Story Prism

This is a story from Africa about a rabbit who wants to become big, but in the end realizes he was better off the way he was.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-rabbits-wish.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

This story is about the time when the rabbit along with her tiny body, short legs, had ears that were small and stumpy on top of her head.

One of the rabbits always had a deep desire to be big like the enormous elephant or the tall like a giraffe or strong like a bull. She didn’t like to be the teeny tiny animal that she was.

So, one day, Rabbit got an idea and decided to go to the Earth Spirit — the creator of all the animals — to grant her a wish. 

She said, “Dear Earth spirit, please make me big. I am tired of being so little.”

The earth spirit calmly explained, “ Rabbit! Why do you want to be big? You’re wonderful just the way you are! I created each and every animal to be special in their own way.”

The rabbit retorted, “Special? I am not special in any way!”

The earth Spirit added, “Well, I specifically made you to be one of the swiftest animals around! I also made you one of the smartest.” 

The Rabbit shrugged, “ Whatever. So I’ve got speed, I’ve got brains. But seriously — what good are those things when I’m such a dwarf? Most everyone is bigger than me, and stronger too— not to mention how many other animals want to eat me!”

The earth Spirit said, “Okay, Rabbit, I can make you bigger, but you have to earn it.”

The Rabbit quivered with delight and jumping up and down said, “ I’ll do anything you say! “

The Earth Spirit went on, “ Alright. Here’s what you need to do. You must bring me two things. First, a whisker from a Lion. Second, a feather from an Eagle.”

Do you think it would be difficult for the rabbit to get the above two things?

Well, let's listen ahead.

When the earth spirit asked the rabbit to bring a whisker from a lion, and a feather from an Eagle. Rabbit’s froze in fear. She started trembling so hard her whiskers were shaking.

Rabbit’s smile turned upside down she stammered, “Ummm, with due respect, Earth Spirit — Lion and Eagle are two of the big, scary animals who want to eat me for breakfast! And lunch and dinner and even as a midnight snack.”

The Earth Spirit said, “Oh, I know! I didn’t say the task would be easy. But then, you’re a quick one, isn’t it? both body and mind! I am sure you’ll figure it out. Now, hop on to it!”

The Rabbit dragged herself back to her burrow underground and thought to himself, “ Well, this is great. Just great. I ask Earth Spirit to make me bigger, and now she wants me to get Lion’s whisker? And Eagle’s feather!? All those two ever think about is their next meal. How could I possibly ever --…uuuu . Wait a minute. ‘Their next meal!’ That’s it!” 

A plan brewed in her smart mind.

The next morning, the Rabbit scrambled out of her burrow to the forest where the Lion was creeping out of his den., and he was just about to start his morning hunt.

The rabbit humbly said, “ Hey, Lion, good morning!” 

The lion stretching and yawing said, “Well, hello, Rabbit! Delivering me breakfast in bed?”

The rabbit went a little closer, “Actually lion, your majesty if you play your cards right, I can deliver you two breakfasts.”

The Lion raised his shaggy head, “What do you mean, ‘two breakfasts’?”

The rabbit said, “ Well, Lion, I heard a top-secret way you can make two of me! You just pluck out your magic whisker, poke my fur two times, and then two Rabbits!

The lion scoffed, “ I don’t have a magic whisker!”

But thinking about the prospect of two rabbits he added, “ But then I’m pretty hungry, and hey, what have I got to lose? Other than, you know, a whisker?”

The Lion lifted his paw and yanked out a whisker. Then he poked Rabbit’s fur with it, two times.

Nothing happened.

The lion roared, “ There’s still just one of you! Don’t fool me.” 

The rabbit scratching her snub ears said, “ Hmmm ... maybe you’re not doing it right. Here, let me try.”

 The Rabbit snatched the whisker from Lion’s paw.

What do you think the rabbit would do now?

Listen ahead. To find out

The rabbit instead of poking herself with it grabbed it from him and began leaping away.

The Lion growled and took off after the Rabbit.

But the little creature was so fast, by the time Lion reached Rabbit’s burrow, she’d already gone into the narrow hole, where the giant beast could never reach her.

The lion snapped, “ I’ll get you next time, Rabbit. You can’t escape the king of the jungle for very long!”

Inside the burrow, the Rabbit fell asleep feeling delighted that had met one of the two conditions of the Earth Spirit

A few hours later, she woke up all refreshed, nibbled some turnips, then climbed out of her burrow and bounced over to the river.

The sun was right above her head and it was lunchtime, and an Eagle was soaring in the sky, her sharp eyes fixed on the water below for some prey that would be his delicious lunch.

Waving one of her paws, the rabbit said, “ Hey, Eagle! Eagle! Come Over here!”

When Eagle saw Rabbit, the majestic bird swooped down, her pointy talons outstretched. He said, “ Good afternoon, Rabbit! You’re just in time for lunch!”

The rabbit gathered her courage and said, “ Just a minute, Eagle! If you play your cards right, I can make you two lunches!”

Intrigued, the Eagle glided down to the ground, “Wait — what do you mean, “two lunches”?”

The rabbit smiled, “ Well, eagle, I heard a top-secret way you can make two of me! You just pluck out one of your magical feathers, poke my fur two times, and then two Rabbits!”

The Eagle scowled, “I don’t have a magic feather! But no harm trying for I am famished!”

The Eagle used one of her talons to pluck out a feather. Then, he poked the rabbit fur two times. , but nothing happened.

The eagle screamed, “Wait, there’s still only one of you!”

Rabbit took the feather from Eagle’s talon, “Hmmm. Maybe you’re not doing it right. Hang on. Let me try” 

Can you guess what she did next?

