Family Friendly Short Story Writing Contest

JOEY'S BIG BLUE SKY 
Read along or listen to Joey's Big Blue Sky.




Joey the giraffe bounced out of bed, touched his

toes, and swiveled his neck.

He was ready ...

Ubby 


"Ubby," said Pat. "I'm starting school tomorrow and Mom said that I have to stop sucking my thumb." Pat hugged Ubby and put his thumb in his mouth....

Gwenevere, The Practically Perfect Princess. 



Princess Gwenevere was a perfect princess.

Well, almost.

Her hair was perfect, her poise was perfect and even her practicing of ...

The Great Inventor 
Long before Roald Dahl wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he was already creating amazing things. When he was nine years old, he climbed to the ...

The Most Beautiful Thing in the World 
Read along or listen to the 2nd place winning story of the 2011 short story writing contest.



"I am bored," announced the queen.

Her advisor ...

Think, Charlie 
“That’s a dumb idea.”

Charlie didn’t expect a five year old to have a good idea about how they were going to get their mother’s pearl necklace ...

BONFIRE NIGHT 
Deep in the hedges of the patchwork English countryside, Oscar Fieldmouse suddenly froze on his little straw bed. As another explosion filled his ...

Zoops' Hoops! 


It was a very special day in the land of
Zoops
All the children were lined up with their
Hula Hoops!
Bobby, Elana, Sammy and Heather
Too
...

The Walking Game 
Based on a true story.

Connie Jo was mad. Her bedroom was shrinking smaller and smaller. Her six brothers and sisters were growing huger and noisier....

The Antique Locket 


"Cool!"

"Awesome!"

What's going on, I wondered, as I hurried toward the lockers. A group of girls crowded around Dineen, admiring a locket that ...

Pedro's Magic Apples 
Read along or listen to a story about Pedro and his encounter with the Tarahumaras, who are a Native American Indian tribe that live in Mexico. Or listen ...

A Child of Light: Retelling of The Little Match Girl 
The weak winter sun slid past the horizon and with darkness came the bitter cold. Tiny flakes of snow fell from a heavy sky, touching the girl's cheeks....

The Porch Dog 
The sign reading “Welcome to Culpepper” flashed by the window.

Polly slumped deeper into the backseat as her father slowed the car and flicked on ...

A New Home 
Buzzzz!!! Buzzzz!! The chainsaw worked its way through another branch on the pine tree in my front yard. The lumberjack slid his harness farther ...

Birds in Battle 


When you hear the word ‘hero’ who do you think of? Perhaps Superman or Spiderman may come to mind? What about a pigeon? Did you ever think a bird ...

LIFE AS A PRINCESS 



Life as a princess
Would be very neat...
I could wear a pretty gold dress
And shiny slippers on my feet.

Life as a princess
Would ...

Nell and Boris 
“Nell,” said Mother Bear, “your father and I would like you to take Boris to the park today. The garage is a mess and we plan on cleaning it while ...

REBEL WITH FOUR PAWS 

The best friend a boy ever had was a yellow Lab named Rebel. He was my constant companion the summer I turned 12 years old. He ran alongside, ears ...

Fat Noodles 
Ivy Melissa LOVED spaghetti and she LOVED chocolate, too. Boy, did she love spaghetti and chocolate!

If she COULD, she’d eat them EVERYDAY.

The ...

Halloween Witch 
"Trick or treat!"

Silhouetted by the light of the tea-stained moon, I hovered like a black crow, circling down through the rooftops for a closer ...

Ten Cats in the Cupboard 


Ten-year-old Sasha Hopperdink lived in a house with ten cats.

Her mother, Mrs. Hopperdink, was allergic to cats and stayed as far away from them ...

Radish 
“Karen, please pull the weeds,” says Mom, handing me a trowel and pointing to some green stuff in the dirt. “But leave the radishes.”

She knows the ...

The Holy Terrors of Holy Week 

My children were always close to me. When they were very young, I was a stay at home Mom, so when something happened to prevent my being with them, the ...

My Beast and I 
Behold. A world of wonder this white winters eve. A boy and his dog and lightly laughing snow that falls along the way from home.
Wrapped in heavy ...

The Little Sniffing Toe Monster  
Long ago in a small country village called Giggles there was heard tale of a creature only small children could see.

The children of the village called ...

Case Cracked 
Detective Caleb Maxwell shoved the metal wastebasket away from the teacher's desk. There it was! The missing book. He bent down and picked it up. With ...

Mother Magic 
All over the world in mystical places,
magical madness was dawning.
For something extraordinary had occurred,
the Mother of Magic was snoring!

The ...

The Babies Are Hungry 
One cold winter night, Momma Bear was baking biscuits for her babies. She went into her pantry to find a can of chili. She found the can of chili ...

Mr. Sugarcoate 
It had been a year since Austin last saw Mr. Sugarcoate. He was the best crossing guard our elementary school had to offer. He really missed him. The ...

