The crocodile’s tale

Crocodile

Crocodile sat on the window ledge, alone, as usual. Kaylee always put him there because if he stayed near the other toys, he would bite and nip with his sharp white teeth.

But Crocodile knew he was not being naughty. He was hungry! Starving, empty, ravenously hungry. No one ever fed him. How could he behave when he was hungry?

So he had to sit there on the ledge and watch as Kaylee played with the puppets and the pirates and then went to sit at the table with her pots of coloured playdoh.

Suddenly, Crocodile heard the magician’s voice. “I can see into your head, Crocodile. I can read your thoughts with my magic. I know you’re hungry. Why don’t you just tell Kaylee, and she’ll feed you?”

Crocodile was very surprised at the magician’s words. None of the toys liked the crocodile. And none of them ever talked to him.

“That’s because you bite and nip,” the magician said, reading Crocodile’s thoughts again. ‘You should try speaking when something’s wrong. It’s okay to be hungry!”

Crocodile’s tummy rumbled so much when he heard the word “hungry” that he wriggled and slid off the shelf. BANG! He landed right next to the magician and opened his mouth wide. His shiny white teeth were just about to gobble up the magician’s head when something dropped on his own head: THUD!

“Bother!” said Kaylee. “I’ve dropped the beautiful apple I was making.”

Before she could bend down to pick it up, Crocodile whirled round and snapped his jaws shut on the green playdoh. SQUELCH! Yummy!

“You naughty crocodile,” Kaylee said, and put him back on the ledge. “You’ve eaten my apple. Now I’ll have to make something else.”

But the minute she turned away, Crocodile slid off the ledge again and crept over to the table. He was still hungry!

He watched Kaylee make two slices of bread out of brown playdoh. Then he watched as she put some black playdoh in between the slices. Was it blackberry jam? Was it Marmite? Or was it roast beef? Crocodile’s tummy rumbled loudly again.

The magician spoke. “If you promise to stop biting the toys and start talking and playing with us, I could use my magic to make her drop the sandwich. Then you wouldn’t be hungry. Do you agree?”

Crocodile thought for a moment. He really wanted friends. But could he agree to talk instead of bite?

“OK, I’ll try,” he said slowly.

So the magician whispered, “Poxy toxy voxy wox!” and Kaylee’s playdoh sandwich fell to the floor.

“Bother!” she said. “It just slipped out of my hands.”

Before she could bend down to pick it up, Crocodile’s huge mouth shut round it: SNAP! GULP!

Kaylee glared at him. “You ate my apple and now you’ve eaten my sandwich,” she said. “What’s up with you?”

Out of the corner of his red and yellow eye, Crocodile saw the magician nodding at him.

He took a deep breath. He had a friend. And his friend had said he should tell Kaylee what was wrong.

“I’m hungry,” he said. “When I’m hungry, I snap and bite. Please could I have some more food?”

All the toys clapped because he’d spoken instead of nipping Kaylee’s hand. And Kaylee happily went back to the playdoh and made him cakes and pasta and meat and beautiful sprouts.

CRUNCH. MUNCH. GULP. Crocodile was so happy!

When he was completely full, he even remembered to say, “Thank you.” Then he lay down quietly on the mat with his new friends and fell fast sleep.

The moral of this tale is that people usually want to help if you tell them what’s wrong.

The red paper’s tale

Red Paper

The piece of red paper lay on the table in the playroom with all the other sheets of paper – blue and orange, black and white, cream and pale brown. Large pieces and smaller pieces.

Red Paper looked round at the others.

“I’m the brightest and best piece of paper here,” she said. “Marc will choose me to draw on, and then he’ll hang me on the wall for everyone to look at.”

“Shut up!” said Black Paper. “You’re just a bit of paper like all the rest of us. Marc could draw fireworks and a bonfire on me. Black is perfect for that.”

“Yes,” said Blue Paper. “And Marc might let me be the sky when he draws his house.”

“Or I could be a sandy beach,” said Orange Paper. “But I expect Marc will choose for himself.”

At that moment, Marc raced into the playroom with his friend Jodi.

“What shall we draw?” Marc asked Jodi. “Houses? The seaside? Bonfire night?”

Red Paper held her breath and crossed her fingers. What would Jodi say?

