and every animal went – the giant red kangaroos and the little grey rock wallabies, the bandicoots and koalas and thylacines, the snakes and the frilled lizards, the spiny echidnas and the great slow wombats, the kookaburras and the emus and even the shy platypus who seldom left his river. “We must find out what has happened to our precious water!” said the wombat, blinking his little eyes. “I agree!” said…

Now, the prince’s favourite playmate was the son of the palace gardener, who was named Onni. The king did not like his heir hanging around with a peasant boy, but he did not want his son to be unhappy and so let them play together. The prince had two fine bows, and he and Onni liked to have shooting contests. One fine day, they decided to see who could shoot an arrow the furthest. They both drew back their bows at the same time and shot their arrows up into the sky. They then went out to find their arrows, and spotted them in a field far away. They were most surprised to see that one of the arrows had pierced through a golden hen-feather! The prince was sure that…

1 MOUNTAIN MAZE Monkey and his friends are lost – can you help them find their way to the wise man’s mountain? 2 WHERE’S THE MIRROR? Uh-oh! Cinderella’s step-sisters have lost their magic mirror somewhere on the Playbox pages – can you find it? Tick this box when you spot it! 3 TOP 10! Nadia received a ‘perfect 10’ at the Olympics – the highest score ever given in gymnastics! Can you solve all of these sums that feature the number 10? 4 MAKE A CRAFT COW! Want to make a fun model cow? Here’s how! • You will need a paper cup, sticky tape, a pencil and eraser, safety scissors, light card or heavy paper, craft paints and a brush. • Print and cut out two…

Marcus watched the chariots thunder past. The horses’ hooves pounded the track and the chariot wheels rattled. The red and blue teams neared the finish. “Come on, reds! You can do it!” he shouted. The charioteer of the blue team cracked his whip. His horses galloped faster. Marcus felt a shower of dust and rubbed his eyes. His favourite team had lost again. “I wish I could race,” he said to his sister Camilla later, when they were cleaning the horses. Marcus loved to smooth their coats and brush their tails. No one was watching, so he grabbed the reins of a grey horse nearby. “I want to have a go at being a charioteer,” he said. “Don’t! You’ll get in trouble. We only look after the horses! Help me…

Long ago, when the world was young, a great stone egg was created where the sky touched the earth. One day, the egg hatched – and out of it jumped a monkey! He was no ordinary monkey, for he was particularly strong and quick and clever. He was also very boastful and loved causing trouble! The other monkeys chose him to be their ruler and brought him the finest fruit to eat. They gave him the title of ‘Handsome Monkey King’, which he liked very much. However, in this story, we will just call him ‘Monkey’. He was determined to learn the secret of immortality, so he found wise monks who shared their knowledge with him. He mastered the martial art of kung fu and learned how to use many…

As he walked through the trees, he would chatter to the animals that he met. What he liked to talk about most were the things that he thought were wrong with his friends. First he came across a tiger, who was stretched out on a rock and having a nice nap. “I don’t know why you have those ugly stripes, tiger!” the ant said. “The orange and the black and the white are so tacky, they give me a headache!” Finally, the tiger got sick of the ant’s nattering and swatted him away. “Beat it, ant – you are disturbing me! If you come back, I will gobble you up in one bite!” The ant picked himself up and dusted himself off. Then he saw a giraffe eating leaves from…

How to Play Download the chariot counters from storytimemagazine.com/free. Print and cut them out! You will also need two dice and two or more players. Choose your counter and place it on the START space. Take turns rolling two dice and moving your chariots. You can choose to move the number of spaces shown on either dice! The turning areas at the ends of the racetrack are shaded red. If a player moves through this area without ending their move in it, they finish their move and then CRASH – they must flip over their piece! If a player ends their move in the same square as another player’s piece, they can try to make the other player crash. Each player rolls a dice – the one who gets the…

BOOKS OF THE MONTH THERE IS NO BIG BAD WOLF IN THIS STORY by Lou Carter, illustrated by Deborah Allwright (Bloomsbury) has a very long title – and it might even be truthful! It does star a hairy villain from many fairy tales, but he decides that he doesn’t want to be bad any more. The bright and lively art just adds to the fun of this tale about how people can change! THE CAT AND THE RAT AND THE HAT by Em Lynas, illustrated by Matt Hunt (Nosy Crow) proves that stories for beginning readers can still be great fun! It was written to be read out loud, and the pictures of the title characters and their zany fashion choices make it engaging for children and adults alike. A…