Ten Wonders of the Sundarbans 



One hungry tiger hunting down his prey;


Two pink dolphins swimming in a bay.


Three giant turtles burying eggs in the sand;


Four wild ...

The Disappearing Martins 
When Grandma left for Heaven, the martins went with her. At least that’s what everyone said. Sophie was skeptical.

“Birds don’t go to Heaven like ...

MY MAGICAL MAUI 
Read along or listen to My Magical Maui, a short story that takes place off a little beach in Maui.




What I am about to tell you happened ...

My Grandma and Grampa 

When I moved in to my new house, I unpacked the framed photos and found the one of my grandparents on their wedding day. It reminded me of the last ...

Butterflies are Free 
Read along or listen to the story, Butterflies are Free.




“I’m home,” 8-year-old Armida called out, closing the front door. “Mama, look at ...

Playing Second Fiddle 
"Does this look familiar?" Maya shoved a piece of paper into my face as I sat down to eat lunch.

My heart pounded when I recognized my own handwriting....

Morgely the Elf 
Morgely was the tiniest elf in her forest glen. She had fine blond hair like spider silk and large blue eyes.

Morgely lived with her uncle in a large ...

The Readalouds 
The Readalouds were a family of eight. They had a problem, they loved to read together, out loud, in the same room, at the same time. It was so noisy, none ...

Best Friend 
Ten minutes to twelve. Edward kept on glancing at his watch nervously. Fifteen years had passed since that day, yet every moment was crystal clear. He ...

Animals Don't Have to Eat Broccoli 
Animals don't have to eat broccoli.
Animals don't have to get dressed.
Animals don't have to tidy up
after they make a mess!

Animals don't have a ...

Grubby Gabby 
On a very nice street, stood a very nice house,
always remarkably clean.
In this house lived a family who worked very hard,
to keep their home pristine....

Cats Do Go To Heaven 
I stood behind my friend's garage biting my nails in anticipation of my mother's wail, "Susan, stop hiding behind that garage and get to school." How ...

Emily's Brush with History 
Emily yawned loudly and pointedly as her Great-grandma Dorrie launched into the story of her trip to Egypt and the pharaoh's tomb. She had told the same ...

OLD ENOUGH FOR ONIONS 



Five-year-old Tim liked playing in his shady fort. He liked riding his new speedy two-wheeler. He really liked to dig for squiggly wiggly ...

The Baker's Daughter and the Little Man 
There once was a poor baker who had a lovely daughter. They lived in the seaside town of Sorrento. The king ...

Leopold the Lion-Hearted 
Josie had always been afraid of the old house. It smelled of decay and mold. She imagined ghosts lurking in its shadows, keeping company with large rats ...

An Inspirational Baseball Story: Oliver Rides the Bus 

Oliver tried to focus on the geography of Peru, but kept thinking about well-hit doubles, strikeouts and close plays.

Mrs. Franzen's voice filtered ...

Happy 
"You can't sit there. It's my seat." The little white boy stuck his finger out at me and made a face that looked like he was eating dirt. He was only ...

It Was A Foxy Day  Not rated yet
To say 'it was a hot day' wouldn't be right. All summer days are hot, aren't they? It wasn't the day that was hot, when we saw the fox. It was everything ...

Bruce and Denny’s Saint Patrick’s Morn  Not rated yet

It had been a soft night when the dew hung heavy and the sun painted a rainbow on the horizon. As the first rays of sunlight brushed the gnarled branches ...

Something About Tess  Not rated yet
Mr. Kline said he wasn’t a bit surprised she’d won the creative writing contest. He beamed. “Congratulations, Tess. You’ve worked very hard.”

“Thank ...

Two Brother Bears, Two Blueberry Pies  Not rated yet
Once upon a time, there were two little bears, which lived in a bear den.

The two little bears with their two shinny pails, went into the woods ...

A Stone's Throw  Not rated yet

That’s my dad.
And he’s not glad.
He’s a computer geek
Not an athlete.

Wants to try to play with me
And can actually toss a ball
But would rather ...

Emergency  Not rated yet
Fourteen-year-old Sarah knew something was wrong as soon as she waved goodby to her mom and stepped into the barn. The horses were moving in their ...

BILLY'S CONFLICT  Not rated yet
Billy was a nine year old robust child, with dark brown hair and a few freckles, loved his life, his friends and football. He enjoyed all types of adventures ...

Wiggle wiggle Scratch scratch Itch itch itch  Not rated yet
Comet is a peculiar fish. He’s itchy. He comes from an unusual family of itchers. Together they live in a strange pond with other uncommon fish.

Every ...

THE TALKING TURTLE  Not rated yet
‎Little Rupert woke up early and jumped out of bed. He wanted to get going and ‎enjoy the day ahead. It was Saturday he had plans to go ...

A Christmas Gift  Not rated yet
On a cold December day in Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 2009, Jennifer was at home in bed. Michael, her devoted husband, was by her side. Jennifer had ...