“Actually,” Jodi said slowly, “My dad has been showing me how to fold paper to make tiny models. You don’t have to cut anything. Shall I show you how?”

Make tiny models?

Red Paper was furious. She got redder and redder as she thought about being folded and squashed and creased and bent. Paper was for drawing on! How dare they ruin her?

But before she could say “paper plane”, Marc and Jodi sat down at the table and Jodi picked her up. She flapped and flipped in Jody’s hand, trying to escape.

“Bother!” said Jodi. “This red paper is too bendy and floppy. Let’s try the black piece first.”

Red Paper sat and fumed. She didn’t want to be folded and creased – but she didn’t want to be put down either. She was the best!

Red Paper had to sit and watch as Jodi folded and creased Black Paper. But after a while, she grew so interested that she forgot to be cross. Jodi’s hands were very careful as she made each fold, and she kept waiting so that Marc could copy with his piece of orange paper.

When they had both finished, Red Paper couldn’t believe her eyes. There, in front of them, sat two little birds.

“Mine’s a blackbird,” said Jodi. “What’s yours, Marc?”

“An orange bird, of course,” he said with a giggle.

Red Paper felt left out now. So she flapped and flipped in the breeze that wafted through the window, and hoped that someone would let her join in.

Jody noticed and picked her up.“Let’s try with this bendy bit now,” she said. “See if you can guess what I’m making.”

Marc watched as Red Paper let herself be folded this way and that, until she stood on the table, proud and upright, feeling very important.

“Why, it’s a butterfly!” Marc exclaimed.

A butterfly? Red Paper flexed her wings up and down excitedly. And the breeze suddenly caught her and carried her up to the window ledge. She was flying! She was beautiful. “Come up here,” she said to the blackbird and the orange bird. “It’s fun to fly!”

“Good night, little butterfly,” Marc and Jody called as they switched out the light in the playroom. “You can sleep up there tonight. See you in the morning!”

The moral of this tale is that life is not much fun if you refuse to take part!

The rowing boat’s tale

The little rowing boat

The little rowing boat bobbed up and down in the sun on the pond that Leona had made in the large plastic tray.

“It’s is so good here,” thought the boat. “I want it to go on for ever! The sun is shining. The wind is warm. Everything is perfect.”

Suddenly, someone jumped into the boat, and it rocked wildly from side to side. The boat opened its eyes and found that Leona had let an old man get in. “Bother, bother,” the boat groaned. “Now I’m going to be rowed somewhere else. And it’s bound to be a horrid place. I hate change!”

The old man picked up the oars and started pulling on them. The boat skimmed along the edge of the shore for a long time, then came to a stop.

“Where am I now?” thought the boat crossly. “I won’t know anyone here. I’m fed up of being moved around.”

The man spoke up in a gruff voice. “Thanks, little boat. You did a good job there. And just look at all these palm trees! We’ll take some coconuts back with us and everyone will be really pleased.”

He filled the boat with coconuts and went off for a walk.

The boat was just dropping asleep on the sandy shore when a bump jolted him awake. Leona had stood a pirate captain next to him. And the pirate was pulling the little boat down to the water.

“Not again,” groaned the boat. “I want to stay here.”

This time the journey was longer. Leona splashed her hands in the pond, and made huge waves that rocked the boat from side to side. The boat was very tired by the time the pirate pulled it out onto another stretch of shore.

“I hate travelling,” the boat said. “I just want to lie here and dry out in peace.”

But the pirate’s friends arrived and lit a fire with branches and logs. The warmth gradually made the boat feel lazy, and it lay there listening to the pirates as they told tales of all the treasure they’d found on their journeys. Then the fire went out and the pirates went home. The boat fell asleep.

Suddenly, a voice said, “Mummy, Mummy, look, a boat!”

The little boat jerked awake. A lady and a boy climbed inside him and took up the oars. “What a brilliant boat,” the lady said. “We can row across the lake to school today. That will be much more fun than walking.”

“Bother, bother,” groaned the boat. “Why will no one let me sleep?”

“What will happen in school today?” asked the boy as they started rowing across the pond.

His mother said, “Oooh… you might sing, or play a new game, or learn how to dance… And you could take in one of these coconuts to show your teacher.”

They jumped out and tied the little boat to some railings, and it bobbed up and down in the sun.

“Thank you, little boat,” they said as they walked away.

