Paper Bird

A drawing of a bird tries without success to learn to fly, until the artist completes his original design and makes flight possible for it.

No Monsters Here

It’s bedtime.  This little boy is ready to climb the stairs and say goodnight.  But father isn’t ready at all.  He’s afraid of monsters;  he doesn’t want to be left alone downstairs.

This brave lad knows how to handle Father.  He’ll patiently lead his parent through the bedtime routine.  Naturally the boy won’t mind looking in the closet, behind the drapes and everywhere in between if it will make his anxious father feel better.  The boy will cheerfully hop into bed for a bedtime story.  And he’ll say, after a final hug, “I’ll hear you if you need me in the night.”  Father should feel much better now.  But what’s going to happen when he has to go downstairs alone?

Maybe there are monsters in the house after all.  But can you guess what they are really after? A reassuring story for confident children and timid parents everywhere.

Did My Mother Do That?

What was I like when I was born? The perennial question receives a fanciful response in a tale that takes an interspecies tour of mothers and babies. Holly loves to hear the story of the night when she was born—but first she needs to ask a lot of questions. Did her mother hatch her out of an egg? Did she carry Holly in her pocket? Maybe she fed her baby mice for dinner? As Holly and her dad rule out one imaginary scenario after another, little listeners will be eager to join in, while learning some interesting details along the way. And they’ll be just as comforted as Holly to hear one final, satisfying tale of a happy and loving human mother on the day her baby was born.

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred

When a farm girl starts cooking, all the animals want to help. The cow contributes milk, the hen offers eggs, and even the duck makes a special trip to the market. Key English words change to Spanish as the story builds to a delicious ending.

Featured in Volume XIII, Issue 2 of WOW Review.