That’s right!

The rabbit clutched that feather in her fuzzy little paw and began scampering away!

Eagle flapped her wings and took off after Rabbit. But, as with Lion, by the time Eagle reached Rabbit’s cozy burrow, Rabbit was safe and snug under the ground.

The eagle was angry, but couldn’t do anything He yelled out, “ Rabbit! I’ve got my eagle-eyes on you!”

Rabbit waited until the coast was clear. 

So children where do you think the rabbit will go now?

That’s correct 

With Eagle’s feather in one paw and Lion’s whisker in the other, she scuttled out of her burrow and proudly showed her items to the Earth Spirit.

The Earth Spirit said, “ Well, well, well! I am impressed Rabbit. You’ve succeeded in obtaining two objects from two animals who could easily swallow you in one gulp. And you’ve done it just as you are — with nothing but swift feet and a swift mind!”

The rabbit ignoring the words of the Earth Spirit said, “It’s time for my wish, you promised you’d grant my wish.”

The Earth Spirit sighed, “ Alright, Rabbit; a promise is a promise.”

There was a blinding flash of light, then Rabbit felt a tug on her front side. Next, she felt a tug on her backside.

The rabbit was amazed by her growing size and exclaimed, “ Woah! Holy moly! Look at this!” 

Now, her entire body was stretching and growing, growing and stretching — until she was nearly as big as a goat!

While the rabbit was still admiring her new, bigger self when she heard some familiar voices. Some familiar angry voices.

Can you guess whose angry voices were those?

Well, Listen ahead to find out. ..

“There she is! The trickster who stole my whisker!” roared the lion.

“And my feather!” added the eagle.

They both rapidly rushed towards the rabbit.

Do you think the rabbit would escape? 

Listen ahead

The Rabbit’s instinct was to scamper off like she’d always done before. But her new, bigger body felt heavy and it was difficult to run.

Without thinking, Rabbit staggered to her burrow. But when she tried diving down the narrow hole, the bigger body got stuck!

By now the Lion and Eagle were getting closer and closer. 

Rabbit fought back her tears and pleaded actually to the earth Spirit, “ Earth Spirit! I was wrong. I never should have asked to be a different size. I was fine before. No actually— I was awesome! Please! Can you turn me back to the way I was?”

The earth spirit said, “ Well, I can’t reverse a wish once I’ve granted. But there is one thing I can do.”

There was another flash of light, and all at once, Rabbit felt herself shrinking and shrinking, until her body was small enough to slip through her burrow and escape the mighty paws of Lion.

The lion hitting the ground with his paws in frustration 

said, “ She escapes yet again.” 

The Eagle soaring back in the sky thought to himself, “ These rabbits are swift and smart and very difficult to hunt.”  

Now, Rabbit’s body was back to its regular size. But her ears — her formerly stubby ears —were still big! The Earth Spirit had left Rabbit’s ears long — as long as a corn cob! Not only that, but they could even tilt and turn in any direction, so that now when other, bigger animals wanted to get revenge for Rabbit’s tricks she could hear them coming from a mile away!

Probably, that how the rabbits’ short and snubby ears became tall like the ones they have now.

Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Sometimes best things come in small sizes.

The Escapades of Letter E is a story about Letter E going on an adventure with an elf and making friends along the way.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources available at www.rituvaish.com/alphabet-escapades-letter-e.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Christmas was over. Santa had delivered all the Christmas gifts to children around the world. He along with the elves and reindeers was relaxing after a hectic Christmas frenzy. In fact, we can say the North Pole was a quiet place now.

Among all the elves one was very naughty, as well as adventurous and he decided to sneak out. At the same time, from among a few scattered toys that were left behind from Christmas, was a box of alphabets. The letter E also jumped out of this box and was sneaking out to look for some fun.

The elf and the letter E came face to face. Scared, letter E was about to turn back and run to the Alphabet box when the elf called, “Looking for some fun? Isn't it so quiet and boring here at the North pole these days?”

Letter E nodded in agreement.

“Come, let's travel to some faraway land. Hang on to my elbow! ”

Letter E did not hesitate as he was looking for some adventure himself.

He jumped onto the elf’s elbow and adjusting himself asked, “Where are we going?”

“Let's see, I want to go to Mount Everest, the tallest peak among all the mountains in the world,” said the elf picking up his magic dust pouch. “Do you have any place else in mind?”

With sparkling eyes, the letter E exclaimed, “Wow! That would be amazing. Let’s go to Mount….mount what?”

“Mount Everest” answered the elf.

“But how should we go? Do you have a reindeer?” asked letter E.

The elf gestured letter E to wait and then took out some magic dust and blew it.

Whoosh….

In a moment they were in India at the base of the Himalayan mountain range.

The letter E looked all around  and suddenly yelled out, “Look, a deer! He is so big and has such tall and beautiful horns.”

“Who called me a deer? I am an elk and these on top of my head are not horns, they are antlers,” the elk replied, proudly moving his head from side to side  to show off the antlers.

“Pardon my friend, for he has never seen an elk before,” said the elf protecting letter E. “Actually, we are new to this place.”

“Is that so? Welcome, welcome! Then let me show you around this place,” replied the elk.

The elk showed them around the forest from the tall trees to his other animal friends. Soon,  they became best of friends.

One evening they met a baby elephant who was plodding up and down and looked worried.

“You don't look so happy dear baby elephant. What's bothering you?” asked the elk.

“Well, you see, I want to go to someplace where no elephant has ever gone and Mount Everest on these Himalayan mountains seemed like a perfect place. I have travelled very long distance to reach here. But I do not know how to climb this huge mountain.”

