short stories for english homework

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

Learn How to Support Stressed and Anxious Students.

55 Best Short Stories for High School Students

Quick and engaging.

If there is one thing that my students and I share, it is our love for short stories for high school. They may not choose to read short stories on their own time, but they get very excited when the story I choose to teach a concept is short . I find that because they are short stories, they pack a stronger emotional punch. Short stories for high school elicit real reactions, especially if the author manages to surprise them. Short stories for high school are the thing I use most often to teach literary devices, act as mentor text for our writing, and get students excited about reading. Here is a collection of 55 short stories for high school students. 

1. “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl

“‘i’ll fix some supper,’ she whispered. when she walked across the room, she couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor. she couldn’t feel anything except a slight sickness. she did everything without thinking. she went downstairs to the freezer and took hold of the first object she found. she lifted it out, and looked at it. it was wrapped in paper, so she took off the paper and looked at again—a leg of lamb..

Why I love it: The dramatic irony. The discussion that follows: Who is the innocent lamb in this story?

2. “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell

“the world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees.”.

Why I love it: This is one of those short stories for high school that engages all of my students. I love to ask them what they think the most dangerous game in the world is. I like to watch them figure out what is about to happen as we read through the story.

3. “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl

“‘i stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. will you have another cup of tea’”.

Why I love it: This story is great for suspense, irony, and characterization. It always creeps students out.

4. “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury

“i think the sun is a flower / that blooms for just one hour.”.

Why I love it: This story is heartbreaking and truth-telling. Bradbury takes us to Venus and uses the setting to drive the conflict and focus on the character’s behavior.

5. “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury

“too much of anything isn’t good for anyone.”.

Why I love it: It’s a dystopian story about the power of technology in our lives. It’s easy to connect to students’ lives.

6. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

“there’s always been a lottery.”.

Why I love it: The brutality of this story sneaks up on you. For a while, you’re convinced this town is ordinary until you find out the dark consequences of blindly following tradition.

7. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

“it is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.”.

Why I love it: My students love a murder mystery. This one is made even more alluring while the narrator tries to convince the readers of his sanity.

8. “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

“the james dillingham youngs were very proud of two things which they owned. one thing was jim’s gold watch. … the other thing was della’s hair.”.

Why I love it: It’s one of the best stories for high school to teach irony during the holiday season.

9. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

“never mind, dear,” said his wife soothingly; perhaps you’ll win the next one.”.

Why I love it: One of the classic short stories for high school about what can go wrong when granted three wishes. Students also love to know that there was a Simpsons episode based on this short story.

10. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber

“the district attorney suddenly thrust a heavy automatic at the quiet figure on the witness stand. ‘have you ever seen this before’ walter mitty took the gun and examined it expertly. ‘this is my webley-vickers 50.80,’ he said calmly. an excited buzz ran around the courtroom.”.

Why I love it: This story moves from the ordinary to the extraordinary. It highlights the mundane adult life while the main character escapes to fantastical situations, inspired by his surroundings. Bonus: the movie version that was released in 2013.

11. “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin

“this is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”.

Why I love it: This story encourages high school students to consider the cost of happiness.

12. “Araby” by James Joyce

“her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which i myself did not understand. my eyes were often full of tears (i could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. i thought little of the future. i did not know whether i would ever speak to her or not or, if i spoke to her, how i could tell her of my confused adoration.”.

Why I love it: It’s about growing up and developing a crush that is all-consuming.

13. “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury

“it fell to the floor, an exquisite thing, a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across time. eckels’ mind whirled. it couldn’t change things. killing one butterfly couldn’t be that important could it”.

Why I love it: It’s a short story about the butterfly effect. The plot asks the question many have asked before, if we could travel back in time, how would it change the future?

14. “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan

“my mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in america.”.

Why I love it: It explores the complex mother-daughter relationship.

15. “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan

“next time win more, lose less.”.

Why I love it: Use this for an example of extended metaphor and, again, the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship.

16. “Eraser Tattoo” by Jason Reynolds

“he knew the sting wouldn’t last forever. but the scar would.”.

Why I love it: I love a teenage love story. Focus on the symbolism of the eraser tattoo.

17. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst

“all of us must have something or someone to be proud of.”.

Why I love it: A beautifully written heartbreaking story about brothers.

18. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” Flannery O’Connor

“‘it isn’t a soul in this green world of god’s that you can trust,’ she said. ‘and i don’t count nobody out of that, not nobody,’ she repeated, looking at red sammy.”.

Why I love it: It’s a great story for studying characters, their flaws, and their transformation by the end of the story.

19. “Ruthless” by William de Mille

“when it comes to protecting my property, i make my own laws.”.

Why I love it: It’s a tale of revenge with unexpected twists and turns.

20. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

“when the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.”.

Why I love it: It makes you ponder the question: Can a person die of a broken heart?

21. “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros

“what they don’t understand about birthdays, and what they’ll never tell you, is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one.”.

Why I love it: I use this when I teach creative writing. What changes when we turn 11? How are we different from when we were 10? Most agree that it is a significant change.

22. “The Test” by Theodore Thomas

“nobody should want to drive a car after going through what you just went through.”.

Why I love it: Your students will not see the ending coming.

23. “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury

“and one voice, with sublime disregard for the situation, read poetry … until all the film spools burned, until all the wires withered and the circuits cracked.”.

Why I love it: Use this futuristic story to teach setting, foreshadowing, and theme.

24. “The Schoolmistress” by Anton Chekhov

“‘it is beyond all understanding,’ she thought, ‘why god gives beauty, this graciousness, and sad, sweet eyes to weak, unlucky, useless people—why they are so charming.’”.

Why I love it: We get to see simple moments become symbols for larger happenings in her life.

25. “Lob’s Girl” by Joan Aiken

“some people choose their dogs, and some dogs choose their people.”.

Why I love it: Read it for a tale of friendship paired with elements of suspense.

26. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce

“he had power only to feel, and feeling was torment.”.

Why I love it: The ending will shock your students.

27. “The Chaser” by John Collier

“‘she will want to know all you do,’ said the old man. ‘all that has happened to you during the day. every word of it. she will want to know what you are thinking about, why you smile suddenly, why you are looking sad.’”.

Why I love it: For the discussion afterward, what would you be willing to do for love? Bonus: Pair with a Twilight Zone episode.

28. “The Janitor in Space” by Amber Sparks

“she feels at home beyond the skies. she lied and said she came here to be close to god, but she feels further away from him than ever.”.

Why I love it: The creative plot created in this story launches deep discussion after reading.

