The First Strawberries

The First Strawberries
If you like sweet love stories, you will love this tale of the Cherokee Indians. The first man and the first woman quarrel, and the sun reunites them with a very special gift. Perhaps the relationship in this story shows that some things never change.
Natasha dedicates this story to Zed, Matthew, Bugsy and their families in California, and thanks them for their kindness and hospitality while she was in LA for the National Story Telling Conference.
Read by Natasha. Text adaptation by Bertie. Duration 5.18.



At the dawn of time, the first man and the first woman set up their home together by the side of a great broad river. They had everything they needed for a blissful life, fruit, and berries, meat and fish, plenty of wood, and fresh water, and of course, each other. They lived as happily as any man and woman have ever lived together, until they began to quarrel.
First it was the small things, like why didn’t you cook this, and why didn’t you tidy that. But then the insults, and a few wooden plates and bowls, began to fly.
The first woman was so upset that she decided to leave the first man. At the break of day, while he was still asleep, she set off down the valley, heading towards the rising sun. She walked and walked, always looking straight ahead of her, and not once turning back.
When the first man woke up and saw that she was gone, he waited for her to come back. She did not come back. He found her tracks along the valley, but she had a long head start on him, and she did not stop or look round.
The sun was now high in the great blue sky. It looked down upon the first man, as he followed after the first woman, and it saw that there was sadness on the face of an otherwise pristine and perfect world.
And the sun asked the man if he was still angry with his wife.
He said that he was not angry with her.
The sun asked if he would like to have her back.
He said that he would like to have her back.
And the sun took pity on the first man, and decided to help him. His gentle rays touched the ground along the woman’s path, and a huckleberry bush sprang up. Its fruit was shiny and enticing, but as she passed her eyes remained fixed on the distance, and she did not see the berries.
And so the sun shone again on the ground up ahead of the woman. And he caused a clump of blackberries to grow up beside her path. She refused to even glance at them.
And then the sun thought that he must create something entirely new, something so vivid, fragrant, and delicious, that even the first woman would not fail to take notice of them in her resolute and unhappy mood.
And so he blessed the ground again with his rays, and the first patch of strawberries spread over the ground. Their sweet scent filled the woman’s senses, and her mood became lighter. She began to look around her and she saw the bright red fruit hiding beneath he leaves. It looked so enticing that she picked one and tried it. She tasted the strawberry on her tongue, and she began to remember the happiness she knew when she first set up home with her husband. She found she no longer felt the pressing desire to leave him. She sat down on the ground and wondered what she must do. And then at last the first woman stood up and started to walk once again, to the West, and back to the first man.
And that was the story of the First Strawberries, and of course, of the first man and woman. It’s funny how so little changes.


the source
http://storynory.com/2010/09/21/the-first-strawberries/

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Brothers Grimm
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
There was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters. They slept in twelve beds all in one room and when they went to bed, the doors were shut and locked up. However, every morning their shoes were found to be quite worn through as if they had been danced in all night. Nobody could find out how it happened, or where the princesses had been.


