Story Prism Ritu Vaish

The Little Thief in the Pantry
"MOTHER dear,” said a little mouse named Greywhiskers, one day, “I think the people in our house must be very kind; don’t you? They leave such nice things for us in the kitchen pantry.”

Children, what things do you think were left in the pantry that the little mouse liked?
Great! let’s listen ahead.

There was a twinkle in the mother’s eye and she replied, “Well, my child, no doubt they are kind, but I don’t think they are quite as fond of us as you seem to think. Now remember, Greywhiskers, I have absolutely forbidden you to put your nose above the ground unless I am with you, for kind as the people are, I shouldn’t be at all surprised if would try to catch you.”

Greywhiskers twitched his tail with scorn; he was quite sure he knew how to take care of himself, and he didn’t mean to walk meekly after his mother’s tail all his life. So, as soon as she had curled herself up for an afternoon nap he stole away, and scampered across the pantry shelves.

Ah! here was something particularly good today.
A large iced cake stood far back upon the shelf, and Greywhiskers licked his lips as he sniffed it. Across the top of the cake there were words written in pink sugar; but as Greywhiskers could not read, he did not know that he was nibbling at little Miss Daisy’s birthday cake. But he did feel a little guilty when he heard his mother calling.
Off he ran, and was back in the hole again by the time his mother had finished rubbing her eyes after her nap.

She took Greywhiskers up to the pantry then, and when she saw the hole in the cake she seemed a little annoyed.

“Some mouse has evidently been here before us,” she said, but of course she never guessed that it was her own little son.

Now, after the previous day’s adventure Greywhisker’s became more confident and the next day the naughty little mouse again popped up to the pantry when his mother was asleep; but at first he could find nothing at all to eat, though there was a most delicious smell of toasted cheese.

Presently he found a dear little wooden house, and there hung the cheese, just inside it.

Children, do you know what this little wooden house with chees hung was?
Let’s find out.

In ran Greywhiskers, but, oh! “click” went the little wooden house, and mousie was caught fast in a trap.

When the morning came, the cook, who had set the trap, lifted it from the shelf, and then called a pretty little girl to come and see the thief who had eaten her cake.

“What are you going to do with him?” asked Daisy.

“Why, drown him, my dear, to be sure.”

The tears came into the little girl’s pretty blue eyes.

“You didn’t know it was stealing, did you, mousie dear?” she said.

“No,” squeaked Greywhiskers sadly; “indeed I didn’t.”

Cook’s back was turned for a moment, and in that moment tender-hearted little Daisy lifted the lid of the trap, and out popped mousie.

Oh! how quickly he ran home to his mother, and how she comforted and petted him until he began to forget his fright; and then she made him promise never to disobey her again, and you may be sure he never did.

Once in Thailand, a little boy was sent to watch the garden by his grandfather. But after a while he grew bored and went off to play. As soon as he left, a crow swooped down and stole some beans. Just then, the boy's grandfather came and was most annoyed. After some time, the boy returned with a smile, which quickly turned upside down when he saw his grandfather's face.

“Look what happened when you left,” the old man said to the boy.

“We need those beans. You should have watched. It was your work.”

The boy felt very sad and wanted to help.

He decided to get the beans back from the crow. So he ran to a hunter and said, “Please sir, shoot an arrow at that crow so he will drop the beans he stole.”

“Why should I bother the crow?” asked the hunter. “You made the mistake, not the crow.”

The boy walked on until he found a mouse.

“Please little mouse,” he said. “Chew the hunter’s bowstrings so he will shoot an arrow for me.”

“I am not mad at the hunter,” said the mouse, “it's your problem”.

So, the boy walked on soon he saw a cat and said, “Please friend cat, nip that mouse so it will help me.”

But the cat too refused.



Children, who do you think the little boy would meet next?

Exactly -a dog!



So, the boy met a dog.

“Dear dog,” he said. “Chase that cat so it will nip the mouse and help me.”

“Chase him yourself,” replied the dog. “I am busy.”

Then the boy found a hammer and begged him to beat the dog.

“I am too tired,” said the hammer.

So the boy ran to a fire.

“Fire, strong fire,” he said, “Burn that stubborn hammer so it will agree.”

“Too much work,” sizzled the fire.



Children , let’s list all the people and things that the boy met

Yes- the hunter, the mouse, the cat, the dog, the hammer, and the fire.



Next the boy pleaded with some water, “Pour yourself on the fire, dear water, to help me.”

“But I like that fire,” replied the water.

So the boy asked the earth to cover the water but the earth refused to.

Then the boy found an elephant and begged, “Could you please pound the earth so it will cover the water.”

The elephant shook his trunk.

So the boy sat down and cried.

Children, why did the boy cry?

Yes, the boy cried as he was sad about losing the beans and wanted to get them back. But no one was helping him.



At that time, a little mosquito flew around him. The boy suddenly caught it.