29. “Standard Loneliness Package” by Charles Yu

“root canal is one fifty, give or take, depending on who’s doing it to you. a migraine is two hundred.”.

Why I love it: The plot is intriguing enough for students to be invested. Imagine a world where you outsource negative feelings and experiences to other people.

30. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“i cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.”.

Why I love it: I still remember the first time I read this story in high school and the discussion about women and mental health and the symbolism throughout the story.

31. “ A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell

“oh, well,” said mrs. hale’s husband, with good-natured superiority, “women are used to worrying over trifles.”.

Why I love it: It’s a story about women being misunderstood and underestimated.

32. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

“‘the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. i shall not die of a cough.’ ‘true—true,’ i replied.”.

Why I love it: It’s a revenge story that allows students to see examples of irony throughout.

33. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London

“he now received the full force of the cold. the blood of his body drew back from it. the blood was alive, like the dog.”.

Why I love it: This story is great for any adventurous soul.

34. “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty

“[the sniper’s eyes] were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.”.

Why I love it: It’s a story that illustrates the pain and loss of war.

35. “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank Stockton

“it mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward.”.

Why I love it: Use this as a short story that illustrates that actions have consequences.

36. “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe

“yet, mad i am not—and very surely do i not dream.”.

Why I love it: This is one of the classic Poe short stories for high school about madness.

37. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain

“smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do ‘most anything’—and i believe him.”.

Why I love it: A Mark Twain story about a man who bets on anything. Use this next time a student says “Bet!” to you.

38. “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka

“one morning, when gregor samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.”.

Why I love it: Read this story for symbolism, as the main character turns into an insect overnight. It’s an excellent story that illustrates alienation and loneliness.

39. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“depending upon one another’s hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. now are ye undeceived. evil is the nature of mankind.”.

Why I love it: A great read for American literature that explores the nature of humanity and questions of faith.

40. “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing

“they were of that coast; all of them were burned smooth dark brown and speaking a language he did not understand. to be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.”.

Why I love it: The story focuses on overcoming limitations while an 11-year-old trains to swim through an underwater hole in a rock.

41. “The Ice Palace” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“up in her bedroom window sally carrol happer rested her nineteen-year-old chin on a fifty-two-year-old sill and watched clark darrow’s ancient ford turn the corner.”.

Why I love it: Fitzgerald was gifted in writing about tension in love. This story is about the tension between lovers from the North and South. Read it for the story and the poetic language of Fitzgerald.

42. “The Purple Jar” by Maria Edgeworth

“‘oh mother, how happy i should be,’ said she, as she passed a toy-shop, ‘if i had all these pretty things’”.

Why I love it: It’s a simple story of the conflict between what we desire versus what we need.

43. “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush

“there was nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of their meal, when it suddenly became obvious that this was an occasion—in fact, the husband’s birthday, and the wife had planned a little surprise for him.”.

Why I love it: This is a very quick read and still manages to pack a punch.

44. “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes

“you ought to be my son. i would teach you right from wrong.”.

Why I love it: The story is relatable and sends an important message.

45. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

“this is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely.”.

Why I love it: It’s a message from a mother to a daughter on how to behave.

46. “Powder” by Tobias Wolff

“my father was driving. my father in his forty-eighth year, rumpled, kind, bankrupt of honor, flushed with certainty. he was a great driver.”.

Why I love it: This is one of the great short stories for high school that explores the complexity of a father-son relationship.

47. “The Pie” by Gary Soto

“once, at the german market, i stood before a rack of pies, my sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting my underarms. i nearly wept.”.

Why I love it: This is one of the best short stories for high school about the strength and power of guilt in the presence of childhood and into an adulthood.

48. “Sticks” by George Saunders

“the pole was dad’s only concession to glee.”.

Why I love it: This super-short story is about a father’s tradition of decorating a pole in the yard and all that the pole represents.

49. “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier

“for one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that one’s life is barren as the dusty yards of our town.”.

Why I love it: This is a story about realizing that we’re growing up. This is one of the great short stories for high school students that they can connect to.

50. “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury

“the multicolored or grey lights touching their faces, but never really touching them …”.

Why I love it: This story takes place in 2053. Ray Bradbury has a way of making the future feel like the present. Bradbury reminds us how important it is to not lose our humanity.

51. “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker

“she was so pleased with the compliment that a while later, when her mother came to fetch her, that was the first thing she told her.”.

Why I love it: This story lets us view a party through a child’s eyes and a mother’s desire to protect her daughter’s heart. 

52. “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing

“he would do it if it killed him, he said defiantly to himself.”.

Why I love it: This is a story that is rich in symbolism and beautifully illustrates the transition from childhood to adulthood. 

53. “The Wretched and the Beautiful” by E. Lily Yu

“‘come out where we can see you,’ the policeman said. the rest of us were glad that someone confident and capable, someone who was not us, was handling the matter.”.

Why I love it: While this story involves aliens, it asks readers to think about what it means to be human. There is also great symbolism in this story.

54. “Cooking Time” by Anita Roy

“at that moment, all i felt was angry. i’d always known that mandy’s obsession would get us into trouble. but would she listen never.”.

Why I love it: This is a story that is set in a dystopian future where the food has been replaced by a supplement. It’s a unique take on a dystopian world as it involves a cooking show and trying to change the way the world operates.

55. “ He — Y, Come On Ou — t! ” by Shinichi Hoshi, translated by Stanleigh Jones

“whatever one wished to discard, the hole accepted it all. the hole cleansed the city of its filth. …”.

Why I love it: This is a story about a Japanese village discovering a mysterious hole and illustrates what happens when people behave selfishly.

Did you enjoy these short stories for high school students? Check out this list of Our All-Time Favorite Classroom Quotes .

Want more articles like this be sure to subscribe to our newsletters .

You Might Also Like

18+ Best Funny Short Stories To Teach in Middle and High School

These stories will get them giggling ... and learning too! Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

• 101 English Conversations
• English Tips
• Improve Your English
• 120 Common English Phrases
• Mistakes in english
• Tools for Learning English
• English for Work
• English Grammar
• English Conversations in Real Life
• American English Conversations (Video)
• Everyday Conversation: 100 Topics
• English Listening
• English Writing
• English Idioms
• Elementary Level
• Intermediate Level
• Advanced Level
• Synonyms and Antonyms Dictionary
• Academic Words
• CNN Student News
• Holidays Worldwide
• American Life

With English stories , you can:

• Understand deeper and broaden understanding
• Know more vocals and how they are used in real contexts
• Motivate imagination, create your own story
• Enhance communication skill

Besides, we wrote an ebook about the topic “ How to Learn English Effectively through short stories “. You can refer to our ebook first.