     So the king made it known to all the land that if any person could discover the secret and find out where it was that the princesses danced in the night, he would have the one he liked best to take as his wife, and would be king after his death. But whoever tried and did not succeed, after three days and nights, they would be put to death.
     A king's son soon came. He was well entertained, and in the evening was taken to the chamber next to the one where the princesses lay in their twelve beds. There he was to sit and watch where they went to dance; and, in order that nothing could happen without him hearing it, the door of his chamber was left open. But the king's son soon fell asleep; and when he awoke in the morning he found that the princesses had all been dancing, for the soles of their shoes were full of holes.
     The same thing happened the second and third night and so the king ordered his head to be cut off.
     After him came several others; but they all had the same luck, and all lost their lives in the same way.
     Now it happened that an old soldier, who had been wounded in battle and could fight no longer, passed through the country where this king reigned, and as he was travelling through a wood, he met an old woman, who asked him where he was going.
     'I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better do,' said the soldier; 'but I think I would like to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then in time I might be a king.'
     'Well,' said the old woman, 'that is not a very hard task: only take care not to drink any of the wine which one of the princesses will bring to you in the evening; and as soon as she leaves you pretend to be fast asleep.'
     Then she gave him a cloak, and said, 'As soon as you put that on you will become invisible, and you will then be able to follow the princesses wherever they go.' When the soldier heard all this good advice, he was determined to try his luck, so he went to the king, and said he was willing to undertake the task.
     He was as well received as the others had been, and the king ordered fine royal robes to be given him; and when the evening came he was led to the outer chamber.
     Just as he was going to lie down, the eldest of the princesses brought him a cup of wine; but the soldier threw it all away secretly, taking care not to drink a drop. Then he laid himself down on his bed, and in a little while began to snore very loudly as if he was fast asleep.
     When the twelve princesses heard this they laughed heartily; and the eldest said, 'This fellow too might have done a wiser thing than lose his life in this way!' Then they rose and opened their drawers and boxes, and took out all their fine clothes, and dressed themselves at the mirror, and skipped about as if they were eager to begin dancing.
     But the youngest said, 'I don't know why it is, but while you are so happy I feel very uneasy; I am sure some mischance will befall us.'
     'You simpleton,' said the eldest, 'you are always afraid; have you forgotten how many kings' sons have already watched in vain? And as for this soldier, even if I had not given him his sleeping draught, he would have slept soundly enough.'
     When they were all ready, they went and looked at the soldier; but he snored on, and did not stir hand or foot: so they thought they were quite safe.
     Then the eldest went up to her own bed and clapped her hands, and the bed sank into the floor and a trap-door flew open. The soldier saw them going down through the trap-door one after another, the eldest leading the way; and thinking he had no time to lose, he jumped up, put on the cloak which the old woman had given him, and followed them.
     However, in the middle of the stairs he trod on the gown of the youngest princess, and she cried out to her sisters, 'All is not right; someone took hold of my gown.'
     'You silly creature!' said the eldest, 'it is nothing but a nail in the wall.'
     Down they all went, and at the bottom they found themselves in a most delightful grove of trees; and the leaves were all of silver, and glittered and sparkled beautifully. The soldier wished to take away some token of the place; so he broke off a little branch, and there came a loud noise from the tree. Then the youngest daughter said again, 'I am sure all is not right -- did not you hear that noise? That never happened before.'
     But the eldest said, 'It is only our princes, who are shouting for joy at our approach.'
     They came to another grove of trees, where all the leaves were of gold; and afterwards to a third, where the leaves were all glittering diamonds. And the soldier broke a branch from each; and every time there was a loud noise, which made the youngest sister tremble with fear. But the eldest still said it was only the princes, who were crying for joy.
     They went on till they came to a great lake; and at the side of the lake there lay twelve little boats with twelve handsome princes in them, who seemed to be waiting there for the princesses.
     One of the princesses went into each boat, and the soldier stepped into the same boat as the youngest. As they were rowing over the lake, the prince who was in the boat with the youngest princess and the soldier said, 'I do not know why it is, but though I am rowing with all my might we do not get on so fast as usual, and I am quite tired: the boat seems very heavy today.'
     'It is only the heat of the weather,' said the princess, 'I am very warm, too.'
     On the other side of the lake stood a fine, illuminated castle from which came the merry music of horns and trumpets. There they all landed, and went into the castle, and each prince danced with his princess; and the soldier, who was still invisible, danced with them too. When any of the princesses had a cup of wine set by her, he drank it all up, so that when she put the cup to her mouth it was empty. At this, too, the youngest sister was terribly frightened, but the eldest always silenced her.
     They danced on till three o'clock in the morning, and then all their shoes were worn out, so that they were obliged to leave. The princes rowed them back again over the lake (but this time the soldier placed himself in the boat with the eldest princess); and on the opposite shore they took leave of each other, the princesses promising to come again the next night.
     When they came to the stairs, the soldier ran on before the princesses, and laid himself down. And as the twelve, tired sisters slowly came up, they heard him snoring in his bed and they said, 'Now all is quite safe'. Then they undressed themselves, put away their fine clothes, pulled off their shoes, and went to bed.
     In the morning the soldier said nothing about what had happened, but determined to see more of this strange adventure, and went again on the second and third nights. Everything happened just as before: the princesses danced till their shoes were worn to pieces, and then returned home. On the third night the soldier carried away one of the golden cups as a token of where he had been.
     As soon as the time came when he was to declare the secret, he was taken before the king with the three branches and the golden cup; and the twelve princesses stood listening behind the door to hear what he would say.
     The king asked him. 'Where do my twelve daughters dance at night?'
     The soldier answered, 'With twelve princes in a castle underground.' And then he told the king all that had happened, and showed him the three branches and the golden cup which he had brought with him.
     The king called for the princesses, and asked them whether what the soldier said was true and when they saw that they were discovered, and that it was of no use to deny what had happened, they confessed it all.
     So the king asked the soldier which of the princesses he would choose for his wife; and he answered, 'I am not very young, so I will have the eldest.' -- and they were married that very day, and the soldier was chosen to be the king's heir.
 the end
Source
 http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TwelDanc.shtml