“Now, little mosquito,” he said, “Fly into the elephant’s ears and annoy him or else squeeze you to death.”

The mosquito was scared. He flew into the elephants ear.

The elephant was scared and he pounded the earth.

The earth was scared and it covered the water.

The water was scared and fell on the fire.

The fire was scared and ran to burn the hammer.

The hammer was scared and threatened the dog.

The dog was scared and chased the cat.

The cat was scared and ran to nip the mouse.

The mouse was scared and ran to bit the bowstring.

The hunter was scared and he shot an arrow.

The arrow scared the crow.

The crow dropped the beans and they fell right into the garden again.

The grandfather was delighted and forgave the boy at once. then they enjoyed a meal of the best noodles and the freshest vegetables.

But after that the boy always watched the garden very carefully and he waited until he was all finished before he went to play.

Try to recall all the events in the story.

And remember that we must finish our work before running off to play.

Once upon a time, on a scorching summer day, a thirsty crow was flying over the countryside in search of water. The sun beat down mercilessly, and the crow's throat felt parched.

Children, what are the different kinds of drinks that you enjoy while quenching your thirst?

Great.

After a long flight looking for water, the thirsty crow spotted a pitcher under a shady tree. The crow had a smile on his face. Hopeful, the crow hurriedly flew down to satisfy his thirst.



As the crow reached the pitcher, it saw that there was indeed water inside, but alas, the water level was so low that the crow couldn't reach it with its beak. He was disappointed but he didn’t give up. He was determined to find a way to drink the water from the pitcher. So, the crow peered inside, trying to figure out a way to quench its thirst.



Children, can you please suggest a way for the crow to quench his thirst?

Let’s listen ahead.



After a moment of thinking, the clever crow had an idea. It began to pick up small pebbles from the ground nearby and dropped them into the pitcher one by one.



Children, do you know what happened when the crow dropped stones in the pitcher?



Indeed, with each pebble dropped in, the water level rose ever so slightly. The crow continued this method, dropping pebble after pebble into the pitcher.



Slowly but surely, the water level began to rise, inch by inch, until at last, it was high enough for the crow to dip its beak and take refreshing sips of water. The crow drank water to his heart’s content. Then with his thirst quenched, it flew away, feeling satisfied and delighted.



From that day on, whenever the crow encountered a challenge, it remembered the lesson it had learned from the pitcher: that with patience, perseverance, and a little bit of creativity, even the most difficult obstacles could be overcome.

And that is what we learn from this story: whenever we face problems, we must not give up immediately, but think through it, and we are bound to get the solution.

Once, two brothers lived at the forest’s edge. The older brother was always unkind to his younger brother. He used to even take all the food and snatched all the good clothes from the younger one.

Children, what was the unkind behaviour of the older brother?

Indeed, the older brother used to take food and good clothes from the younger sibling.

The older brother would go into the forest in search of firewood to sell in the market. But he was unkind and as he walked through the forest, he chopped off the branches of every tree he passed.

One day he came upon a magical tree.

The tree stopped him before he chopped its branches and said, ‘Oh, kind sir, please spare my branches. If you spare me, I will provide you with golden apples.”

The older brother agreed. The tree gave him two golden apples. The older brother was disappointed with just two golden apples.

Overcome by greed, the brother threatened the tree, “I’ll cut you if you don’t provide me with more apples.”

The tree was offended and instead of giving him more apples, the tree showered him with hundreds of tiny needles. The brother fell to the ground, crying in pain as the sun began to set.

Soon, the kind-hearted younger brother became worried and went in search of his older brother. He searched every nook and corner of the forest until he found him at the trunk of the apple tree, lying in pain with hundreds of needles on his body.

He rushed to him and started to painstakingly remove each needle with love. Once the needles were out, the older brother apologized for mistreating his younger brother. The magical tree saw the change in the older brother’s heart and gifted them with all the golden apples the brothers could need.

Welcome to the Turtle Tales series.

The Singing Turtle is an adapted folktale from Japan where a turtle helps a hard-working man to earn money by singing.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources are available at www.rituvaish.com/the-singing-turtle

Send your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.

Once upon a time, there lived two brothers. These two brothers lived with their mother a little further away from the city. Now, one of them was a hard worker. He worked hard and did not waste his time being lazy.

Whereas, the other brother was a lazy bone and did not work at all. He preferred to sleep in his bed all day long.

Their mother had been sick and the family had always been poor. The hard-working brother's earnings were always spent by the lazy brother. Every day the hard-working brother went to the town with his lunch and came back in late the evening. During his lunch break, the hard-working brother would go to the river and have his lunch by the river.

One day, the hard-working brother told his brother that he's going to the city, “I’ll be back late in the night. There are some sticks I have gathered. I will sell them and make some money,” saying that, he left.

But as luck would have it he could not sell even a single stick by lunchtime.

The poor brother was upset. He knew his brother and mother were relying on him.

Children, what should the hard-working brother do now?