40 English Conversations

101 English short stories for English learners from beginner to advanced level

A. Beginner Level

• A Baby and a Sock
• Birds and a Baby
• A Cat and a Dog
• The Baby Bear
• An Apple Pie
• The Top Bunk
• A Birthday Bike
• In the Garden
• Today’s Mail
• Boys Will Be Boys
• A Good Meal
• No Friends for Me
• Life Is Good
• Tell the Truth
• God Loves Babies
• A Clean Car
• Farm Animals
• Corn for People and Animals
• Rain and Hail
• Hungry Birds
• At the Bus Stop
• Brown and Blue Eyes
• Catch Some Fish
• Daddy Likes Beer
• Bears and a Pig
• A Short Plane Ride
• A Windy Day
• Try to Tell the Truth
•  A Bad Economy
• The Birthday Party
• Plants Need Water
• Life Will Be Better
• A Lucky Day
• My Family’s House
• Wash your hand
• She Writes Letters
• A Bus Accident

B. Intermediate Level

• The Christmas Story – The Birth Of JESUS
• The Man Who Learned From His Cow
• The Girl Who Dressed Like a Boy
• The Jindo Dog
• The Wait-and-See Man
• The Seal’s Skin
• the Bear’s Son
•  Strong Wind
• Brer Fox’s Shoes
•  Three Rabbits
• The Bridge between the Earth and the Sky
• The Wild Pigeon

C. Upper-intermediate Level

• The Christmas Star and the Little Wanderer
• The White Ribbon (Kassie’s and Betty’s friendship)
• The Joyous Christmas Surprise
• A Little Princess | Part 1
• A Little Princess | Part 2
• A Little Princess | Part 3

D. Advanced Level

We will update more English short stories in the future. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog and youtube channel 

Thank you, @Tony Illustrated English for being willing to share your stories on our blog – One of our partner

=============

For example:

Short Stories in English: Farm Animals

The  chicken and the duck  were friends. They lived on a  farm . They  walked around  together. They swam in the pond together. They talked about many things. They talked about the cat. They thought the cat was tricky. They thought the cat was dangerous. The cat  looked at  them a lot. They didn’t trust the cat. “We must always keep our eyes open when the cat is around,” they both agreed. They talked about the dog. The dog was very friendly. The dog wanted to play. The dog had lots of energy. It barked a lot. It  ran around  a lot. They both liked the dog. They talked about the farmer. The farmer brought them food. The farmer  took care of  them. The farmer took care of all the animals. He fed the cow. He fed the pig. He fed the goat. He fed the sheep. He fed the rabbit. They liked the farmer. He  took good care of  everyone. He was a nice man. “Farmers are good,” said the chicken. “We need farmers,” said the duck.

#helenadailyenglish.com

• Online Testing

©helenadailyenglish.com. All rights reserved by Helena

ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

in Activities for Adults · Activities for Kids

Short Stories in English with Reading Comprehension Questions

You’re probably here because you want to improve your reading skills. Or, you might be a teacher looking for teaching materials for your reading lesson. Either way, you’re in the right place. Check out our short stories in English with morals, vocabulary lists, and reading comprehension questions.

Short Stories for Reading Comprehension

ESL Short Stories for English Learners

One of the best ways to improve your score on the IELTS , TOEFL or TOEIC reading section is to practice reading some short stories. To accommodate all levels of readers, all of our English short stories have three different versions for beginner, intermediate, and advanced readers.

List of Short Stories in English

Check out this list of short moral stories in English. Each story will contain three different versions, a vocabulary list, comprehension questions and answers.

• A Bundle of Sticks
• The Hare and the Tortoise
• The Frightened Lion
• A Council of Mice
• The Fox and the Crow
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf
• The Bear and the Bee
• The Bell and the Cat
• The Lion and the Mouse
• The Frog Who Desired a King
• The Fox and the Hedgehog
• The Wolf and the Crane
• The Gnat and the Bull
• The Clever Woodcutter
• The Wind and the Sun
• The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
• The Ant and the Grasshopper
• The Frog and the Ox

Reading Lesson Materials for ESL Teachers

If you’re an ESL teacher looking for additional teaching resources, here are a few different tips and tricks to incorporate into your class. These tips can be helpful for both one-on-one lessons and larger classes .

• Post-Reading Activities for ESL Students
• ESL Reading Games, Activities, Lesson Plans
• Story Timeline ESL Activity
• 71 Ways to Practice English Reading

Short Moral Stories in English

Improve Reading Comprehension with Short Stories in English

If you want to improve your reading comprehension skills using short stories, follow these tips.

• Preview the story by taking a glance and skiming through.
• Read aloud to enhance comprehension and gain better retention.
• Take notes of the key points (e.g., characters or important events) of the story.
• Imagine the story in your head to visualize.
• Try to identify the main idea or theme of the story.
• Ask questions to yourself while reading the story.
• Discuss your thoughts and questions with your friends or classmates.
• If you don’t know the meaning of a word, infer or guess based on the context of the story.
• Feel free to reread and go back to the points that were unclear.
• Lastly, and most importantly, enjoy reading the fun short stories!

Short Stories in English

FAQs About ESL Reading Comprehension Short Stories

Here are answers to some of the most popular questions that people have about ESL reading comprehension stories.

What is reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand and make sense of what you read. It involves grasping the meaning of words, sentences, and overall text to comprehend and interpret information.

How do I improve reading comprehension with short stories?

Actively engage with short stories by asking questions, making predictions, and summarizing key points. Visualize scenes and characters to enhance understanding. Take notes on key details, characters, and events to reinforce retention. Read aloud to involve multiple senses in the reading process. Discuss the story with others to gain different perspectives. Set clear goals for reading, whether it’s understanding the main idea or identifying specific details.

What are some short stories for enhancing reading comprehension skills?

To enhance your reading comprehension skills, we recommend reading our versions of “The Bear and the Bee”, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, “A Bundle of Sticks”, “The Hare and the Tortoise”, “The Frightened Lion”, “A Council of Mice”, and “The Fox and the Crow”.

What are common challenges in reading comprehension with short stories?

Understanding new words, identifying the main idea (e.g., the moral of the story), and making connections between details can be challenging in reading short stories. Additionally, visualizing scenes, analyzing characters, and using context clues may pose difficulties for some readers. Maintaining focus and summarizing key points are also common hurdles in short story comprehension.