Letter E looked at the elf, who said, “Wait for a second, we too want to go to Mount Everest. And Elk why don’t you join us?”

“Certainly, can’t refuse such an offer,” nodding his head the elk said.

The elf dug into his pouch and blew a handful of magic dust.

Whoosh!

In an instant they were on Mount Everest.

The baby elephant proudly proclaimed, “Now, I am the only elephant who has ever visited Mount Everest.”

All the friends happily started roaming around.

Suddenly, letter E saw an envelope and jumped off the elf’s elbow, picked it up, and gave it to the elf, who at once opened it.

He found a paper inside.

Peeing over the elf  to see the letter, all the friends unanimously said, “Please read, Please read, what’s written on it. ”

 The Elf read:

“Under the clean white powder

 A prize you should find

 Something green and shiny

 That might be right behind.

Umm… that’s a puzzle and if we solve it we’ll get a prize.”

“A prize! That’s fun,” said the elk.

Mulling over the puzzle for some time, he asked, “So, what’s the white powder?”

“It’s the snow,” trumpeted one very confident baby elephant, swinging his trunk and blowing the snow.

“So, somewhere in the snow is the prize. Let’s look for it,” all the friends cried out in unison.

They knew that the clean white powder was the snow but they were all intrigued by the green and shiny thing.

All you children listening out there, can you guess what can be a is green and shiny thing in the puzzle   ?

Well, listen ahead to find out.

All of them started looking around and sang :

Look for a shiny green thing on the right,

Look for a shiny green thing on the left,

look for it behind

look for it in front.

“There’s nothing here,” said letter E, who was tired of searching for something green and shiny.

 The elk said, “Let’s dig in the snow to find the prize, ”and he sunk his antlers deep into the snow.

The elephant used his trunk, the elk his antlers, and the elf was working with his hands to look for that  green and shiny thing. Letter E just sat looking at them, for now he was exhausted.

The elk took out his antlers and told letter E to join them, “Join us, if we all work together , we’ll find the prize sooner.” Looking at the elk, letter-E yelled out, “What is stuck in between your antlers?”

Everyone stopped digging the snow and looked at the shiny green thing stuck in the elk’s antlers.

The elf said excitedly,  “Wow! That is an emerald. It’s indeed the green and shiny thing and that’s our prize too. It must have got stuck in the antlers while the elk was digging in the snow.

They all were delighted to have solved the puzzle and decided it was time to go back home Now let me blow some dust and all of us will be back in our homes.”

Nodding, the elk said, “Wait! what will I do with the Emerald? I have no use of it. Elf, why don't you take it and the next Christmas use it to buy gifts for the kids who cannot afford to buy them .” He gave the emerald to the elf.

All the friends thanked each other for a great time and bade goodbye.

“Hope we meet again,” said E adjusting on the elf’s elbow.

Whoosh! …

And in a jiffy, all of them reached their homes.

The Elk back in the forest.

The baby elephant back to his family. He was excited to be the only elephant to have reached Mount Everest and share his adventure.

The elf and the letter were E back to the North Pole, excited not only their adventure and also delighted about the new friends that they made.

Hello Children! I am letter  E. Hope you liked the story.

You know I make the sound: /e/ That’s the short sound I make.

I also make a long sound, but that I am saving for another story.

Let’s see what all words in the story started with the sound  I made /e/.

Who was getting bored at the North Pole? /e/ elf

And there were many other words too that started with the sound I make.

I make the sound /e/

/e/ Everest

/e/ elk

/e/ elephant

/e/ envelope

And what was the prize?

/e/ emerald

And I was hanging onto the elf’s

/e/ elbow

The Clever Monday is a folk tale from Thailand wherein a witty monkey keeps outfoxing others and in the end is left empty-handed.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/the-clever-monkey.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Once there was a clever monkey that enjoyed outsmarting people and profiting from them. One day, the monkey got a thorn in his tail and went to a barber.

Monkey told the Barber. “Remove this thorn from my tail.’

The Barber said, “Sure! Please be seated.”

The barber took his razor, which is like a knife, brought out the thorn but oops at the same time got a bit of monkey’s tail.

The monkey was furious, “You cut a bit of my tail, now give me this razor as compensation.” He thought the barber has nothing else to give him. Something is better than nothing.

The barber did as was asked and the monkey was happy, he had won over the barber.

So, children, what do you think the monkey will do with the razor? ..let’s see

On the way home, the monkey met an old woman who was cutting firewood, but her axe had broken. The witty monkey wanted to get the wood because he thought the razor was of no use. So, he cooked up a plan in his mind.

He politely asked the old woman with the broken axe, “What happened? Why are you sad?

The old woman replied showing the broken axe, “My only axe broke and now I cannot cut the wood.”

The witty monkey knew his plan was working. He offered the woodcutter lady to use his razor to cut the wood.

Children, do you think razor can cut wood? No!

Then what will happen to the razor. Let’s see.     

The woman gladly accepted the offer but soon the razor broke as the monkey had thought. The monkey was enraged, “You broke my razor, and you have to give me all your firewood in exchange for the razor.”

The scared woman did as was asked by the monkey.

The monkey was happy, he had won over the old lady

Collecting all the firewood the monkey went ahead.

Shortly afterwards the monkey met another woman who was preparing Thai fishcakes by the fire. The aroma of the delicious fish cake wafted all around that made the witty monkey’s mouth water.

Children, What your favourite snack? Is it something sweet, sour, salty, or spicy?

Well, let’s get ahead with the story and see what happens.

The woman was very sad.

