Picture Book Stories Series

Annie's Pram Little Jane has a doll called Annie. She desperately wants a pram for Annie but cannot afford one. One day, while playing in the park Jane finds a man's wallet lying on the pathway. She takes it to her mother who takes her and the wallet to a policeman. How can finding the wallet help Jane get a pram for Annie? A fun read written in reverse chronology and with a simple message. Hunting for Honey It had been a great year for the bees and they had made so much honey that they had to store it in large honey pots outside their hives. Barney the bear had his own car and his own airplane and hunted for honey by flying over the forest searching for bee's hives. When he found one he would fly back to the other bears, tell them where the hive was and race away on his own to the hive in his little car. The other bears would follow on foot and eat whatever honey Barney had left for them after eating his fill. One day Barney falls into a large honey pot and seems likely to drown. Can the other bears reach him before he comes to a sticky end? A fun read with a simple message. Matt the Cat's Hats Matt the cat has some money to spare and decides to buy himself a hat. He visits a shop that sells hats and tries on the various hats, imagining himself as being the character that each hat represents, but eventually he settles for the ubiquitous hat that suites him. A fun read with a simple message. Simon and the Sea Monster Simon's family is exasperated by his laziness. He spends all his time lying beside the hearth in their house dreaming of the brave exploits that he will carry out and that will make him a hero. The villagers ridicule Simon and his stories. One day they see the dreaded Sea Monster on the horizon and know that it will attack and destroy the village and its inhabitants the following day. Early the next morning Simon sets out in his little boat with a pot containing two glowing coals from the hearth. Simon knows that the Sea Monster will yawn as soon as it wakes up. He sails close to the monster's mouth and when the creature wakes up and yawns, Simon's boat is drawn into the monster's mouth by the flow of water and down its throat. Can Simon defeat the Sea Monster and save his people? An Irish myth. Nobody's Watching While fishing in the sea, Themba Gwagwa catches the biggest Shad he has ever seen but he doesn't have a permit to catch Shad. His father tells him to release the big fish back into the sea. Themba protests saying that nobody has seen him catch the big Shad. His dad explains the concept of integrity to him and eventually Themba frees the fish. Two weeks later, while walking home from school, Themba finds a valuable brooch in the gutter and is tempted to keep the item, sell it and buy a new fishing rod. Then he remembers his dad explaining the meaning of integrity to him. Will Themba follow his father's advice? A fun read with a simple message.

Basil's 4 X 4 Hunting for honey is hard work so Basil the bear buys a 4 X 4 and after he has learnt to drive it he uses it to hunt for honey. When the 4 X 4 breaks down Basil follows his trail back home. On the way he sees how destructive he has been by driving carelessly over the countryside. He sees the shrubs and flowers that his 4 X 4 destroyed, the beautiful butterfly that he ran over, the anthill that he broke, the bird's nest that he upset and all the small animals that he frightened. From what he sees Basil learns an important lesson. A fun read with a simple message. I'm Taller Than You Jash's parents hoped that one day he would be the most famous person in India but Jash believed that he was too short to be famous. One day, while walking in the jungle Jash meets a dwarf called Rohan which means "ascending" and who claims to be able to make short people taller. Jash asks Rohan to make his as tall as his friends but, not satisfied with his new height, Jash  then asks Rohan to make him the tallest person in the whole village. Although being so tall brings fame to Jash it also brings trouble but Rohan can only make short people taller and can's make tall people shorter. Although Jash has achieved fame, he finds that he has many problems with being so tall. A fun story with a simple message. Nine-One-One Michael Dobson is only three years old when his mother falls in the kitchen and knocks herself out. With nobody else at home Michael has to find help for his mother. He crosses the road to his grandad's house but the old man isn't at home. He returns to his home and remembers his dad telling him about the emergency number nine-one-one. But Michael doesn't know what a "nine" is as he can only count to three. Can Michael solve the problem and save his mother? A fun read with a simple message. Sound Words When I was a small boy learning to read, my mother and I had great fun trying to spell sounds. We all know that birds tweet and bees buzz but how does one spell those sounds? The spellings of sounds don't appear in dictionaries. They are unique sounds and can vary greatly. This is what makes them so amusing. Trying to spell sounds also develops a child's imagination and creates the opportunity to identify vowels and consonants and their real sounds. The sounds that we hear daily are endless and create opportunities to develop a habit of spelling things that will be very helpful in the process of learning to read. Jimmy's Feet Little Eddy has much to learn about the intricacies of the English language. He hears his mother talking on the telephone and using the well known idiom 'finding one's feet' with reference to his older brother Jimmy. Eddy assumes that Jimmy has lost his feet and sets out to find the missing extremities. Will Eddy find Jimmy's feet?