How should I teach reading comprehension?

Guide your approach to teaching reading comprehension by prompting students to actively interact with texts, fostering discussions to encourage diverse perspectives. Emphasize the significance of visualization and connecting details for a holistic understanding. Introduce a variety of reading materials to cater to diverse interests and skill levels, ensuring well-rounded comprehension skill development. Additionally, provide constructive feedback to support their growth in comprehending different types of content.

Short Stories in English: Join the Conversation

Did you check out the list of our short stories in English? Which one was your favourite story? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you. If you want to challenge yourself with academic reading, try out our TOEFL reading practice test .

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook TikTok Pinterest Instagram

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Our Top-Seller

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More ESL Activities

Animal Names: Animals that Start with the Letter I

What are Silent Letter Words and Common Examples

B Adjectives List | Describing Words that Start with B

Animal Names: Animals that Start with the Letter J

About, contact, privacy policy.

Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL speaking since 2014 and the goal is to bring you the best recommendations for English conversation games, activities, lesson plans and more. It’s your go-to source for everything TEFL!

About and Contact for ESL Speaking .

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .

Email: [email protected]

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Short stories online for EFL / ESL

• English grammar
• Advanced reading
• Intermediate reading
• Language games and puzzles

Very short stories in graded English, levels B1 to C1 - for class and for home

Short stories - advanced english - b2 and c1.

• NEW   Short story: A suitable job  - a short story from Britain in advanced level English, with lesson plan and interactive exercises  - (C1 level - 950 words)
• Short story: The Car  - a short story from Britain in advanced level English, with  audio , lesson plan and interactive exercises  - (C1 level - 950 words)
• Short story: Blue Gum Tree - a short story from New Zealand with  audio and interactive worksheet (B2 level - 850 - 900 words)
• Short Story: Lucky Jim -  an original short story from the USA, with  audio  and interactive worksheet -.  (C1 level  - 800-850 words)
• For Elise - An original short story from the USA - with  audio and interactive worksheet  (B2 level ~ 1150 words )
• A few good reasons - An original short story from the USA  with  audio and interactive worksheet   (B2 level ~ 950 words )
• The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (Appendix to Mark Twain and the frogs of Calaveras County ) 2600 words.

Short stories - intermediate English,  teenage fiction - B1 and B2

• NEW   Short story: Dr Trelew's encounter  - (B1) a Victorian mystery with worksheet and  audio
• Short story: Driftwood  - (B2) a short story from England with worksheet and  audio
• Short story: Dance Macabre  - (B1) a short story from the USA with worksheets and  audio
• Short story: The Box  - (B2) with interactive worksheet  - a short story in two parts with worksheets and  audio
• Short Story - The Girl in the Denim Jacket , (B2) a story in two parts  with interactive worksheets and  audio
• Short Story - The Trap , ( B1) a story in two parts
• Short story: The Wimp .  (B1) Teenage fiction, in two parts  with worksheet and audio
• Mystery : The Titanic and the Temple of Doom  (B2) Did this really happen ?
• Short Story - One Foggy Night - (B1) with interactive worksheet and audio  - teenage fiction
• Short Story - The path to High Crag , (B1) a story in two parts
• English ghost stories - (B1) with interactive worksheet  - low intermediate level

Teachers, writers ? Got a good short story you'd like us to publish? If so, let us know

Short stories must be your own ©  original work, be set in an English-speaking environment, and be appropriate for teenagers or young adult readers. Linguapress is also interested in publishing good short stories by established writers whose works are in the public domain, and welcomes suggestions. To be in the public domain, works must be by a writer who died over 70 years ago.

20 Super-Short Stories Your Students Will Love

As teachers struggle to make the most of every minute in the classroom and appeal to students’ diminishing attention spans, sometimes size does matter when it comes to reading selections. Even short stories can be daunting for reluctant high school readers. “It’s so long!” students may moan when presented with traditional anthology classics like “ The Most Dangerous Game ,” at 8,013 words or “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” at 3,768 words.

Shorter works of fiction are no less rigorous than their longer counterparts. Flash fiction is a genre of literature that demonstrates craft elements and packs thematic punches with a tight word count. While the definition varies, flash fiction most often refers to pieces under 1,000 words but possibly up to 2,000. Average readers can complete 1,000 words in approximately 3.3 minutes if they’re reading at a speed of 300 words per minute, making flash especially appealing.

Students are often more likely to completely read pieces that take under five minutes to finish. It’s also much easier to encourage and facilitate the multiple readings that are often necessary for students to fully understand and explicate a complex text.

Flash fiction selections are great as bell-ringer readings while still being rich enough to settle in for long discussions of craft and theme. You can also frontload longer works of fiction with these little pieces. Since they’re all delightfully short, they’re easy to slide into an existing lesson play, or you can build a day’s lesson around one. Finally, the brevity of these pieces will allow you to make copies on only one or two sheets of paper and work on annotating in class. Here are twenty that students will love.

20 Super-Short Stories Your High School Students Will Love

• “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin This story is popular with teachers not only because it weighs in at just over 1,000 words, but also because it’s replete with literary elements to demonstrate craft. In the story, a young wife, Louise Mallard, is informed that her husband is dead. Rather than mourning, she retreats to her room alone to quietly and joyfully contemplate a life of freedom without a man to dictate her life. The story takes a twist, however, when her husband returns home, oblivious to the news of his death. The shock brings on a heart attack and instant death, and everyone assumes the wife’s heart gave out from the happiness of seeing her husband alive and well. The readers will know better, however, what the source of the “joy that kills” actually is.

Chopin’s trim little story is a masterclass in pacing, dramatic irony, and characterization. Students from middle school up to AP English Literature can find richness and meaning in the text, even after multiple readings.

• “The Flowers” by Alice Walker The plot is simple and horrifying: Myop, the child of Black sharecroppers, goes for a walk in the forest, gathers flowers, accidentally steps on an old skull, and finds the remains of a lynched man. At under 600 words, this compact piece is perfect for repeated readings for analysis of Walker’s syntax along with other elements such as plot structure, characterization, and symbolism and themes of racism and loss of innocence.

This piece pairs beautifully with works by such authors as Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, and Alice Walker herself. Students will enjoy discussing the symbolic significance of the shift from the farm to the woods, the juxtaposition of light and dark, the flowers, and, of course, the skeleton. They can also explore how Walker creates an entire archetypal hero’s journey in less than one page.

• “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush At a lean 312 words, “Birthday Party” is rich with elements of characterization and detail. It centers on a scene in a restaurant with a wife having a special dinner for her husband’s birthday that doesn’t go the way she expected or wanted.