The monkey asked, “What happened, why are you sad?”

The woman replied, “My firewood is exhausted, but the fish cakes are not ready yet. I do not know what to do?”

The monkey smiled as a plan was brewing in his witty mind to get hold of all the fishcakes. And as a part of the plan, he offered the woman his firewood.

The old woman gladly accepted the offer.

After some time, the fish cakes were ready, but she had used up all the firewood.

Hence, the monkey became very vexed and said sharply, “You have to give all the fishcakes as the price for the use of my firewood.

The scared woman did as was asked.

The monkey was happy, he had won over the lady.

Happy and amused, that clever monkey ran off with the fishcakes. However, the aroma of the fishcakes attracted some dogs who barked and chased the monkey. This was when the petrified monkey left all the cakes behind him and climbed onto a tree to find shelter from the dogs.

Finally, the clever monkey was empty-handed, while the dogs feasted on the delicious fish cakes!

You see children, the monkey tried to outsmart, but in the end, he was left with nothing.

Hence remember; Being clever is good, but tricking people for your personal gain is not!

The Woodpeckers’ Granary is a story that is about woodpeckers working as a team to gather acorns, make their granary and protect it too. It also teaches children am important life lesson of not taking others things without permission.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/originals-the-woodpeckers-granary.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

You must have heard that it’s wrong to take other people’s things without their permission. Well, in today’s story, someone learns a lesson about not picking up things that don’t belong to them.

So gather around.

Before I plunge into the story, let me tell you dear children that acorn woodpeckers are a particular type of woodpeckers that eat, as the name implies, mainly acorns.   They live in a family that cooperates and helps each other.

A big flock of acorn woodpeckers was soaring in the sky.

This flock had a fledgling named, Nutty.

Nutty loved his flock for it had his papa, mummy, uncles, aunts, and cousins too. They always stayed together and had a lot of fun playing as well as working together.

One day while flying they spotted an oak tree grove. As they were circling over the grove, all of them were enchanted by its tall oaks. So, they decided to get a closer look and landed in the oak grove.

They found that not only were the tall oak trees gorgeous, there were beautiful wildflowers growing and they could even hear the gurgling of a waterfall nearby. Every member of the flock was elated.

Looking at his flock’s happy faces, papa announced “Let's make this our new home. It is so pretty here.” The whole flock chirped in agreement.

The fledglings couldn’t believe their ears, “Hurray! A new home! That’s awesome.”

Looking keenly all around the oak trees Nutty was worried.

“There are no holes here,” he gave an anxious shriek.

Another fledgling added, “Where will we store our acorns?”

“Well! We will teach you how to make the holes and store the nuts. It’s hard work, but doing things together makes it enjoyable,” papa assured the little ones.

All the cousins exchanged a smile and gave high-five to each other with their wings and said, “That’ll be fun! We have never made our holes as in our previous home we already had them.”

Nutty exclaimed, “I’ll make the biggest one!”

Mummy who was observing the excitement amongst the young ones added, “ We don’t need to make big ones. You have to learn to make the holes just the right size to fit the acorn.”

One of the uncles explained, “And remember not to make them lower on the trunk as then the other animals might take our nuts.”

Soon, all the elders got busy with what woodpeckers love doing the most, drilling small holes in the trunk of the oak trees.

Papa made himself comfortable on the trunk of one of the oak trees and called all the fledglings, “Come here, let me teach you how to make the right size holes and the correct distance apart.”

Happily, all the fledglings gave noisy trills and under papa’s guidance got busy pecking the wood to make the cavities.

One of the uncles, flying around the grove, gave a loud call to the flock, “I suggest that since it’s fall, some of us should start harvesting the green acorns. If we delay, we might not have enough acorns in our new granary for the winter months. The others can keep drilling the wood.”

The flock unanimously agreed. They knew building a new granary isn’t an easy task.

Every day, some would fly out in search of acorns, bring back some to keep in the cavities. In the meantime, the others would frantically make holes in the oak trees.

In a few weeks, all their hard work paid off. Their granary was almost ready.

The fledglings were most excited as it was their first year to make holes and store the nuts. They were also very possessive about them.

One day, after soaring in the sky, the flock returned to the grove of the oak trees.

Nutty, enthusiastic about his acorn went straight to check on his very first acorn that he had stored.

Nutty couldn’t believe that the hole was empty. He screeched, “My acorn is not there.”

All you little children listening out there, can you guess what had happened to the acorn.

Well let’s listen ahead to find out. 

One day Nutty found that one of the acorns was missing and gave out a loud shriek that his acorn is not there.

“Mine is also missing,” shouted another one from behind the tree. Mummy calmed them down, “They might have fallen down to the ground. Go look for them”

Instantly, the two cousins flew down and looked all around the tree but could not find their acorns.

Unfortunately, the next day too some of the acorns were gone.

“For sure there is a thief!” announced one of the uncles.

Vexed with the situation the father said, “There has to be a way to find out who the trespassers are who are stealing from our granary. Let’s have a flock meeting right now.”

Everyone got together and started thinking about ways to find out who the thief was.

One of the aunts suggested, “Let us do aerial passes around the grove and catch the thief.”

Mummy recommended, “That’s a great idea. But let's distribute the work as we can neither afford to skip collecting the nuts nor can we skip guarding our granary.”

Uncle approved, “That’s right. Hence, some keep gathering the nuts, while the others keep a watch on our granary..”

“That's a great plan,” echoed the flock.

The next day, the woodpeckers were nervous but everyone went about carrying on with their respective duties.

Till noon, the guarding woodpeckers found nothing unusual, apart from the rustling of the leaves and the melodious music of the wind passing through the grove.

