Fireside Tales

In this amazing story from Australia, kind Kangaroo helps poor, struggling Wombat, and is greatly rewarded. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this story. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will promote vocabulary acquisition. Teachers can reinforce literature skills, such as retelling, setting, characters, plot, main idea, character traits, problem/solution, and vocabulary development. C

In this intriguing tale, Tortoise tricks Hippo and Hippo's secret name is revealed. How will Tortoise be rewarded? Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this tale. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Teachers can reinforce literature skills, such as retelling, main idea, character traits, and vocabulary development. Playing the attached game will promote co

The odd-looking bird learned to accept himself for who he truly was, and found where he belonged. Children will love the calm and cheerful reading of this delightful tale, along with the adorable ducks and swan props. Children will listen and visualize, while hearing vivid language. Listening to this story will promote auditory development and focus. Teachers can reinforce fiction literature skills (retelling, main idea, problem/solution, vocabulary development). Playing the attached game will

In this African tale, Ellie Elephant was too curious about the jungle world around her, and especially about what crocodiles eat for dinner! Watch out Ellie, it might be baby elephants! Hearts will be warmed by the cheerful reading of this endearing story. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Teachers can reinforce literature skills, such as retelling, main idea, character t

In this dramatic tale from Africa, boastful Elephant challenged Rain Spirit about who was the greatest in the land. When Rain Spirit ran away, the thirsty springboks, giraffes, and zebras, had no water to drink. How will Lion and Tortoise help bring Rain Spirit back? What lesson did Elephant learn? This story addresses greediness. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this story. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory d

In this amazing African tale, cunning Lion has stolen ten ostrich chicks from Mother Ostrich. Lion proclaims they are cubs, not chicks, and the frightened savanna animals agree. How does clever Mongoose trick Lion, and help Mother Ostrich retrieve her chicks? Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this traditional story. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition.

When a dishonest miller steals the Speckled Hen’s gold coins, she enlists the help of her friends Ladder, River, and Wolf to use their strengths to ward off the miller, and retrieve the stolen objects. Speckled Hen learns to make smart choices when solving a problem. She also learns about time well spent. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this tale. Children will adore the hen prop. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid languag

In this African tale, boastful Warthog pays a price for being mean to his friends Lion and Porcupine. Children will love the calm and cheerful reading of this delightful tale, along with the adorable warthog, Lion, and porcupine props. Children will listen and visualize, while hearing vivid language. Listening to this story will promote auditory development and focus. Teachers can reinforce fiction literature skills (retelling, main idea, problem/solution, vocabulary development). Playing the

In this tale from Ireland, Saint Domnoc was rewarded for showing gentleness and kindness to the bees in the monastery garden. The main character shows responsibility in his job at the monastery. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and cheerful reading of this delightful story, along with the adorable bee character. Children will listen and visualize, while hearing vivid language. Tier 2 Vocabulary: responsibility, gentle, important, swarm, struggle. Students can write a kid-friendly definition,

In this Iroquois tale, foolish, gullible Bear is tricked by cunning Fox. Children's hearts will be warmed by the calm and cheerful reading of this delightful tale, along with the adorable stuffed bear and fox. Tier 2 Vocabulary: dangle, resist, eager. Students can write a kid-friendly definition, illustrate, and list synonyms and antonyms for these words. A four-square would be useful for this activity. Nonfiction pairings for this story could include books about bears. Students could read a

The biggest monkey in the jungle was given the job of picking bananas for the old woman. He became greedy over the bananas, keeping the long fat bananas for himself, and giving the old woman the small, wrinkled ones. The clever old woman played a trick on him. Will the monkey break free from the wax boy? What happens when he gets angry? How do the other monkeys help? What did Sun do? Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this story. Children will adore the props. Listeni

In this Aesop’s Fable, trickster Fox learns to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. This is also called The Golden Rule. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this tale. Children will adore the stuffed fox. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development and focus. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Teachers can reinforce literature skills, such as retelling, main idea, character traits, and vocabulary development.

In this Aesop’s Fable two roosters were fighting over who was king of the barnyard. Suddenly an eagle swooped down and carried away the boastful, unsuspecting rooster in his victory flight! Being boastful and conceited can cause one to fail. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this tale. Children will adore the props. Teachers can reinforce liter

In this incredible tale, Wombat, Kookaburra, Koala, Echidna, Lizard, Kangaroo, and Platypus work together to solve the problem that greedy Tiddalik has caused. This story is wonderful for boosting auditory skills and for reinforcing fiction literature skills. When children play the attached game, they will demonstrate comprehension in a fun, interactive way. This story can be compared / contrasted with The Bull and The Bullfrogs, or The Elephant and the Rain Spirit, both Fireside Tales. In

Charlie the polar bear does not want to make changes to the ice cream flavors they sell, but realizes change can be for the better. What new ice cream flavors will Charlie and Edward invent? Young hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this contemporary story. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Youngsters children can act out this story, draw a picture, or

In this Aesop‘s Fable, Sheep learns not to judge others, as everyone is different. Young children will love the calm and cheerful reading of this delightful fable, along with the adorable pig and sheep props. Children will listen and visualize, while hearing vivid language. This story is wonderful for boosting auditory skills and for reinforcing fiction literature skills (retelling, character traits, main idea, cause/effect, vocabulary development). Playing the attached game will promote comp

Two young viscachas (rabbit-like creatures) found a red blanket, and cunning Señor Fox tricked them into sharing it with him on a cold windy night in the Andes Mountains. I guess they learned to trust each other, and never trust Señor Fox! Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this story. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development and focus. Vivid language will promote vocabulary acquisition. This story can be co

In this Aesop’s Fable, the frogs are discontented with their ruler, and seek another, only to find misery. They learn to be contented with what they have. Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this tale. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Teachers can reinforce literature skills, such as retelling, main idea, character traits, and vocabulary development.

In this Aesop’s Fable, a cunning fox tricked the pheasants, who paid too much attention to a dangerous situation! Hearts will be warmed by the calm and loving reading of this tale. Children will adore the props. Listening to and visualizing this story will promote auditory development. Vivid language will enhance vocabulary acquisition. Young children will enjoy acting out this story, drawing a picture, or dictating sentences. For older students, teachers can reinforce literature skills, such a

When Pig decided he was tired of living in a pen, Sheep, Goose, Rabbit, and Rooster go along to help build a house on the hill. Everyone had a job to do, and teamwork made all the difference! Young children will love the calm and cheerful reading of this delightful tale, along with the adorable props. Children will listen and visualize, while hearing vivid language. This story is wonderful for boosting auditory skills and for reinforcing fiction literature skills. Youngsters children can ac