There are shifting points of view within the piece that are rich for classroom discussion about perspective. It can also be used for a creative writing model in rounding out a scene and using specific details to illustrate character. This story was the 2005 AP English Literature Free Response Question 2.

• “Currents” by Hannah Bottomy Voskuil This story is just under 300 words and is told backward. It’s the story of a drowning incident at a beach, but the inverted plot makes it interesting for students to discuss narrative arcs, syntax, detail, and characterization.

Students can also try their hand at writing their own backward story, using “Currents” as a model.

• “Being the Murdered Homecoming Queen” by Cathy Ulrich “The thing about being the murdered homecoming queen is you set the plot in motion.” With that first line, Ulrich moves readers forward in a wild ride of ghosts, grief, and girls. Told in second person from the point of view of a dead homecoming queen, this story is a 428-word murder mystery. Ulrich’s use of repetition and powerful imagery make this story incredibly readable and perfect for group discussion.

Students will enjoy drilling into themes of gender roles, performative grief, teenage relationships, and the transience of memory.

• “Entropy” by Andrea Rinard At just under 500 words, “Entropy” depicts an unnamed teenager in her room, struggling with her own mental illness. The story depicts not only the girl’s waxing and waning despair and hope but also her complex feelings of love, guilt, and resentment toward her caretaking mother.

The use of symbolism and repetition will give students lots to discuss. They will also connect with the speaker’s various attempts to find ways to both ground herself and escape.

• “And No More Shall We Part” by Sutton Strother This piece is just under 1,000 words and juxtaposes an incredibly creepy situation with a tender love story. A couple, Joe and Katherine, check into a hotel and slowly experience the complete deterioration of their bodies. Is it a romance? Is it a horror story? Is it speculative fiction? At first students will wonder what the “it” is that’s coming for Joe and Katherine, but in the end it won’t matter as they focus on the relationship that endures even as the flesh dissolves.

Your students will enjoy using what they know about genre and discussing how to characterize this story. They can also talk about the incredible details of the piece and the rising tension.

• “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver Carver is well-known as one of the greatest short story writers. In this story of just 495 words, Carver depicts a marriage at the moment of destruction and an ending that will have students’ jaws dropping as they discuss what might be one of the most horrifying and stunning last lines in all of literature.

Students love discussing the ambiguity of the story and trying to get closure, asking, “Did that really happen?” “Was that what I thought it was?” They can also discuss dialogue, syntax, detail, and understatement.

• “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid Kincaid’s breathless 685-word story is told in the voice of a daughter, reflecting on the perceptions and directions of her domineering mother. Told almost entirely in imperative commands, the story explores the relationship between mother and daughter and the expectations that can be too heavy a weight to bear.

This piece is a great work in which to explore how character and setting are inextricably linked. Students can consider how the spaces and places we occupy create our identity. Students will also enjoy analyzing elements of syntax, voice, and tone. If you’re looking for a creative writing activity, it’s a really fun piece for students to model in their own writing.

• “The Cranes” by Peter Meinke* Students will enjoy the beautiful language and leisurely pacing of this 903-word piece featuring a sweet elderly couple sitting and watching birds and reflecting on their marriage.

After hitting the shocking twist at the end, students can go back and trace the breadcrumbs that were there all along. Meinke’s use of dialogue is masterful, and students always enjoy reading this piece aloud.

*Content Warning—deals with suicide

• “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros This piece is a little longer at almost 1,200 words, but it’s beloved and widely read because it’s accessible and relatable for younger and less confident readers. It’s Rachel’s birthday, and she reflects on what it feels like to turn eleven while facing an embarrassing conflict in school.

Students will enjoy reminiscing about their own dramas and traumas at the hands of teachers and classmates while also analyzing Cisneros’s craft, especially the lyrical language and effective syntax. This story is also a great jumping-off point for creating a believable young protagonist or embarking on a memoir writing activity.

• “No One’s a Mystery” by Elizabeth Tallent Tallent’s depiction of a sordid love affair between a young girl and an older married man is told in the alternating dialogue of its two main characters. In just 927 words, Tallent explores the time before a coming of age moment when a teenager still lacks the wisdom of knowing at least a little bit about how the world works.

The intersection of idealism and realism will give students a lot to talk about along with Tallent’s use of detail and narrative pacing.

• “Powder” by Tobias Wolff This is a longer piece at 1,544 words, but one that students always enjoy. It centers on a father and son trying to get home for Christmas after a day of skiing. After being deterred by a state trooper, a closed road, and heavy snow, the father decides to sneak through and drive home in dangerous conditions, telling his son on their way, “Don’t ever try this yourself.” As the journey continues, details emerge that reveal conflicts under the surface of the family.

Students will enjoy this small moment that reveals a much larger landscape in the life of the characters. The symbolism of the setting, especially the snow, is rich for discussion, and students will connect with their own relationships with parents and other adult figures.

• “My First Goose” by Isaac Babel This story comes in at just under 1,500 words and is a wonderful study in cause and effect as well as character. Set in post WWI Europe, the narrator, Kiril Lyutove is a Russian Jewish intellectual who is struggling to balance his own philosophical beliefs with the brutality of war. He doesn’t feel like he fits in with the huge but violent Cossacks he’s alongside, so he earns their respect with a fake act of barbarism.

There is a lot of ambiguity that allows students to discuss different interpretations of the events. They can also discuss the paradox of war as heroic and inhumanly brutal. The themes of sacrificing one’s values and sense of self in order to fit in will resonate with students. It’s a great pairing with The Things They Carried.

• “The Pie” by Gary Soto At 872 words, Soto’s story of a boy stealing and then facing the guilt for stealing a pie provide students an opportunity to tune their ears to tone. The pacing of this piece is masterful as the protagonist struggles with the tension between his desire to eat the pie and his feelings of shame and guilt for stealing it.

This story always inspires fun discussions of situational ethics and how easy it is to rationalize things that should be objectively wrong. There are also surprising Biblical allusions that students can unpack.

• “Wake Up” by Kathy Fish What would you do if your elderly neighbor showed up naked on your front porch in the middle of the night? The speaker of Fish’s “Wake Up” deals with this situation with details that build and build to create a rich story that will leave readers wondering how all that managed to be communicated in under 500 words.

Themes of community and connection are woven through the story. Put on Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” while the kids read and enjoy hearing them do the “la la la la la la” under their breaths.

• “Sticks” by George Saunders Every family has its own weird traditions. In this 392-word flash by master storyteller Saunders, the narrator’s father keeps a metal pole in the yard which he decorates for different holidays and events.