Suddenly, the guards saw some movement amongst the dry heap of leaves and they became alert.

They saw a tiny squirrel who looked here and there for any predators and then quickly climbed and reached the granary, She was about to get the acorn out when the guard woodpeckers shouted, “Hey! You thief squirrel, you should be ashamed of yourself for stealing our food. Go away at once. If you are seen anywhere around our granary, you'll have to face the consequences.”

The squirrel was taken aback, the words of the guarding woodpecker pinched her badly and she scurried away. That night she couldn't sleep as the words, “You thief squirrel” kept on resonating in her ears.

She thought, “I am not a thief!”

But then she realised that if we pick up something, that belongs to someone else without taking permission, that’s being a thief. She was devastated and vowed to rectify her mistake.

The next morning, she went looking for acorns and came back with them to the oak grove.

The guarding woodpeckers yelled out, “ We told you that you should not come close to our granary.”

The squirrel pleaded showing the acorns that she had brought, “I am so sorry. See, I have come to replace the nuts back in the hole. I promise never to steal again. Please don’t call me a thief.”

The woodpeckers were surprised by squirrel’s change of heart.

Nutty said pleasantly, “Thanks! That’s sweet of you. to replace our nuts.”

The others replied,“ We forgive you and won’t call you a thief.”

From that day, the squirrel worked hard and never stole anything.

And As for the woodpeckers, the flock was delighted that they could find the thief.

Since then, the acorn woodpeckers have always believed in: Team work makes dreams work.

This story is about a very lazy baby dragon. He learns a life lesson and changes for the better.

Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/originals-the-lazy-dragon.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

"Get up Slothy. Don't you want to join your siblings in learning how to breathe out fire?" said the mother dragon lovingly.

"Umm. Please mummy, let me just sleep in a little more. I know how to breathe out fire," muttered Slothy, the baby dragon. He turned the other way and snoozed again.

There were many things Slothy enjoyed doing.

First, Slothy loved to sleep.

Next, he loved to watch television.

There was yet another thing that he loved to do. He loved to play games on the mobile phone.

But what he did not enjoy was learning, from blowing out fire to building stamina to fly fast and far.

Slothy's parents encouraged and motivated him, but all in vain. Father used to try enticing him by doing dragon training at fun places. One day he called out, “Slothy, today we are all going to the top of the mountain. We’ll all blow out fire there. Come, join us.”

“Thanks, Dad, but I am feeling tired, would rather sleep and watch a show to relax myself.”

Mother added, “ You are a dragon and, a fire blowing dragon, you must practice it too!”

“I know all about being a dragon. Don’t worry mumma!” Slothy muttered watching his favourite Television show.

In short, we can say he was a couch potato.

One day, Slothy's mother coaxed him to get some fruits from the forest.

“I need some fruits as your uncle is coming over for dinner.”

Reluctantly, Slothy agreed and sluggishly walked over to the adjoining forest. The trees were dense and formed a beautiful canopy. The flowers were pretty spreading a lovely fragrance all around. The birds were chirping a sweet song and the earthy smell was refreshing. But none of these interested Slothy. He just wanted to get back to his TV shows.

Plodding through the forest, he arrived at a forest clearing. It was a campsite and some children were enjoying. Slothy stopped to look at them as they were singing songs around the campfire.

The ants go marching one by one , Hurrah-Hurrah!

The ants go marching one by one, Hurrah-Hurrah!

The ants go marching one by one,

The little one stopped to suck his thumb!!

And They all giggled

As the children stopped singing, one of the kids saw Slothy and exclaimed, "Wow, a dragon!"

"Hey, are you a real dragon?" asked the others.

Slothy proudly claimed, "Of course. I am a fire breathing dragon."

“Wow! That’s amazing,” one child yelled out a thrilling cry.

"We'll believe you when you blow out fire for us," dared one of the children, not believing Slothy.

"Here you go," said Slothy and puffed. But, what was that? He couldn't blow fire. He puffed yet again, but he still could not blow out fire.

The children jeered, "No, you are not a real dragon.”

"But see, I can fly." Slothy flapped his wings and lifted himself just a little above the ground. Plonk, he fell right down.

"Little dragon, don't fool us. Learn to blow fire and fly and then come back to us," they said teasingly.

All you lovely children listening out there, can you guess why Slothy couldn’t blow out fire?

Yes, Indeed that’s because he didn’t practice.

To learn something new we all need to practice, right?

Well, in our story so far, Slothy was a lazy baby dragon and didn’t want to learn anything. He only lazed around and watched TV or played video games.

He felt embarrassed when the children at the camp asked him to blow fire, but he could not!. 

He was sad. Tears rolling down his cheeks. He returned home and locked himself in his room.

That day he felt very humiliated. He decided that he would change and learn to be a real dragon. A real fire blowing, flying dragon. He would not be lazy and would stop watching television and playing games on the mobile phone.

He went to his father and said, “Dad, I would join my siblings in learning to blow fire, learning to fly fast and far, and whatever else you teach me! I want to be a real dragon”

“Dear son, I am very happy to hear that,” father said feeling elated.

From that day, Slothy diligently learnt all that his father taught. He practiced really hard. In the beginning, he couldn't blow fire, but his father reminded him -Practice makes one perfect. Sometimes Slothy made mistakes or failed at a task, but he did not give up and kept on trying. 

Slothy admitted to his mother, “All this is really exciting! I am becoming a real dragon!”

Proudly mother patted him on his shoulder.