First Day of School Dress Up


Game Description
This cute little girl will go to school today for the first time in her life. It is a very important moment for her and she wants to look really cute for the first day of school. Help her prepare and give her a cute new look by dressing her up as nice as you can. Check out the school clothes available, make her try on some outfits and pick up the one you like best to dress the little girl up. Change her haircut and don't forget she also needs a school bag. Enjoy!

The great palace of lies

Once upon a time all the spirits set about building two palaces; a palace of truth, and a palace of lies. Every time a child told the truth, a brick was created for the palace of truth. The spirits of truth would then take it and add it to the growing walls.
In just the same way was the palace of lies built. Each brick was created when a child told a lie. Both palaces were impressive - the best in the world - and each group of spirits worked hard to try to make sure that their own palace

Chocolate Tears

Camilla Chomp was a very greedy, gluttonous little girl. She hardly had any friends because she thought it was much more fun to spend her time alone, eating cake and pudding. Her parents were worried, so they took all the sweet food in the house and hid it.
So Camilla left the house, desperately looking for something sweet to eat. On she went, until she ended up in a small abandoned hut full of old pots and glasses of all shapes and sizes. Out of all of them, the one that most caught Camilla's attention was a shiny little bottle made of gold-coloured glass. It seemed to be full of chocolate, and Camilla took a quick swig. It was delicious, but she felt a strange tickling sensation, so she read the label. "Glass Tears", it said, and in small print it explained: "Magically converts tears into chocolate."
Wow, was Camilla excited! She ran everywhere looking for someone who was crying, and she came upon a little girl who was weeping disconsolately. Sure enough, her tears were converted into chocolate, and as they ran down her cheeks, to her mouth, they sweetened her lips. That soon stopped her crying. Camilla and the girl spent a fun time together, tasting the delicious tears, and they parted as friends.
Something similar happened with a woman who had dropped some plates, and with an old man who couldn't find his walking stick. The appearance of Camilla and the chocolate tears cheered up those sad faces, helping them smile once again.
Soon Camilla realised that cheering people up was much more valuable even than chocolate. Her mad search for sweet food stopped, and her search became one for sad people who she could try to help.
And from those sweet encounters came a mountain of friends that filled her life with meaning and happiness.

The Experiments of Miss Ellis

That weekend Miss Ellis handed out another of her famous experiment assignments. Her pupils loved that form of teaching, in which they themselves had to think up experiments that would aid in understanding. Many had to do with science, chemistry, but others - the most famous experiments - had to do with people and their behaviour. And on that occasion the subject was really difficult: freedom. How can one conduct an experiment on freedom? What could you show about freedom through experiments?    