The ending is poignant and powerful, and it will spark a discussion of characterization and detail. The main character’s bitterness and subsequent transformation will resonate with students.

• “Where Are You?” by Joyce Carol Oates Oates is a prolific novelist, and students may have read her longer short stories such as the widely-anthologized and creeptastic, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” In this 523-word flash with another question as its title, the elderly couple suffers from an inability to communicate. The husband won’t wear his hearing aids, and the wife is exhausted by his habit of wandering the house, calling out to her.

Students should enjoy considering this depiction of a relationship in all its complexity. The twist at the end is shocking and apt for lots of discussion.

• “The School” by Donald Barthelme At slightly over 1,200 words, Barthelme focuses on the lives and deaths that take place in a school classroom and its community. It starts in a normal day at school with the narrator-teacher talking about how the students are planting orange trees But trees die, just like snakes die. Mice, salamanders, gerbils, dogs, students, their parents… everything and everyone dies. The students start asking questions, and a theme emerges about the meaning of life. The casual, matter-of-fact tone of this piece makes it even more funny than the events being chronicled.

If your class is tackling surrealism or magical realism, this story can be a gateway or a backloading opportunity. Students will also enjoy talking about the big issues in life that are as ineffable as they are incomprehensible.

• “As the North Wind Howled” by Yu Hua It’s a longer story at 1,371 words, but after the slow, contemplative pace of the first couple of paragraphs in which the main character wakes up and spends time observing items in his room, things pick up with a knock at the door. “So that was how, on this lousy morning, a muscleman kicked down my door and lumbered me with a friend I had no interest in having—a friend who was about to die, no less. What’s more, the north wind was howling like a banshee outside. I had no overcoat or scarf, no gloves or hat—all I was wearing was a thin jacket as I went off to visit this friend I knew absolutely nothing about.”

It’s a strange little story that’s great for discussing plot structure, conflict, and themes of community, connection, and grief.

Some Final Thoughts About Using Flash Fiction in the Classroom

The above list includes titles that have been tried and tested by experienced English teachers, but it’s absolutely not an exhaustive list. Online literary magazines that feature flash fiction such as Flash Fiction Online, Word Riot, Everyday Fiction, and Smokelong Quarterly, just to name a few, are treasure troves for teachers to access high quality work for students to enjoy. For many students, flash fiction is a gateway to literature that they can not only enjoy in the classroom but also find on their own. As you try titles from this list in your classroom, explore others by the authors you learn to love and the online magazines that feature many other fantastic flashes.

1 thought on “20 Super-Short Stories Your Students Will Love”

I really appreciated this list. it included stories I was unaware of. I look for literature that my students may not have been exposed to before so that they don’t feel like they are reading the same texts over and over again.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• General English

Do you enjoy reading stories?

Reading short stories in English is a great way to improve your language level. In this section, read our short stories that were specially written for English language learners. There are two sections, one for lower level learners (A2/B1) and one for higher levels (B2/C1). 

You will improve your reading fluency and comprehension and develop your vocabulary. Each story has interactive exercises to help you understand and use the language.

A2–B1 stories

B2–C1 stories

Improve your english skills in social situations.

For more support in improving your English skills for social situations, explore our selection of online courses featuring lots of helpful learning resources.

Practise speaking socially with your classmates in live group classes, get support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise by yourself at your own pace with a self-study course.

Explore courses

Online courses

Group and one-to-one classes with expert teachers.

Learn English in your own time, at your own pace.

One-to-one sessions focused on a personal plan.

Get the score you need with private and group classes.  

Tim's Free English Lesson Plans

Use them, share them, comment on them, and share my link in return.

Tag: short stories

Proficiency book club: the waterfall by h e bates.

This is a series of lesson plans for proficiency level students based around stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A. S. Byatt. Set the story as homework the week before, encourage students to bring any vocabulary questions to class.

The Waterfall tells the story of a repressed reverend’s daughter trying to cope with the emotions and sentiments of life and love. These feelings are symbolised by the waterfall in her garden which is being renovated. The breaking of the damn and the water surging down the waterfall could symbolise the release of all her bottled up affections and feelings towards her husband and the jovial Mr. Phillips who has been staying with the family.

Download this lesson plan here:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!383&authkey=!AJRdYjvoRf1OhyM

First copy to the board or project the vocabulary table in the attachment above, students must try to match the new vocab to the definition.

Key: 1 – g, 2 – d, 3 – a, 4 – b, 5 – j, 6 – e, 7 – f, 8 – I, 9 – h, 10 – c.

Once they have matched the vocab give them 5 minutes to find the vocabulary in the text, make it a race, the first team to find all 10 wins.

Then discuss the following discussion questions:

Discussion Questions:

• What happens in the story?
• How would you describe the characters? Straight-laced. Prim and proper, repressed, damaged,
• What does the waterfall represent?
• How do you feel about Rose? Do you sympathise with her?
• How do you think she feels about her new husband?
• How do you think she feels about Phillips?
• Do you think people are more or less emotionally repressed these days?
• Do you think this is a good or bad thing?

Proficiency Book Club: A Widow’s Quilt by Sylvia Townsend Warner

This is a series of lesson plans for proficiency level students based around stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A. S. Byatt. Set the story as homework the week before, encourage students to bring any vocabulary questions to class.

Here is some vocab that your students might have trouble with:

• the box – the television
• parlour – a room in a kitchen where food is stored and prepared
• applique quilts – patchwork quilts
• rook – black bird and chess piece
• blacking out curtains – heavy curtains used during world war two to block light from the windows of the houses
• taffeta – material made from silk
• to snatch – to take something from another person aggressively
• jolt – a sudden violent movement
• drudgery – a boring, difficult job
• fidgeting / to fidget – to move comfortably and nervously
• to thwart – to prevent the completion of something
• a harlot – a whore / prostitute
• to grimace – to make an angry / annoyed face

Have your students discuss these questions in small groups or as a class:

• Can you describe the characters?
• What do you think of Charlotte?
• How do you think she feels in her marriage? Trapped?
• What do her actions say about the position of women in the time the story was written?
• What do you think of Everard?
• How do you feel for him at the end?
• How do you feel for Charlotte?
• How can you explain the ending?
• Charlotte takes on the challenge of making the quilt, how important is it to have challenges and things to focus your attention on in life? Different stages of life. Things to look forward to etc.

Proficiency Book Club: The Troll by T. H. White

Here is a matching exercise for some of the more difficult vocabulary in the story. Have the students complete the exercise in pairs.