One day mummy again sent Slothy to collect fruits from the forest. This time he was excited and immediately agreed. As he walked into the forest, he was fascinated by the trees that formed a beautiful canopy, was awestruck by the vibrant flowers, and was captivated by the birds chirping. He also found the earthy smell very refreshing

While collecting fruits for his family, Slothy reached the same campsite. This time there were two families there. They looked kind of upset.

Slothy went closer to see what the matter was. Looking at Slothy, a little girl yelled out "Look, a fire blowing dragon. He could help us!"

“Please come and help us dragon, we forgot to get our match sticks and therefore cannot cook our meal on the campfire.”

Children, can you guess how Slothy would help the campers?

Listen ahead ..

Slothy said that he could surely help them light the fire for he was the fire-blowing dragon. He mustered up his strength and puffed. There was a spark but not quite strong to start a fire.

Slothy remembered his father's teachings and took a moment to collect his thoughts before focusing again on the task., He puffed again and Lo and behold he blew a hot stream of fire on the logs and lit the campfire.

The little girl’s eyes sparkled. She and all the campers thanked Slothy. They were all delighted.

“Now we can roast our marshmallows!” the little girl jumped in joy.

Slothy, seeing them happy, was elated as well. Waving goodbye, he soared high in the sky.

Indeed, we have to practice if we want to learn something properly, Isn’t it?

The Escapades of Letter D is a story about Alphabet D finding out a secret about his toys and also teaches how everyone can play together.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources available at www.rituvaish.com/alphabet-escapades-letter-d.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

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 together!

Alphabet D was glad to see the toys having a good time. He had a smile on his face, but by now his eyes were heavy and he slowly trudged back to his room and went to sleep.

Hello Children! I am alphabet D. Hope you liked the story.

You know I make the sound /d/

Let’s see what all words in the story started with /d/

/d/ drawers

/d/ dinner and was it /d/ delicious?

/d/ doll. What was she wearing? Shimmering shining dress. And that is

/d/ dress

/d/ deer

/d/duck

/d/ dog, who was playing a

/d/ drum

/d/ doves

/d/ dance, and who came and disturbed the party?

/d/ dragon, and the lion came out of his

/d/ den

Join me in colouring and tons of fun activities by asking your parent or guardian to visit www.rituvaish.com. Once there, click on the D story! If you'd like us to display your artwork on our website, draw a picture of something that starts with alphabet D, colour it, and request a grown-up to send it to [email protected]. That's r-i-t-u-v-a-i-s-h at gmail.com.

Escapades of Letter C is a story of Alphabet C's positive attitude when faced with a difficult time while going to the circus.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources available at www.rituvaish.com/alphabet-escapades-letter-c.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Once a farmer lived on a big farm on the outskirts of the city with his wife and two children, Cocco and Camy. And there was alphabet C that stayed with them too. Camy, the younger of the two children carried Alphabet C everywhere.

The farmer often went to the city to get seeds, manure, and other things needed on the farm.

One day, when the farmer returned from one such trip to the city, he exclaimed, “There is a circus running in the city!”

Cocco and Camy were very excited. Mummy was milking the cow and when she returned, both the kids shouted in delight, “Mummy! May we please go to the circus? Please, please!”

“Sure! That will be fun,” answered mummy hugging the children.

Alphabet C, who was listening to all the excitement also wanted to go to the circus. He pleaded, “Please take me along to the circus!”

Mummy explained, “You are welcome Alphabet C, but you should stay close to us as a city is a huge place, and we do not want you to get lost.”

“Pinky promise! I will stay with Cocco and Camy all the time,” said one very excited alphabet C.

Let me ask a question to all you lovely children listening to the story out there: When you go to a new place, should you go far away from your parent or a grown-up? 

No, never! Is that a pinky promise?

Coming back to the story- Remember Camy and Cocco along with alphabet C were excited about going to the circus in the city.

Camy, who was only 5 years old asked sheepishly, “But what exactly is a circus?”

Mummy took Camy in her lap and explained, “Well, Circus has acrobats, clowns, and other performances, in a large tent. The rest you can find out when we go there!”

Children and Alphabet C waited impatiently waited for Sunday.

On Saturday, mummy asked everybody, “What snacks would you all like me to pack for the circus?”

Coco exclaimed, “Let’s take a chocolate cake!”

Camy added, “ I want my favourite carrots!”

“I think we should take some sandwiches and juice too as we might return late from the circus,” father said.

“And how did you children forget candy??”

“Yes! Yes! Please take that too,” the children said together.

The next day, Cocco and Camy wore nice clothes, combed their hair neatly, and were ready. In the excitement Camy forgot Alphabet C, who came rolling behind, “Please don’t leave me! Please don’t leave me!”

Camy Picked him and said, “I am really sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you behind!”

Mummy was ready with the snacks too.

They all sat in the car and were off to the city.

We are driving down the bumpy road,

the bumpy road

the bumpy road

We are driving down the bumpy road,

To the circus, it’ll lead!

They all were singing songs and rhymes when suddenly they heard a Boom!

All of them jumped in their seats because of that loud sound.

Father got down from the car and looking around the car he said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a flat tyre, I have a spare tyre and will fix it in 10 min.”

The children looked at their father with pride.

“My daddy is the best,” said Camy.

The farmer opened the trunk of the car to replace the tyre, but he realized he didn't have a spare tyre.

“I am so sorry; I forget to place the spare tyre!” father said very sadly.

The children had tears rolling down their cheeks, “Now we’ll have to wait another year to watch the circus,” said Cocco, sobbing.

“Crying doesn’t help dear Cocco, let’s think of some other ways to reach the circus,” said Alphabet C.

“That’s right,” said mumma.

“Shhh everybody be quiet, I hear something,” said alphabet C.

