The Three Little Pigs and the Big Friendly Wolf
by ©Caitlin Smith (8 years old)

Once upon a time there were three little pigs who lived with their mother and father on a farm. One day the youngest pig thought that he would go and build himself a home. When he had only gone one kilometre he found a pile of straw. It took him a whole day to build the house but when it was finished it didn’t look like a house so he fixed it up. After about a week the other pigs decided that they would go and build homes too. The second oldest pig made his house of sticks. But the oldest pig went straight to the town and bought some bricks and cement to build his house. It took a week to build that house because it was a very hard job. After a few days a friendly wolf came and asked the youngest pig to come and play with him but the pig said:
"No, go away! Pigs don’t play with wolves."
So the wolf went to the second oldest pig’s house and called out to him:
"Little Pig, Little Pig, come out and play with me?"
But the little pig did not trust him so he called out:
"No go away pigs don’t play with wolves."
So the wolf sneaked down through the chimney but he got stuck on the way. The oldest pig was making a peaceful potion on the fire. When the potion was nearly ready he went off to collect the other pigs who wanted some of the potion. When the pigs had drunk the potion the youngest pig said:
"I wish I’d been nicer to the wolf!"
and then the wolf was so surprised that he fell down and the second little pig said:
"There he is!"
Then the pigs said sorry and they ALL lived happily ever after.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff (first run)
by ©Kelsey Wheaton (11 years old)

Once upon a time in a dried up meadow lived three billy goats who were very hungry and thirsty. Their meadow was in a serious drought so they needed to go to the other side of the mean troll’s bridge for some lush grass to eat. The first billy goat was the smallest and most agile of the three so he attempted to cross the bridge. When he crossed the troll jumped out in front of him and asked him what he was doing. So the small goat said:
‘I am just crossing the bridge to get some lush grass on the other side.’
‘I am not going to let you pass since I am going to eat you instead!’ said the mean and selfish troll.
‘You could eat me,’ said the smart little goat. ‘Surely you don’t want to eat me since I am so small? Why don’t you eat my bigger brothers since they are so big and have more flesh than I?’
‘Fine, you have convinced me that I should let you pass so I’ll eat your other brothers instead.’ So the little goat passed on to the other field while the second billy goat tried to cross the mean troll’s bridge. The mean troll did the same thing as he did to the small goat but he said:
‘This time you are going to be eaten by the mean troll of the bridge which is me.’
‘You could eat me,’ started the second billy goat, ‘but I don’t have as much flesh as my bigger brother so why don’t you eat him?’
‘Alright, cross since you have convinced me that I shouldn’t eat you but I should eat your big brother instead.’ So the second billy goat crossed into the lush field where his brother was while the biggest billy goat tried to cross the mean troll’s bridge.
‘So this is the biggest goat I’ve heard of from the other two goats for me to eat.’
‘No,’ answered the biggest Billy goat. ‘I am going to cross and you are going to let me.’
‘What makes you so sure you will cross?’ said the troll. Hurriedly the biggest billy goat head butted the troll off the bridge and into the cold and murky water. So all the billy goats were reunited on the other side of the bridge in the lush grass.

The Three Water Buffaloes Gruff (final edited piece)
by ©Kelsey Wheaton (11 years old)

Once upon a time in a fallow rice paddy lived three water buffaloes who were very hungry and thirsty. Their rice paddy was dry so they needed to go to the other side of the mean tiger’s tunnel for some nice rice to eat. The first buffalo, Kiet, was the smallest and most agile of the three so he attempted to go through the tunnel. When he crossed the tiger jumped out in front of him and asked him what he was doing. So the small buffalo said:
‘I am just going through the tunnel to get some nice rice on the other side.’
‘I am not going to let you pass since I am going to eat you instead,’ said the mean and selfish tiger.
‘You could eat me,’ said the smart little Kiet. ‘Surely you don’t want to eat me since I am so small? Why don’t you eat my bigger brothers since they are so big and have more flesh than me?’
‘Fine you have convinced me that I should let you pass so I’ll eat your other brothers instead.’ So the little buffalo passed on to the other rice paddy while the second buffalo tried to go through the mean tiger’s tunnel. The mean tiger did the same thing as he did to Kiet but he said:
‘This time you are going to be eaten by the mean tiger of the tunnel which is me.’
‘You could eat me,’ started Tri, ‘but I don’t have as much flesh as my bigger brother so why don’t you eat him?’
‘Alright! Go through since you have convinced me that I shouldn’t eat you but I should eat your big brother instead.’ So Tri crossed into the rice paddy where his brother was while the biggest water buffalo tried get through the mean tiger’s tunnel.
‘So this is the biggest water buffalo I’ve heard of from the other two buffaloes for me to eat.’
‘No,’ answered the biggest water buffalo who was called Tai. ‘I am going to go through and you are going to let me!’
‘What makes you so sure you will go through?’ said the tiger. Hurriedly the biggest, Tai, told the tiger that the three of them needed a new friend and they’d like the tiger to be their new friend. The tiger accepted their surprising friendship so now all of the water buffaloes were reunited on the other side of the tunnel in the rice paddy with their new friend the tiger. Every animal treated each other well from that time on.