The little boat was really tired now, but he realised it wasn’t so bad having to travel round the pond all day. His dreams would be full of the wonderful things he’d done: carrying coconuts, and listening to pirate stories, and imagining all those exciting things that happen in school. Perhaps Leona would let him do it again tomorrow. It was a good life!

The moral of this tale is that new things can be fun when you stop complaining and take a positive attitude

The princess’s tale

Princess Lily

Princess Lily stood on the beach that Mark was busy making in the sand tray. She jumped up and down excitedly.

“I’ve never been to the seaside before,” she said. “I do hope I can go paddling!”

“The water will be cold,” Mark said. “But of course you can go in.”

Princess Lily looked at her beautiful silk dress and shoes. She must remember not to get them wet and dirty or her father the king would be upset. He spent lots of money buying her beautiful clothes.

But she was happy because Mark had chosen her to watch as he arranged pebbles and shells on the sand and planted trees near the rocks. He’d spread some doll’s house carpets underneath the trees for lego people to sit on. And then he’d brought the rest of the toys over.

“You sit here,” he told the pirates, “and you sit over there,” he told the baby bears and tigers.

The spiders and crocodiles sat in the sun on a large flat rock.

Then Mark went and fetched Princess Lily’s family – the king, the queen and the prince – to sit on an even bigger rock.

The whales and dolphins lay on the sand near the hole that Mark had dug for the sea. Princess Lily watched him carry water from the sink and pour it into the hole.

“Can I be the first to paddle?” she asked.

A loud voice shouted, “No, you can’t!”

Princess Lily jumped in shock. It was her father the king and he sounded really angry.

He marched over to her. “You are NOT to go in the water. You will ruin your royal dress.”

“But Father–?” Princess Lily pleaded.

The king shook his head sternly. “No. Definitely not!”

Lily felt very sad. She could see the whales already in the water. And the pirates were sailing up and down in their boat looking for treasure. Even the spiders were dipping their toes in.

Mark looked annoyed and made two crocodiles gnash their teeth at the king. Lily almost smiled – Mark was trying to frighten the king into changing his mind!

Suddenly, a quiet voice said, “Please, your majesty. May I help?”

A lego boy was standing next to the princess. He had a shiny red tracksuit in his hand, and held it out to the king.

“If the princess wears this for paddling, her dress and shoes will not be spoilt. She can change her clothes behind that tree over there.”

The king looked at the lego boy in surprise. Princess Lily held her breath and crossed her fingers.

“Er… you’re a very kind boy,” the king said finally. “Lily, say thank you.”

Princess Lily grinned happily at her new friend and ran off to change.

A minute later, she was splashing and paddling in her borrowed tracksuit, chucking water at the lego boy and laughing with him as they tried to catch fish.

After a while, Mark called, “Bedtime, everybody! Last one asleep is a crab!”

And before the king could say “Rascally pirates!” all the toys were tucked up on the warm sand, dreaming of waves and seas and oceans – and the distant lands they would travel to when they were much older.

The moral of this story is that doing kind things for other people is more important than having expensive clothes and lots of money.

The monkey puppet’s tale

The monkey puppet

Monkey sat in the pretend tree on the back of the chair and watched the other puppets fighting on the ground below him.

Frog was green and bouncy and trying to land blows on Koala’s head. Koala wasn’t bothered. He just laughed and jumped aside. “Ha ha! See if I care. I’m faster than you. You’ll never catch me!”

Rabbit was dodging round Lion’s paws as Lion tried to stamp on him. Lion got more and more cross. “Stand still and let me get you,” he shouted. “This is supposed to be a fight!”

Cat was chasing Dog’s tail, faster and faster, round and round, and then pouncing on Dog when he stopped for a minute. “Ouch, that hurt,” barked Dog.

Monkey wished he was playing too. But Jake had put his arm in the pretend tree on the back of the chair and Monkey had to stay there, on Jake’s hand, till Jake decided to join in. It wasn’t much fun.

Jake’s friends, Mark, Leona and Natalie, were shouting so much that Jake had to yell really loudly to make himself heard. “Listen everyone. I don’t want a puppet fight. I want to play hide and seek with them.”

Everyone stopped their puppets from fighting and looked at Jake.

Natalie asked, “How can we do that? They’re on our hands and we all know where we are.”