Just then they heard the chime of the bells and the clippety-clop, clippety-clop! Being on the farm they knew that it was the sound of a horse or listening carefully was it the sound of two horses galloping.

All of them looked in the direction of the sound and sure enough, there were two horses pulling a beautiful carriage.

The farmer waved to the coachman who immediately stopped.

Father explained that they were going to the city and had a flat tyre. Unfortunately, he forgot to keep the spare tyre.

The coachman said politely, “I can take you to the town. Please sit in the carriage.”

The farmer and his family couldn’t leave an offer like and thanking the coachman climbed onto the carriage.

Off they all went clippety-clop, clippety-clop!

The coachman asked on the way, “Where do you want to go in the city?”

“We are going to the circus!” Shrieked the children in excitement.

“Wow! What a coincidence, I work at the circus and would drop you right at the gate!”

“That’s awesome!” The two kids shouted clapping their hands.

As they approached the city children spotted colourful tents, “Is that where the circus is?”

“Indeed,” said the coachman.

Once they reached, they thanked the coachman.

Alphabet C whispered in Camy’s ear, “Please give carrots to the horses. I think they would love them.”

“That’s a great idea!” Camy said and took out some carrots from the basket and gave them to the horses, “Thank you very much for bringing us to the circus dear horses!”

With a big smile on their faces, they bought the tickets and some people dressed as caterpillars showed them their seats.

Soon the circus started with a clown wearing colourful outfit riding his cycle that had just one wheel.

“That’s called a unicycle!’ father told the children.

He had a cane in his hand and did funny tricks that made the whole audience roar out in laughter.

Then, there were the acrobats. The children were awestruck by their balancing acts.

Soon there was a short break. By now the children were hungry and they ate the cake and farmer bought them caramelized popped corn.

There were many other performances and the farmer's family had a great time at the circus. So did alphabet C.

When the circus finished, the farmer took a car mechanic who took them in his car and repaired the tyre.

They thanked the car mechanic.

“All is well that ends well!” exclaimed Alphabet C as they drove back to the farm.

Hello Children! I am alphabet C. Hope you liked the story.

You know I make two sounds: /k/ and /s/

I mostly make the sound /k/  as in /c/ car.   

But I also make the sound /s/ as in circus.

Let’s see what all words in the story started with the sound /c/.

Remember was mummy was milking? /c/ cow

And there were many other words

/c/ cake

/c/ carrot

/c/ candy

/c/ car

/c/ carriage

/c/ coachman

/c/ caterpillar

/c/ clown

And what kind of popcorn did the father get? /c/caramelized.

And do you remember the names of the children? Cocco and Camy

But sometimes I make the sound /s/ too

/s/ city

/s/ circus

Is that confusing?

Not at all if I tell you a rule:

When ‘c‘ comes directly before the letters ‘e‘, ‘i‘ or ‘y‘ we use the /s/ sound.

In other cases, we use a /k/ sound.

Simple!! Isn’t it?

Escapades of Letter B is a story of Alphabet B's adventure in a forest. He observes the daily routine of various animals and becomes especially fond of the baby bear.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources available at www.rituvaish.com/alphabet-escapades-letter-b.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

Alphabet B was very adventurous. He loved to travel to places near and far.

On one of his travels, he reached a beautiful forest. The forest was full of big and small trees, with fruits and flowers of many kinds and colours. He liked the forest so much that he decided to stay there for a few days.

Alphabet B quietly observed the daily routine of the animals there. He watched the squirrels, the baboons, the deer, the birds, the bees to just name a few.

Alphabet B was very fond of the bear family that lived in a cave towards the east of the forest, especially the baby bear. This cub was no ordinary baby bear. While all his friends and family roamed around in the jungle, looking for the honeycombs, fighting with the honeybees, eating the honey that the bees made, the baby bear had a different routine. 

Unlike the rest of the bears, the baby bear, would come out of the cave with his family but he trotted straight to his favourite banyan tree. He lay his precious belongings which were his books and the soap water that he loved to make bubbles with. Next, he would 

pluck a few banana leaves and lay them neatly under the banyan tree. Then he sat comfortably and started reading his books.

As soon as the baby bear’s friends saw him, they rushed towards the banyan tree. The baboons jumped from tree to tree to reach the banyan tree, the birds flew, the ants marched, the rabbits scurried, and the beetles flew to the banyan tree. Even the barn owl would get up from the middle of his sleep when the baby bear arrived at the banyan tree.

All the animals gathered around the banyan tree because they all loved when the baby bear read stories to them. Even the alphabet B would hide amongst the branches of the banyan tree and enjoy the stories that the baby bear read.

After reading the story for his friends, baby bear would blow bubbles some big and the others small. He loved to observe his friends play with the bubbles. The little birds would pop them with their tiny beaks, the baboons would push then with their hands, just like we push a ball. The ants would wriggle when bubbles would fall on them, and the beetles chased them till they popped. Well, the owls, needless to say went back to sleep. This happened every single day.

There was a gigantic beehive opposite the banyan tree. The bees were extremely curious. They wanted to know what was happening under the banyan tree every single day. One of them asked the other bee while cleaning the beehive, “Why do all the animals rush to meet the baby bear every day?”

The other bee replied, “I have no idea, but they all seem to enjoy their time together.”

One day, a group of beetles were rushing towards the banyan tree, as they had gotten late. When the beetles crossed the hive, they heard a bee shout out, “Hey

beetles! Why do you all go to the bear under the banyan tree? What's so special about him?”

One beetle stopped and shouted back, “0h! don’t you know he tells us very nice stories. Why don’t you come and join someday?

