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Who Will Save Fluffy?: Mrs Parker’s little cat Fluffy climbs a tree, but then can’t get down. Along comes Tom, who tries to help. Along comes Susan, who tries to help. Along comes Brian, who tries to help. But only shrewd old Mr Lodge knows how to get a cat out of a tree. (375 words) Themes: Using logic to solve problems, Tolerance for older people (Zip Stage 4) (Flesch grade 2.8) (Lexile 360) |
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Little Duck Wants To Play: Little Duck wants to play, but not with the otter who offers to play with him. Along comes a peacock, but he is too proud. Along comes a swan - he is too vain. What is Little Duck to do? He decides the otter isn’t such a bad playmate after all. (348 words) Themes: Don’t judge appearances, Be thoughtful of others feelings (Zip Stage 4) (Flesch grade 3.1) (Lexile 550) This story is much simpler than the readability measure suggests and more appropriate for younger children. |
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Percy and Claude: Claude the cat always gets his way, and takes advantage of his owner, Mr Topolov. “I can get away with anything,” he boasts to Percy the dog. However Mr Topolov is not such an easy target after all. The tables turn and Percy gets a special treat. (502 words) Themes: Arrogance, Selfishness, Don’t give up (Zip Stage 7) (Flesch grade 3.7) (Lexile 590) |
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Kafoop’s Zoo: A lady who is crazy about animals starts a zoo in her house, with most amusing consequences. There is an elephant, a kangaroo, a pig, and even a snake. She decides to encourage people to feed her animals. (594 words) Themes: Proper care of animals, Adaptability, Tolerance of others who are different (Zip Stage 7) (Flesch grade 5.0) (Lexile 680) This story is much simpler than the readability measure suggests, and more appropriate for younger children. |
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Cookie the Shoe Chewing Dog: Cookie, like most puppies, often does what she’s not supposed to – digging holes, gnawing hoses and especially chewing shoes. How do the family deal with this problem behaviour? Despite giving her bones, and toys, and taking her on walks, she still eats shoes. Ben is worried that she will be taken away to the pound, but a spot of training saves the day! (979 words) Themes: Friendship, Caring for animals and understanding their behaviour, Problem solving (Zip Stage 6) (Flesch grade 2.6) (Lexile 500) |
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Princess Nightmare: A boy agrees to mind his friend’s pet snake (Princess). It is a nightmare. Where to hide Princess? What to feed her? How to stop his parents or sister finding out and having a fit? Under instructions, he sells the snake. But wait, there’s a surprise ending. (810 words) Themes: Care for animals, Problem solving (Zip Stage 7) (Flesch grade 4.2) (Lexile 550) |
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Boris, Bonnie and Greedy: A new puppy, Greedy, comes to stay. Boris is more than annoyed. He is wildly jealous of the attention Greedy is getting from Bonnie. The situation remains tense between the two dogs – until the puppy saves Bonnie – and the “sibling rivalry” is resolved. (948 words) Themes: Sibling rivalry, Courage, Accepting and making the most of change (Zip Stage 4) (Flesch grade 3.1) (Lexile 270) |
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Extra Lucky: Todd’s dog Lucky dies. His parents try everything to console him. They remind him of how much pleasure Lucky has given them all. Finally, they get him a new pup (Extra Lucky) and the grief dissipates. A very positive treatment of a difficult subject. (732 words) Themes: Death, Grief, Healing (Zip Stage 4) (Flesch grade 2.4) (Lexile 200) This story has a more sophisticated key idea than its readability measure suggests, and is more appropriate for older children. |
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Toffee in Trouble: An abandoned puppy turns up on the doorstep. Emily calls him Toffee, but Mum doesn’t want to keep him – she thinks he’ll be too much trouble. Things look bad, but Mum changes her mind when Toffee saves Emily’s little brother from drowning. (997 words) Themes: Friendship, Courage, Caring for animals (Zip Stage 6) (Flesch grade 3.7) (Lexile 500) |
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Multiplying Mice: A child brings a mouse home for a school project. It’s called Multi, after the way mice produce so many babies. But Multi disappears. A replacement is found. The replacement disappears too, and then the next one, and so on. Finally the truth emerges about all these disappearances and there is a happy ending. (839 words) Themes: Responsibility, Telling the truth, Owning up to and learning from mistakes (Zip Stage 7) (Flesch grade 4.2) (Lexile 610) |
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Copy Frog: A wacky story about a very special frog that is a brilliant mimic. The owner enters him in a contest held by the teacher – trying to outdo all the other children who are also competing - with amazing and hilarious consequences. (1141 words) Themes: Rivalry, Arrogance, Never give up, Never write off the underdog (Zip Stage 6) (Flesch grade 4.5) (Lexile 440) This clever story is more sophisticated than its readability measure suggests, and is more appropriate for older children. |