Innehållsförteckning för April 2017 från Storytime

A constellation of seahorses, Blue glistening fins, Scaly skin, rough, bumpy. Glowing brightly in the blue night of the sea. Dancing, gliding, floating, A duvet of love and warmth covering everything it sees. Entrancing, gorgeous, glowing, Shifting through the endless forest of emerald seaweed. Hiding in the coral, Slowly drifting to the surface, Covered in white frost-like patterns. A constellation of seahorses. STORYTIME POETRY COMPETITION WINNER ! Bryn was one of many young poets around the world who entered Storytime’s Poetry Competition in 2016. Our judge, poet Brian Moses, described Bryn’s entry, ‘The Seahorses’, as ‘stunning’ and we agree. Bryn, from Leamington Spa in England, is 9 years old and loves reading, coding and painting. Congratulations, Bryn!…

It was feeding time in the farmyard, but the farmer hadn’t turned up. He was in bed with a bad cold and a high temperature – and he was too sick to think about his animals. The horses were okay, as they had heaps of hay. The pigs had no problem, as they had plenty of acorns. The cows, the sheep and the goats were good, as they had fields of fresh green grass to chew on. But the hens and the cockerel were all out of grain, and they were feeling peckish. “What will we do? My little chicks are hungry and I need to feed them!” clucked one of the hens, bobbing her head back and forth in a fluster. “It’s been hours since the farmer fed us!”…

Star date: 01/05/2020. Just before breakfast. Captain Stanley awoke, stretched, and pulled on his space suit. As he headed towards the kitchen, Chief Medical Officer Mummy called, “Hello, Captain! How are you today?” “Figgleflobble,” replied Stanley. “Oh my!” said Mummy. “Captain Stanley has space sickness again. We need to get you to the medical centre.” “It’s okay, Mummy,” said Stanley. “I’m just using my imagination to make up new words. It’s good to keep practising.” “Yes, it is,” replied Mummy, feeling relieved. “Without his imagination, Engineer Daddy couldn’t make all those amazing inventions of his.” Suddenly, an alarm sounded. “Alert! Alert! Captain Stanley, gather your crew. A robot has gone on the rampage on Mars.” Captain Stanley quickly loaded his spacecraft with tools and some jam sandwiches … just in…

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Red Riding Hood who got charmed and tricked and gobbled up by a big bad wolf, along with her sweet old grandmother. But that’s not what really happened that day. In fact, she didn’t even wear a red hood! No. The real star of the story was a brave little girl called Blanchette. Her friends and family rarely ever used the name Blanchette, however, as she was always wearing the wonderful hooded cloak her dear grandmother had made for her. It was a glistening golden colour and her grandmother (who some people believed to be a witch) claimed she had made it from a ray of sunshine. The little girl loved her cloak so much, she wore it all the…

Long before the time of mighty Hercules, there was another great Greek hero. You might not have heard of him. His name was Bellerophon and he was the son of Poseidon – the powerful god of the sea. Though Bellerophon was brave and honest, he often had bad luck. First, his brother died and, then, when he visited the court of King Proetus in Argos, the king’s wife fell in love with him. When the handsome young hero rejected her, she was so offended, she told lies about him to the king! The king believed her and threatened to take Bellerophon’s life unless he agreed to slay the deadliest monster of all – a fire-breathing horror known as the Chimera. The Chimera had the tail of a dragon and three…

1 UNDER THE SEA Join the constellations of dots to discover creatures hiding in the seaweed, then colour them in! 2 QUICK QUIZ! Which animal was too fast and strong for the sky brothers in our Around the World tale? 3 INVENT- A - BOT   Use your imagination, just like Stanley, to invent a rampaging robot on Mars. Draw it here! TIP! Read our story again for inspiration. 4 BIG AND SMALL Sort these animals from smallest to biggest, putting a number one next to the smallest. 5 MAKE A SENSORY TRAY Ask a grown-up! Can you find a diamond in the dirt, just like the cockerel did in this issue’s fable? What else can you find? • Take a deep tray or baking dish and half-fill it with…

According to Aboriginal legend, long ago and far away in time, there was once a tribe of people who lived in the sky. These people were lucky, because their camp was right next to the two biggest, brightest stars, which they could use to light their fire sticks. The people of Earth had no such luck. They had no stars and no fire, and life was dark and cold. However, what use was fire to the sky people if they had nothing to roast on it? What use was warmth and light to an empty tummy? This is exactly what their wisest and eldest tribeswoman said when, one day, they ran out of food. “We’ll go down to Earth and hunt for food there!” cried one of the young men.…

Pegasus effortlessly changed direction, speeding towards their destination as swiftly as an arrow in flight. They spotted the Chimera’s searing flames long before they spotted the beast itself. In the dead of night, it had invaded a mountain village in Lycia, burning many homes to ashes. Men, women and children were grabbing anything they could to fight off the monster and save themselves. The Chimera was looming over a young boy and about to lunge at him, when Bellerophon cried out, “Now, Pegasus! Now!” The miraculous winged horse didn’t hesitate for a second. It plummeted through the air towards their ferocious fire-breathing enemy. When they were just an arm’s length away from the monster, Bellerophon pulled out his spear. Narrowly missing a jet of searing hot flames, he plunged the…

There was once a rich merchant who had the best of everything. He had a grand house and lived in luxury. But, alas, his son Moscione was rather a fool. Moscione just lay around all the time, daydreaming. The merchant joked that his son couldn’t tell a bean from a cucumber but, deep down, he suspected it was true. One day, tired of seeing his simpleton son doing nothing again, he gave him a wallet filled with money and said, “Son, it’s time for you to stop lazing about. Go and see the world. Go and make a living.” Moscione wasn’t happy. He loved idling about, but he packed his bag, said farewell to his family and set off for the city. After a while, he met a young woman,…

GRANDAD’S SECRET GIANT is by one of our favourite authors and illustrators, David Litchfield. Billy’s grandad has talked about the town’s friendly giant for years, but nobody has ever believed him. But one night, Billy discovers that Grandad might just have been telling the truth. A beautifully illustrated book about acceptance, friendship and allowing yourself to see the magic around you. A great follow-up to the award-winning The Bear and the Piano. (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) CHARLIE & MOUSE , written by Laurel Snyder and illustrated by Emily Hughes, has a charming, nostalgic air about it. It follows two imaginative brothers in four humorous stories, involving an impromptu party, an unique moneymaking scheme and a bedtime banana! The stories and illustrations capture something pretty special about childhood, with just the…