Here you can download the table to print:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!358&authkey=!AOgTwYv1J95mH4E

Here are the answers:

• a – 3
• b – 11
• c – 7
• d – 12
• e – 10
• f – 8
• g – 4
• h – 1
• i – 5
• j – 6
• k – 9
• l – 2

Here are the locations of the words in the text and some sentence examples:

• ungainly – bottom of pg 346
• blurry – actual reference is blurring at the bottom of pg 347
• beside the point – middle of pg 348, other sentences example: “He is a nice man, but that’s beside the point; he’s rubbish at his job.”
• bog – bottom of 348
• to ford – bottom of 348
• bow – bottom of 348 in relation to a “bow wave”
• stern – isn’t in the text but is a counterpoint to “bow”
• to wring out – top of 349, wring is irregular – wring wrung wrung.
• come to grips with something – middle of 351, other sentence examples: “We must all get to grips with this tragedy” “If you are going to be an executive you need to get to grips with your fear of public speaking.”
• wizened – middle of 351
• to earmark st – bottom of 351, other sentence example: “this money is earmarked for the Christmas party”

Ask students for any other vocab issues they have.

Discussion Questions

Discuss these questions in groups or as a class:

• What does the troll represent?
• Why does the story have a framing device? (a story within a story) What does it add to the story?
• Some analysts say the story is religious, the character’s latent Christianity defeating the Troll, do you agree?
• What do you think of the gory imagery of the troll?
• How do you explain the ending?
• What other mythical creatures can you think of? (vampires, werewolves, zombies etc.)
• Why do you think these monsters are so popular? Why do people keep writing stories about them?
• Which ones frightened you most as a child? Which ones still scare you now?
• What do you think are the origins of these creatures?

Proficiency Book Club: An Englishman’s Home by Evelyn Waugh

This is the latest in a series of lesson plans for proficiency level students based around short stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories edited by A. S. Byatt. This one is based on “An Englishman’s Home” by Evelyn Waugh, you can read the story for free here:

http://novel.tingroom.com/html/29/149.html

As with the other plans in this series, students read the story for homework and then bring any vocabulary queries or new words they discover to class. Start by asking for these queries. Here are some pieces of vocabulary that might come up in class:

I opened the class by teaching the following 2 expressions: “An Englishman’s home is his castle” and “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) two expressions which neatly sum up the various themes in the story.

aphorisms (page 295)  = sayings / idioms

to wreak stark havoc (296) = to cause chaos

ha-ha (296) = a type of fence built at the bottom of a ditch so that it’s not visible from the house’s windows

Crown Derby (297) = A type of expensive ceramic, plates etc.

impecunious (297) = poor, no money

to pull your weight (298) = to do your share of communal work

to eschew (298) = to avoid

The Peace Ballot (298) = a national survey carried out in 1934-35

jerry builders (302) = cheap unskilled builders

to put / pull a fast one over on somebody (309) = to trick / cheat somebody

to mope (309) = to complain and be worried about something

to fret (309) = to be worried and nervous

• What do you think of the characters?
• What does the story say about people?
• Does anybody come out of it looking good?
• The story talks a lot about manners and maintaining appearances, do you think these things are as important in your country?
• We see Mr. Metcalf trying to follow the instructions on how to live as a country gentleman should. Do you think lots of people act like this in real life? Do they try to act as society expects them to act? Can you think of any examples?
• The story reflects English village life very accurately, can you see parallels with villages in your country?
• What does the expression NIMBY mean? Do you see examples of NIMBY attitudes in your country? Can you think of any examples?
• In the book we see the residents of the village cheated out of their money, what other similar confidence scams and tricks can you think of?

Students may be interested to read about the life of the writer Evelyn Waugh, here is his wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh

His most famous book “Brideshead Revisited” has been adapted for the screen twice, the 1981 small screen mini series garnered an excellent response from critics.

Proficiency Book Club: Nuns at Luncheon by Aldous Huxley

This a series of posts for proficiency level students based around short stories taken from “The Oxford Book of Short Stories” edited by A.S Byatt.

This lesson plan is based on “Nuns at Luncheon” by Aldous Huxley. Start by addressing any vocabulary issues the students might have.There is a lot of new vocabulary in this story so try to keep this section as brief as possible to leave time for the discussion. Here is a brief run down of some things that might need explaining.

a hare – a kind of  large rabbit

a mixed grill – a plate of assorted types of grilled meat

gaudy / gaudily – tasteless, lots of bright colours

to wriggle out of st – to escape from a responsibility – my students try to wriggle out of doing their homework

to talk shop – to talk about your job / studies during free time

gallows – the place where people are hanged (see also gallows humour)

the plot thickens – expression meaning that something becomes more complicated or interesting

to harness – to capture and use the power of something – windmills harness the power of the wind

folly – stupidity

the coast is clear – expression meaning nobody is watching

to rule with an iron rod – to be very strict

chaste – pure / innocent

to shuffle off this mortal coil – expression from Shakespeare’s Hamlet meaning to die.

to wallow – to immerse yourself in something, usually in something bad – pigs and hippos wallow in mud, people sometimes wallow in self-pity.

to savour something – to enjoy something and try and make it last longer

the Norns – Nordic goddesses of destiny

sullen – moody, sad

to gloat – to show a lot of self-satisfaction about something, usually at someone else’s expense.

to trudge / to tramp – to walk with heavy feet as if you are tired

dingy – badly lit, dirty

• What’s the story about?
• How did it make you feel?
• The story uses a framing device (a story within a story), what effect does this have?
• What happens in the story of the nun?
• Why does the nun run away with the man? For love? Or to save his soul?
• What does the story say about our fascination with tragedy?
• In English we have the expression “car crash TV /cinema” what do you think it means? (shows or films that deliberately show disturbing material to get a reaction or higher viewing figures.)
• Do you think the media exploits other people’s tragedies for higher viewing figures? Can you think of any examples? (Oscar Pistorius trial)
• Based on the events in the story and the repeated scandals involving priests do you think that celibacy is realistic in today’s society?

Zombie Apocalypse Training 101, with Steven Seagal

Need help getting teenage students to produce compositions? Why not try this great warm up game from my friend Magistra Monson. The idea is you take clippings from real news stories and use them as a jumping off point for creative or argumentative writing. The class works as a team adding a paragraph each to the story with hilarious consequences. Definitely an idea I’m gonna use in my next teen class, or even with adults. You can download different introductory paragraphs from Magistra’s blog.