Jemima the Nosey Giraffe

In Chipper Jungle, everything was peaceful and happy until Jemima turned up. Jemima was an extremely tall giraffe, with a long bendy neck like some rubber plant. She got on everyone's nerves because she was just the nosiest and most gossipy animal anyone had ever known. What made it worse was that, thanks to her height and her long, bendy neck, there was no den or nest beyond her reach. There she'd be, always sticking her head in.
She observed everything, and made sure everyone knew what was going on. This annoyed so many animals that they had a meeting and decided to teach her a lesson.
At that time Big Bongo, the most important of all the monkeys, decided to move to an old abandoned den, and he did the place up until it was the cosiest home in the whole jungle. Jemima couldn't help her curiosity, and one night she tiptoed over there and approached the bedroom window. The window was open and she stuck her head inside. She was just on time to see Big Bongo leaving the bedroom. So, Jemima pushed her neck further in so that she could follow him to the next room. It was dark inside and she couldn't see very well, but she followed him down a corridor, and then into another bedroom, and then another...
Until at last Jemima couldn't follow him any more. She had run out of neck. Big Bongo had ran all around his house, and now Jemima's neck was in one enormous tangle.
Then all the other animals, who were in on the trick, came over to the house to let Jemima know what they thought of her irritating nosiness. She felt so embarrassed that she decided from then on that she would use her long neck for more constructive tasks than poking into the lives of others.

Boobuan monkeys

There once was a strange jungle full of boobuan monkeys. Boobuans were some monkeys with long arms and short legs, who spent all the time to adorn their arms and brightly colored bracelets. They were often visited by Mambo the macaque, carrying his cart full of bracelets and rare things. In one of his visits, appeared with incredible enormous and shiny bracelets, the most beautiful he had ever taken. And also the most expensive, because never before the price had been so high.
All boobuans but the cautios Nico, ran around to get enough bananas to pay for thier bracelets. Being so expensive, they had to be the best ones.
But Nico, who was keeping bananas if ever required in the future, and that often doubted whether all those bracelets serve for something, he thought they were too expensive. But as he did not want to miss the visit of Mambo, looked among its rare things for something interesting, finding a box full of strange twists irons. "They are useless, Nico," the seller told Nico, "you can keep them for a couple bananas."
Thus, Mambo was having sold their bracelets, leaving boobuans happy and smiling. But soon they began to realize that applied those bracelets, so broad and elongated, left no move either arm, and was a real challenge to do what is most important thing in the life of a boobuan: taking bananas. They tried taking off the bracelets, but could not. And then it turned out that everyone wanted bananas from Nico, which were the only ones across the jungle that were not in the trees. Thus, overnight, Nico became the richest and most respected boobuan in the jungle.
But there was not the thing. That box of rare twisted irons Nico found as interesting and cheap, proved to be a toolbox, and when Nico discovered its many utilities, not only was able to release other bubuans of those stupid bracelets, but they found plenty of ways to use them to achieve amazing things.
And that was how, thanks to the wisdom of Nico, boobuans realized that the price of things has nothing to do with its actual value, and that getting carried away by the fads and other messages of the sellers is a sure way to end up with problems.

nice story

Once, on the African plains, there lived a moody rhino who was very easily angered. One day, a giant turtle entered the rhino's territory unaware. The rhino quickly ran over to the turtle, with the intention of getting rid of it. The turtle was frightened and withdrew into its shell.
When the rhino demanded that the turtle get out of his territory, there was no discernible movement. The rhino was incredibly annoyed; he thought the turtle was fooling him. So he started banging the shell to make the turtle come out. No success, and his blows got increasingly violent. He whacked it with his horn, sending the poor turtle flying in all directions. From a distance, it looked a bit like a solitary game of football, with the turtle as the ball.
Quite an amusing spectacle, it was, and a load of monkeys soon gathered close by to enjoy it. They laughed non-stop at the angry rhino and his struggle with the turtle.
The rhino was so furious that he didn't even notice that they were there. On he went, until he had to stop for a second to get his breath.
Now that he wasn't bashing the shell, he could hear the laughing and joking of the monkeys, who were making fun of him in every way you can imagine.
Neither the rhino, nor the turtle - who had appeared from his shell -, enjoyed the fact that a gang of monkeys was mocking them.
So, they exchanged a knowing look, nodded, and the turtle went back inside his shell. This time the rhino very quietly retreated a few steps, looked at the turtle, looked at the monkeys, took a run up, and shot the giant turtle, with such a good aim, that it seemed like he was using the monkeys as skittles.
The 'strike' against the monkeys turned that place into something of a casualty ward for baboons. There they all lay, covered in cuts and bruises, and not even a smirk crossed their lips. Meanwhile, off went the rhino and the turtle, smiling like old friends... and while the monkeys were putting on their sticking plasters, their chief realised it was about time they found a better way to amuse themselves than making fun of others.
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have nice day