The children thought for a moment.

Then Mark said, “Why don’t we let one of us hide the puppets somewhere and then the rest of us go find them?”

Jake grabbed all the puppets. “Me first,” he said.

The other children left the room. Monkey found himself being carried all round the room while Jake hid the other puppets. Then Jake whispered to Monkey, “No one will find you where I’m putting you. You’re the best puppet ever so I want you to win. Make sure you keep quiet so they don’t hear you!” And Monkey found himself being put in a very odd place!

“Come in!” called Jake to Leona, Mark and Natalie. “Start looking now! The last puppet to be found is the winner.”

Leona found Lion straight away. His paw was poking out from behind the chair! Then Mark found Rabbit on the window ledge.

Monkey watched from his hiding place as Natalie crept round the room looking under and over and behind everything. Where were Cat and Dog?

“Gotcha!” she shouted. Both of them were behind the sand tray. That left Koala, Frog and himself, Monkey. He kept very quiet, just as Jake had told him.

Mark walked into Koala by mistake. “Ouch!” he shouted. He’d stubbed his toe on Koala who was stuffed against the bean bag.

The Leona found Frog. Frog had been sitting in the box of bricks trying not to be seen.

Monkey shook with excitement. He’d won the game! He saw Jake looking at him and winked back.

It was bedtime before the other children found him. He’d been lying inside the doll house on a lovely soft bed and had fallen asleep while waiting! “Love you,” he said sleepily to Jake. “That was much better than fighting.”

The moral of this story is that people can often think up better ideas for interesting things to do.

The lego brick’s tale

Grey Brick

The little grey lego brick sat in the box with all the other bricks and sulked. He had eight little studs on his front and eight little holes on his back. But he never looked at them because he hated being a little grey brick.

“I’d rather be part of a pirate ship,” he said to himself. “Or maybe a tree house. Or even a Big Top in a circus. Anything but a boring old brick.”

At that moment, a little girl came into the playroom. Grey Brick looked over the edge of the lego box, hoping she would choose him. But she didn’t come near him. This made him angry.

“That horrid Kaylee’s playing with the puppets yet again. She never wants to play with us. I hate those stupid puppets.”

“Don’t be silly,” Green Brick said. “She’s a girl. Girls can’t make good things out of lego anyway. Ben will be here soon. He likes building.”

But Grey Brick still wasn’t happy.

“Girls could build if they wanted to,” he said. “And Ben only uses difficult pieces, like rods and cogs and wheels. He only builds machines and cars. He won’t want to build a grey elephant or a grey mouse. I hate living in this play room. No one wants me any more.”

And he went to sleep, even though it was still only mid evening.

Suddenly, he felt himself flying through the air. His eyes opened wide. He was amazed to see his brothers tumbling out of the lego box with him.

“Wh-what’s happening?” he cried.

“I don’t know,” shouted Green Brick. “Perhaps we’re being thrown out!”

“Ooh, what’s this?” said a girl’s voice. It wasn’t Kaylee’s voice but someone else. Who could it be, thought Grey Brick to himself, as he rubbed his head and sat up near Green Brick.

“I’m really happy you asked me round to play,” said the new voice. “This is the best pile of lego bricks I’ve ever seen. Look how many there are! We can build anything!”

“What about a house?” said Kaylee. “Grey bricks for the walls and green ones for the grass in the garden.”

“Perfect!” said the new girl, who was obviously one of Kaylee’s friends. “I’ll start with this one.”

And she picked up Grey Brick and put him in pride of place in the corner of her building. The she placed Green Brick beside him and said, “The grass starts here. Do you want to do grass or walls?”

Because they were so near to each other, Grey Brick and Green Brick were able to talk in whispers.

“This is brilliant,” said Green Brick. “Just look at all those cogs and rods and wheels sitting over there doing nothing.”

“And the best thing is,” said Grey Brick thoughtfully, “now they know what fun we are, they’ll use us again and again to make all different kinds of buildings.”

“And Ben can still use the other pieces, so they won’t argue all the time,” said Green Brick. “Now let’s be quiet and have a sleep while they finish the rest of the walls.”

“I wonder what the finished house will look like?” said Grey Brick as he drifted off into the world of dreams. “Good night!”

The moral of this story is that someone will always want you just as you are. You are as nice as anyone else.