So, as usual, during the lunch hour, he went to the river. But instead of having his lunch, he started weeping. When he was weeping, the hard-working brother heard a voice.

“Why are you crying?” asked the voice.

The hard-working brother looked down wondering where the voice was coming from.

Then the voice asked him to look down. When the hard-working brother did so, he saw the voice was that of a turtle.

He was even more surprised when the turtle said, “I would like to help you. I am a singing turtle and if you take me to the market, I can help you fetch good money.”

The hard-working brother was confused and wondered, “But why would you help me?”

“I have been eating the crumbs you left behind after your lunch. I am indebted to you,” said the turtle politely.

The hard-working brother thanked the singing turtle for extending help and took him to the market. He was able to earn a handsome amount as people were excited to hear a turtle sing.

Children, can you imagine what songs he sang?

That’s good.

The hard-working brother took his earnings and the turtle to his house. He narrated the entire story to his family. The next day when he was washing up the turtle, the lazy brother snatched the turtle and said, “I can earn more than you can.”

With that, the lazy brother took the turtle to the market. The lazy brother ordered and ordered the turtles to sing but that only made the turtle go back into his shell. The townspeople blamed the man for lying to them and said that it was an ordinary turtle anyway and not a singing turtle.

Angrily, the lazy brother left him in the market and stomped his way home.

Children, is that a good thing to do?

The turtle slowly made his way back to the hut. Once home, the turtle told everything to the hard-working brother and the mother.

Upon hearing the story that mother told both the brothers, “Bad habits chase away the good things in life. You should be nice and polite to everyone.”

The Lazy brother apologized and promised to be polite and also work hard.

The hard-working brother and the turtle were delighted by this change of heart of the lazy brother.

It was night-time and all the alphabets had finished playing and together they put away all the toys: the duck, deer, dinosaur, doll, etc. They never left their

toys scattered. They always placed them back neatly in the drawers or in the toy basket.

After putting away the toys, they quickly washed up, had their delicious dinner, and went to their room. Soon they were busy reading and in no time, they were fast asleep.

One day, after all the other alphabets had gone to sleep Alphabet d decided to return to the playroom to play some more.

He quietly got out of the bed, tiptoed out of the bedroom, and walked towards the playroom. As he approached the playroom, he heard some noises. He stopped and wondered what those noises were.

D was very inquisitive and instead of rushing into the playroom, he decided to peep through the window to find out what was happening

“Oh My God! What are all the toys doing outside their baskets and drawers?” he wondered.

He carefully looked and realized that all the toys were playing around in the room. Or were they getting ready for something?

Alphabet D wanted to join them but thought that might scare the toys.

So, he decided to just watch them through the window.

He had never seen anything like this before.

Alphabet D saw the doll dressed up in her shimmering shining dress.

“Is there going to a party?” Alphabet D wondered.

In the other corner Alphabet D’s favourite deer was draping itself in a golden skin.

The very next moment, the toy tub caught Alphabet D’s attention. He saw the duck fluttering its wings to dry itself and quacking; quack -quack -quack-quack

Once she was done drying, she waddled towards the middle of the room.

The doll was ready by now. And so was the deer. They both walked elegantly towards the middle of the room. All the others also assembled in the middle for what looked like a dance party.

Suddenly, Alphabet D heard the beating of the drum. It was the dog. He appeared playing a beat on the drum. And everybody started rejoicing and dancing.

The doves came in and started circling right above all the others, fluttering their wings to the beat.

Indeed, it was a dance party



All you little children listening out there, I am sure you all love parties, especially birthday parties.

So, what’s your favourite part of any birthday party?

Is it the fun-filled games, or the delicious food, or the scrumptious cake, or the refreshing drinks, or the rhythmic dancing? Or is it everything put together.

Well, even the toys in our story were having a great time in the party.

So, till now in the story, Alphabet D, instead of sleeping, wants to play more and goes to the playroom, only to realize that all the toys were having a party.

As the toys were dancing, the dinosaur came with refreshing drinks and served them to all the animals.



But then the mean red coloured dragon, who always troubled the other toys, appeared from behind the cupboard. All the animals started running here and there as they were scared of the dragon.

He was a big bully and scared all the toys by his loud shrieks and by blowing fire.

The toys shouted together, “Someone please help us!” and were running helter-skelter.

Hearing the commotion, the lion who was relaxing in the den rushed out.

One look at the dragon and the lion understood the problem that it was the dragon scaring all the other toys.

He roared, "You red dragon, that is no way to spoil the party. Instead why don’t you join them and have fun too!”

“But no one ever invites me to the party,” said one very angry dragon.

The doll gathering courage said, “Dragon dear, you are most welcome to join our party, but please don’t scare us.”

The dragon for the first time felt bad and apologized. All the toys accepted his apologies and soon he too was enjoying the party.



I love to sing,

You love to sing,

We love to sing together!

I love to dance,

You love to dance,

We love to dance t