Bees were excited but scared at the same time. Excited as they also wanted to enjoy the story, Scared, as the bees and the bears had never been friends.

But still a few of the brave bees gathered their courage and followed the beetles. Scared of being shoed away, they approached the bear slowly. And To the bees’ surprise, the bear said, “Please don’t be afraid, you are welcomed to listen to the story.” All the beetles, bees, and other animals heard him in pin drop silence. The bees were enchanted not just by the story, but by the baby bear too for he was very gentle and kindhearted. They all thanked him and went back happily Now, every day even the bees joined the baby bear’s story telling sessions. Each following day the numbers kept on increasing.

One day, after the storytelling session, the bear was returning to his cave when he saw some nice blue coloured berries and he plucked them and tossed them into his mouth. “Umm these are delicious, wonder why no one eats them?” thought the baby bear, plucking a bunch of berries. But as soon as he ate them, he had such a terrible-terrible tummy ache, it was so acute that he lay on the ground shouting in pain. -Someone please help me…help me.

Well children, should the bear have eaten those berries, without knowing if they were safe or harmful? Yes, indeed. He did a big mistake eating the wild berries. You too should not try to eat anything you are not sure of.

In fact, those blue berries, which looked so delicious were not the good blue berries to be eaten.

The birds saw him in pain and fluttered their wings as fast as they could they told the baby bears parents, “Please come, baby bear is not well.”

Mummy and papa bear hurried to the place where baby bear lay. Mummy bear patted the baby bears hands and said, “Don’t worry, you will be ok soon.” The birds were circling around the baby bear and fanning him. But nothing that the mummy papa bear did, or the birds did help the baby bear. Alphabet B was really sad and prayed for the bear cub to become fine soon. The bees were busy as usual cleaning their hive but when they heard a lot of commotion, they rushed to see what had happened. Looking at the baby bear, the bees at once buzzed into action and took a big piece of hive with delicious honey dripping from it towards the baby bear. Seeing the bees, Papa bear shooed them, “Go away, please leave us alone as out baby is in a lot of pain.”

One of the bees politely said, “We are not here to trouble your baby bear, but to give him some honey that will help his stomach.”

Astonished the mummy bear, thanked the bees and took the honeycomb. She placed the piece of honeycomb oozing with honey in bear’s month. As he sucked into the hive, the honey worked like magic and in no time the baby bear was feeling better. Mumma and papa bear thanked the bees for helping. All the animals were delighted. d mummy and papa bear shouted, “Three cheers for the bees. All the animals echoed-Hip -hip -hurray, Hip -hip -hurray, Hip -hip -hurray!

Everyone left for their homes as it was getting dark.

Alphabet B smiled and was happy that the bear cub was healthy again. He decided it was time to travel again and slowly walked away from the forest for yet another adventure.

Escapades of Letter A is a story of Alphabet A's first day of school and his excitement to learn the sound he makes.

Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources available at rituvaish.com.

Send your artwork to [email protected].

Transcript

It was the day alphabet A had been waiting for; the day he would go to the school. He quickly got ready and was on his way. He was really excited about the school. He wanted to hear lots of stories and learn about the shapes, animals, plants and of course the sound that he makes.

On the way to school, he crossed a pond. There he met an alligator. The alligator was looking up at the tree beside the pond.

“What are you doing alligator?” asked alphabet A

“I am collecting all the apples that are falling down from this apple tree. Want to join me?”

“I would have loved to, but I have to go to school. They will tell me lots of stories and teach me about the different shapes, animals, plants ….and of course the sound that I make. 

Waving bye to the alligator, Alphabet A went ahead. 

He now met some ants.

“What are you doing ants?” asked letter A.

“We are carrying grains to our ant hill. Want to join us?”

“I would have loved to, but I have to go to school. They will tell me lots of stories and teach me about the different shapes, animals, plants ….and of course the sound that I make.

Waving bye to the ants he said, “Hope you collect lots of grains today!”

Jumping along, Alphabet A reached school.

School was fun. His teacher told a story during the circle time. Then they played with the blocks. After the snack time, the teacher took them to the playground. Alphabet A was really enjoying the school.

But he was most excited when the teacher taught the sound that alphabet A makes.

A says /a/.

A says /a/.

Letter A was delighted, He kept saying “A says /a/. A says /a/. A says /a/.”

Soon it was time to return home. Delighted, letter A thanked the teacher and waved bbye to all his new friends, “ Cu tomorrow friends!”

A was glad he learnt learn what sound he makes and kept singing to himself, “A says /a/. A says /a/.”

While he was returning, he met a wood cutter with an axe. Axe is like a big knife used for cutting trees.

As soon as he saw the axe, A shouted, “Axe starts with me. Yipee! A says /a/, Axe.”

He went ahead and met the ants again.

A asked ants, “So, how many grains did you collect?”

The ants kept marching and said ‘lots! We hope that you enjoyed your school.”

Then suddenly A exclaimed, “Wow! Ants, my dear friends, your name starts with the sound that I make! A says /a/ ants.”

Ants smiled and gave him a thumbs up to alphabet A.

A marched ahead. He met the alligator again as he was passing the pond.

“What did you do whole day alligator?”

“I made an apple pie with all the apples I collected!”

Suddenly, he realized he heard the sound he makes.

He exclaimed, “Wow! A says/a/, /a/ apple. That’s what you collected. Alligator your name starts with A. A says/a/, Alligator. Oh my god! I learnt so much at the school today.”

“I am glad you enjoyed school. Now run off home!” said the alligator.

Alphabet happily went home singing- A says /a/. A says /a/.