Mr Sticky

Mo McAuley  
Mr Sticky
No one knew how Mr. Sticky got in the fish tank.
     "He's very small," Mum said as she peered at the tiny water snail. "Just a black dot."
     "He'll grow," said Abby and pulled her pyjama bottoms up again before she got into bed. They were always falling down.
 
In the morning Abby jumped out of bed and switched on the light in her fish tank.
     Gerry, the fat orange goldfish, was dozing inside the stone archway. Jaws was already awake, swimming along the front of the tank with his white tail floating and twitching. It took Abby a while to find Mr. Sticky because he was clinging to the glass near the bottom, right next to the gravel.
     At school that day she wrote about the mysterious Mr. Sticky who was so small you could mistake him for a piece of gravel. Some of the girls in her class said he seemed an ideal pet for her and kept giggling about it.
     That night Abby turned on the light to find Mr. Sticky clinging to the very tiniest, waviest tip of the pond weed. It was near the water filter so he was bobbing about in the air bubbles.
     "That looks fun," Abby said. She tried to imagine what it must be like to have to hang on to things all day and decided it was probably very tiring. She fed the fish then lay on her bed and watched them chase each other round and round the archway. When they stopped Gerry began nibbling at the pond weed with his big pouty lips. He sucked Mr. Sticky into his mouth then blew him back out again in a stream of water. The snail floated down to the bottom of the tank among the coloured gravel.
 
"I think he's grown a bit," Abby told her Mum at breakfast the next day.
<  2  >
     "Just as well if he's going to be gobbled up like that," her Mum said, trying to put on her coat and eat toast at the same time.
     "But I don't want him to get too big or he won't be cute anymore. Small things are cute aren't they?"
     "Yes they are. But big things can be cute too. Now hurry up, I'm going to miss my train."
 
At school that day, Abby drew an elephant. She needed two pieces of expensive paper to do both ends but the teacher didn't mind because she was pleased with the drawing and wanted it on the wall. They sellotaped them together, right across the elephant's middle. In the corner of the picture, Abby wrote her full name, Abigail, and drew tiny snails for the dots on the 'i's The teacher said that was very creative.
     At the weekend they cleaned out the tank. "There's a lot of algae on the sides," Mum said. "I'm not sure Mr. Sticky's quite up to the job yet."
     They scooped the fish out and put them in a bowl while they emptied some of the water. Mr. Sticky stayed out of the way, clinging to the glass while Mum used the special 'vacuum cleaner' to clean the gravel. Abby trimmed the new pieces of pond weed down to size and scrubbed the archway and the filter tube. Mum poured new water into the tank.
     "Where's Mr. Sticky?" Abby asked.
     "On the side," Mum said. She was busy concentrating on the water. "Don't worry I was careful."
     Abby looked on all sides of the tank. There was no sign of the water snail.
     "He's probably in the gravel then," her mum said. "Come on let's get this finished. I've got work to do." She plopped the fish back in the clean water where they swam round and round, looking puzzled.
<  3  >
That evening Abby went up to her bedroom to check the tank. The water had settled and looked lovely and clear but there was no sign of Mr. Sticky. She lay on her bed and did some exercises, stretching out her legs and feet and pointing her toes. Stretching was good for your muscles and made you look tall a model had said on the t.v. and she looked enormous. When Abby had finished, she kneeled down to have another look in the tank but there was still no sign of Mr. Sticky. She went downstairs.
 
