Shapes - Stories for Children

A bear, some beavers, a mouse and a fly lived by a great, big beautiful river. Unfortunately, their idyllic life was disrupted by a giant moose that was threatening to drink the river dry. All the larger animals tried to scare the giant moose away, but failed. The fly offered to do the job and was met with laughter from the others, but she was soon to prove them wrong.

The grasshopper danced all summer, mocking the ants for working so hard and not having any fun. But when winter came around, the grasshopper was left high and dry without any food, unlike the ants, who had been stocking supplies all summer.

The hare and the tortoise had a race. The hare quickly ran ahead, leaving the tortoise in his wake. But when it got close to the finishing line, the hare decided to take a break and promptly fell asleep. The tortoise, meanwhile, continued on at its own pace, until it passed the sleeping hare and won the race.

The Cicada's singing kept waking the Great Hornbill as he was napping. But, being a compassionate creature, the Great still saved the Cicada from drowning in the pond, for which his little friend was grateful. In turn, the Cicada woke Great Hornbill with his song when Python was about to eat him while he was napping, thus saving him.

There was a grumpy Banyan tree who did not like the company of his friends. He didn't like the tiger sharpening its claws on her, nor the elephant scratching its back against her, nor the noisy monkeys swinging in her branches. So the tree sent the animals away. But when a forest fire broke out, the tree realized how much he needed his animal friends around.

There once was a tortoise who dreamed of flying. So he went to the magnificent eagle and begged the great bird to take him along on one of his journeys. The eagle took the tortoise up into sky, but when the tortoise looked down he got so dizzy and scared that he fell. He figured: it's better to stay on the ground, after all!

Once there was a rather small frog who found himself inadequate compared to his larger, more accomplished friend. He wanted to become as big as the Ox he met, and started puffing himself up with air, bigger and bigger, until there were unhappy consequences! Will the poor frog ever find worth in himself?

The arrogant fox refused to play with the crab because the crab was so tiny compared to him. The crab then challenged her to a race, saying that if he won, the fox would have to play with him! The fox, believing the crab could never beat him, accepted the offer. But she was in for a surprise, as the crab used his wits to beat her!

Two ants, gathering food in the forest, came across a chrysalis. One of them dismissed it as an ugly, strange, blob, but the other was more intrigued by it, and managed to convince his friend to help build a shelter for the chrysalis against the coming storm. When the storm passed, a beautiful butterfly emerged from the chrysalis, much to the ants' surprise!

The mice had a common enemy: the cat. A council was convened and the mice decided that the obvious solution was to bell the cat, so that they would have advance warning of her approach. But how would they carry their daring plan out? The mice grew to learn the value of teamwork and persistence.

Bow-Wow the dog lives by a river. One day, while carrying a juicy bone, he hears his friends crying that there is a monster in the river. But when Bow-Wow looks into the river, he sees another dog with a huge juicy bone in his mouth! Bow-Wow is determined to get the other dog's bone. But who is that other dog, really?

An unlucky Fox was caught by a Tiger while hunting. The fox said that he is the king of the jungle so the tiger can't eat him. And so they decide to roam around the jungle to find out who is the real king.