Five Children's Picture Book Stories 4 (ePub)

Hettie's Pirouette
Hilda the hippopotamus and Hettie the heron both love the ballet. They join the Ballet school and begin training. They enter the end-of-year competition for couples (pas de deux) and perform five movements, the pose well known in the ballet Swan Lake, the movement that shows the bond between the two dancers in the ballet Le Diable à Quatre, the movement where the dancer being held by the partner is able to descend very low to the ground and can be seen in the ballet The Fisherman's Dance and demonstrates a sense of friendliness and love and finally a pirouette with Hilda giving Hettie a hefty spin to set her off. The result seems disastrous. Can the two budding ballerinas still win the competition despite this set-back? A fun read with a simple message.
Mapenzi's Project
Mapenzi and Jabu are rivals in the class end-of-term project that requires the pupils to create an article using natural material. Mapenzi creates a necklace using the "lucky bean" seeds from the Coral tree while Jabu fashions an elephant out of clay. Fearing that Mapenzi's necklace will be the winning item Jabu hides it under a bush just before their teacher, Mrs. Zuma judges the entries. Mrs. Zuma adjudges Jabu's elephant as the best item in the contest but just then a man enters the classroom holding Mapenzi's necklace in his hand. Will Mrs. Zuma re-judge the entries now that Mapenzi's necklace has been found? And, if so, who will win the competition this time? A fun read with a simple message.
The Sea Fairy
One evening, while walking home from the fields, a young man notices some sea fairies dancing on the sea shore. They do this whenever the moon is full, discarding their mermaid tails and using this freedom to dance. The man notices that one of the tails is hidden by his shadow and when the sea fairies see the man watching them they slip on their mermaid tails and plunge into the sea. One of the fairies is unable to do this as she cannot find her mermaid tail. Quickly the man hides the missing tail behind a rock and goes to the stranded fairy. He notices how beautiful she is and asks her to marry him. Realizing that she has no option the fairy agrees. The couple are married by the priest and go to live in the man's cottage. The man and the fairy love each other and are very happy. As the years pass four beautiful children were born to them but the man notices that occasionally the fairy is often seen at the sea's edge calling to her own people. One day while playing in the fields the children find the missing mermaid tail.
What will the sea fairy do when she sees the missing tail? An Irish myth.
Winning
Jane was never good at athletics but she participated in all the events at the school athletics meeting. Mavis was very good at athletics and Jane's heroine. Jane participated in the Potato Sack race, the Standing Long Jump event, the Softball Throw, the 50 Metres Dash and the Relay Race. Jane came last in all these events while Mavis won them all. At the end of the meeting Mavis was awarded the "Best Athlete" prize. Jane congratulated Mavis on her achievement. Jane was then presented with a card from her friends telling her that they admired her courage for entering in all the events even though she knew that she would probably come last. Why though, does the card have a special significance? A fun read with a simple message.
The Spirit Bride
On the day that they are to be married the fiancé of a great hunter dies. Devastated by his loss the young brave sets out to find the Spirit-world in the hope of finding his lost love. He experiences himself becoming a spirit and is taken across a great lake in a white stone canoe and sees the spirit of his beloved accompanying him. But simply reaching the Spirit-world isn't enough to unite the young brave with his dead fiancé forever. A North American myth.