Her mum was in the study surrounded by papers. She had her glasses on and her hair was all over the place where she'd been running her hands through it. She looked impatient when she saw Abby in the doorway and even more impatient when she heard the bad news.
     "He'll turn up." was all she said. "Now off to bed Abby. I've got masses of work to catch up on."
     Abby felt her face go hot and red. It always happened when she was angry or upset.
     "You've hoovered him up haven't you," she said. You were in such a rush you hoovered him up."
     "I have not. I was very careful. But he is extremely small."
     "What's wrong with being small?"
     "Nothing at all. But it makes things hard to find."
     "Or notice," Abby said and ran from the room.
 
The door to the bedroom opened and Mum's face appeared around the crack. Abby tried to ignore her but it was hard when she walked over to the bed and sat next to her. She was holding her glasses in her hand. She waved them at Abby.
     "These are my new pair," she said. "Extra powerful, for snail hunting." She smiled at Abby. Abby tried not to smile back.
<  4  >
     "And I've got a magnifying glass," Abby suddenly remembered and rushed off to find it.
     They sat beside each other on the floor. On their knees they shuffled around the tank, peering into the corners among the big pebbles, at the gravel and the pondweed.
     "Ah ha!" Mum suddenly cried.
     "What?" Abby moved her magnifying glass to where her mum was pointing.
     There, tucked in the curve of the archway, perfectly hidden against the dark stone, sat Mr. Sticky. And right next to him was another water snail, even smaller than him.
     "Mrs Sticky!" Abby breathed. "But where did she come from?"
     "I'm beginning to suspect the pond weed don't you think?"
     They both laughed and climbed into Abby's bed together, cuddling down under the duvet. It was cozy but a bit of a squeeze.
     "Budge up," Mum said, giving Abby a push with her bottom.
     "I can't, I'm already on the edge."
     "My goodness you've grown then. When did that happen? You could have put an elephant in here last time we did this."
     Abby put her head on her mum's chest and smiled.

Small Good Wolf

Wolf-in-the-BoxSmall Good Wolf    


I am Small Good Wolf, the grandson of Big Bad Wolf. It was Christmas and I wanted to organise a costume party. I dressed up as a lion ...

Lion Walking ... to scare my friends ... Small Cute Pig, Small Gentle Pig and Small Kind Pig ... because their grandfathers boiled my granddad! I set off for the three little pigs' house, roaring all the way.

The pigs heard my roar and thought I was a real lion. They took out their blowpipes, loaded them with darts and stormed out of their house. When I saw their blowpipes I hid among some bushes.

Though I wanted to take revenge on them, I also wanted to live up to my name. I was supposed to be a good wolf. So I decided to forget the ugly past and continue to be the pigs' friend. I took off the lion skin then I invited them to my costume party. We had a wonderful time playing together.
Pig-in-the-Box Pig-in-the-Box Pig-in-the-Box

The Star Girls - The New Generation

the Star Girls, fun loving characters from Planet Groove. Full of life colour and special powers.
Music for all the family to enjoy.

  • Music
  • Love to Dance
  • Sing
  • Zoom Zoom
Pop music with educational values, offering a cross between BRITNEY SPEARS and THE WIGGLES.
The Star Girls come from Planet Groove and feature CHEEKY STAR, DREAM STAR, SMILEY STAR and ANGEL STAR.
``Planet Groove is right behind the moon
``It's pretty similar to Earth but there are certain differences.
For instance, there are fewer inhabitants and the colours are much more intense.
``We get around in Rocket Buggies and travel through the galaxy in our Star Ship.
``Planet Groove is definitely a beautiful and fun planet, but then again, so is Earth!'' Each character promotes friendship and self-esteem as well as educational values.
The group made history when it became the first children's pop act to sign to ZOMBA RECORDS , the world's largest independent record label, which is also home to Britney Spears and N*SYNC .
'' The Star Girls released the debut album The Star Girls From Planet Groove in April 2002.
It received three ARIA award nominations for best children's album, best single and best music video.
The video for the single Girls Like Me was also a big hit and remained in the VIDEO HITS Top 10 chart for a record 16 weeks.

Cheeky Star believes the reason for the The Star Girls popularity is because they make children feel good about themselves.
We want to get the message out to kids that everybody is different and that they should dream and believe in themselves.