Lan & Tein
by ©Susannah Hardy (11 years old)..

..retold her Vietnamese version of Hanzel and Gretel

Long ago, there was a poor woodcutter. He lived at the edge of a rainforest and had a wife and two children. Their names were Lan (a boy) and Tien (a girl). They lived in a little bamboo hut. As the children got older their father found it hard to sell his bamboo. Most of the young men cut their own. He was lucky to sell a load for two bowlfuls of rice.
"Tomorrow we must take the children into the heart of the rainforest and leave them there. If we do not we shall die of starvation!" said their mother one day. The poor man was heart-broken, but he agreed. Lan had been slinking around the hut looking for food, and happened to hear this. He went outside and began putting pebbles in one of his pockets. He went back inside and told Tien about their mother's plan to get rid of them and told her not to worry because he had a plan. The next morning their parents took them out into the rainforest. Every couple of steps Lan stopped and dropped a pebble onto the ground. Their mother asked what he was doing.
"I am looking at the trees. They look so frightening Mother," Lan replied. Their parents started walking again. The children had to follow them. Lan had just enough pebbles left for about another one thousand steps and had to space them out more. After an hour or so of walking, they came to a clearing. Their father stopped and said to them,
"Stay here while I go and chop some wood. I will come back later!" He walked off towards where he knew the house lay.
"But Father, you have nothing to chop with!" said Tien. Her father then pulled out a long, sharp stone and continued walking.
"I will go with him to make sure nothing happens to him," said their mother quickly and started following him. A monkey screeched somewhere. A long time passed before Lan said to his sister,
"Follow me!" He started to follow the trail of rocks. However, because he had spaced them out so much, he couldn't find the proper trail and soon was lost. Tien started to cry. They started wandering around the rainforest looking for food. They soon came to the edge of the rainforest, but their home was miles away. A delta lay ahead of them.
"Look Tien, a hut! And it's made of rice grains too! Hundreds of them! And look-meat!" cried Lan. They ran to the hut and ate as much as they could. A voice said behind them,
"Hey, what are you doing eating my hut?" They turned around and saw an old woman. They were very scared.
"I'm very sorry!" said Tien cautiously. "But we were so hungry, we haven't eaten for a day." The old woman nodded.
"Well, would you like to come in? If you stay with me you'll always have enough to eat." The children nodded in their turn and followed the old woman into her home. She showed them where they could sleep and gave them a nice meal. The next day she locked Lan in a cage while Tien was asleep and bolted the door. The truth was that this old woman had been taken by sorcerers and had evil in her heart. She ate little children when they came by her house. She called herself a wanderer. When Tien woke up she was very scared.
"You shall be my servant and do whatever I tell you to or I'll eat up your brother!" said the wanderer. Tien hardly got anything to eat, while Lan got lots to eat because the wanderer wanted to eat him as he was too skinny. Every couple of days the wanderer wanted to feel Lan's arm to work out if he was plump enough to eat yet. She was partly blind so she didn't know that he stuck out an old chopstick that was lying in the bottom of the cage. This went on for some time until the old wanderer got so frustrated with waiting for Lan to fatten up that she ordered Tien to boil a big pot of water over a fire and put him in it. She boiled the water and got Lan out of the cage, but before she put him in the boiling water she said to the wanderer:
"I don't think the water is boiled properly yet. Maybe you should check before I put my brother in." The wanderer agreed and propped part a piece of chopped up bamboo (she often used it as a stool) near the fire so she could look over the edge of the pot where Tien had boiled the water. She did so, but before Lan could stop her, Tien pushed her into the water and ran to the door. She unbolted it and ran outside with her brother. Luckily the hot water did not harm the wanderer, but it melted away the evilness that had taken refuge inside her heart. The wanderer called them back. Tien was unwilling, but Lan started back towards the house, pulling her along with him. The old wanderer came out, but she decided not to be bad any more. Instead she took them back to their father's hut on a flying tiger. The wanderer stayed with the tiger in the rainforest while the children found their father. He was sitting outside, mourning his dead wife's grave. When he saw the children he was delighted and took them into his arms and hugged them. Because the hut had no food left, they took him back to the old wanderer’s hut. When he saw the wanderer he gasped. It was his old mother that had been taken away by evil sorcerers when he was he was young. There was a lot of hugging and embracing between the company, and soon they were going back to the wanderer's hut on the back of the flying tiger, who was later named Quyhn.

return to Chapter 3