This has actually helped inspire a pipe dream I have for a new blog based around crowd sourced short stories. The working title at the moment is “Crowd Shorts” watch this space………………………. and pay attention to big Steve, that guys knows his onions.

freeenglishlessonplans.com

Proficiency book club, lesson 3: The Toys of Peace by Saki

This lesson is a short discussion based around “The Toys of Peace” by Saki, a short satirical story about two parents attempts to influence their young boy’s playing habits. For this series of classes I am using short stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A. S. Byatt. If you don’t have a copy of the book most of the short stories are available for free online. This particular short story is available here:

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ToysPeac.shtml

As with the other lessons in this series the story is set of homework the previous week. The first 5-10 minutes of the class are spent going over any vocabulary issues. This is then followed by a discussion based on the themes and issues which arise in the story.

The author Hector Hugh Munro is considered to be one of the masters of the short story. Many of his works were published posthumously following his death in World War 1. His wikipedia page may prove useful for the class discussion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saki

After going through any vocabulary problems (there shouldn’t be many as the story only runs to 5 pages) have the students discuss the following questions, either in small groups or as a whole class:

Discussion: Toys of Peace

• What was your initial reaction to it?
• Describe the characters.
• What do you think of the parents attempt to influence their children?
• Do you think they are well-meaning? Or deluded?
• What toys did you play with as a child?
• Did your parents ban anything they thought would have a bad influence on you? Toys? TV shows? Etc.
• Do you agree with the expression “boys will be boys”?
• Do you think children should play with toy weapons?
• Should girls be given typically girly toys? Dolls, makeup etc.
• Are there any toys / games / other things that you think are a bad influence on children or young people
• Should these things be banned?
• The story is an example of satire. What do you think it is satirising?
• What satirical programs / writers / magazines etc. do you have in your country?

Next week: Nuns at Luncheon by Aldous Huxley

Proficiency book club, lesson 2: Solid Objects by Virginia Woolf

This is the second part of a series of posts based around stories from “The Oxford Book of English Short Stories” edited by A.S Byatt. This particular class is based on “Solid Objects” by Virginia Woolf, pages 205-209.

As before set the story as reading homework for the week before.

If you don’t have a copy of the book someone has helpfully uploaded it in pdf here:

Click to access SOLID%20OBJECTS,%20Virginia%20Woolf.pdf

This analytical essay by Sam Mitchell about the works of Virginia Woolf may prove useful. It’s a little heavy as it’s an honours thesis but has some useful insights into the story.

https://dspace.lasrworks.org/bitstream/handle/10349/958/2011ENG-MitchellSam.pdf?sequence=1

Lesson Plan:

Start by asking the students for vocabulary problems. Woolf’s style can be confusing so some sections could require a little explanation. Some vocabulary that might cause problems is listed below:

lunging – to lunge, to move towards in a swift movement

tweed – woven material used to make clothes

to fling – to throw without care

to be to hand – to be within reach

to slash – to cut or mark something

to skim – to touch the surface of something lightly

slate – material used to make rooves

to hitch up a sleeve – to roll up or move higher to protect

moat – water around a castle

mantelpiece – surface above a fireplace where objects are kept

on the brink – on the edge

trifling – unimportant

to be cast down – to be depressed

matted – tangled into a lump

Lots of the vocabulary in the story can be used in various contexts, be sure to explore these fully. For example: fling – to have a fling (short sexual relationship)

Once you have cleared up any vocab issues hand out the following discussion questions:

1. Can you describe the characters?

2. What happens in the story?

3. What was your initial reaction to the story?

4. Did you feel sorry for John? Or bemused?

5. What strikes you about the introduction?

6. How can you explain John’s behaviour?

7. What do the objects represent?

8. Do you have any lucky charms? Did you have any when you were a child?

9. Do you collect anything?

10. Did you collect things when you were a child?

Either put the students into small groups to discuss the questionsand then feedback or have an open class discussion.

Here are some ideas and themes that could help fuel discussion:

Story written in 1918 towards the end of World War one. The idea of objects lasting longer than men, so many people died in the war and all that came back were objects: letters, belongings, clothes etc.

The idea of the permanance of objects and the transcience of people. The desire for permanance, ever lasting life.

The simplicity of the objects as pure pieces of different materials and also the mystery surrounding what they used to be.

Follow up: Homework composition about travelling

This is a homework activity written to follow my previous lesson plan about holidays and traveling here is the link to the original lesson plan:

http://freeenglishlessonplans.com/2013/01/30/holidays-and-travelling-conversation-class/

Here is a link to download the handout for homework:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!300&authkey=!AMJLj8z2NbQgFFI

A travel magazine is running a competition for travel articles about different types of holidays / ways to travel for young people.

Choose 1 type of holiday / way to travel from the class handout and write an article about why it’s good for young people. Include:

• An interesting introduction to catch the reader’s attention. Include direct questions.
• Pros and cons of your chosen subject.
• Reasons why you recommend it to other young people.
• You can include (invented) anecdotes.

Composition: Short story, Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

This is a homework exercise to practice past narrative tenses for intermediate to advanced students (B1-C1) based on the picture above. Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

Download the handout here:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!294&authkey=!AJdNI7pP–88YxQ

Composition short story

Write a short story (120-150 words) based on this picture.

• Who are these people?
• Where is the story set? When is it set?
• What are they doing?
• What has happened before this moment?
• What happens next? (think of an exciting ending)

Generally stories are written in the past so use a selection of past tenses:

• Past continuous to describe the scene, “The couple were sat at the bar talking and drinking.”
• Past simple to describe actions in sequence: “The man paid his bill, put on his jacket and left the bar.”
• Past perfect to describe actions that happened before this moment: “The man had been drinking in another bar before”
• Mixture of past tenses to describe different actions: “As the man was putting on his jacket, the phone rang…..”

Competition!!!

Open to teachers or students. If you are a teacher send your best student’s story, or if you are a student your story to me at: [email protected] and I’ll post it to my page for all to see!

eslwriting.org

A panoply of teaching resources.

Short Stories for ESL Students

Everybody knows reading is good for language learners, but what do you do with students who aren’t ready for full-length books? Try short stories. Here are 4 fun quick reads that work well with intermediate+ students.

Short Stories in the ESL Class

How can teachers maximize the value of short stories? Here are two suggestions.

ESL Conversation Class

This pair work activity combines reading, speaking and listening skills.

Choose two stories. Assign reading homework to students. Half the students read Story A and the other half read Story B.

Next class, pair up students with different stories. Each student summarizes his or her story. The summary should include a description of character, plot and setting.

Encourage students to offer their own views about the story. For example:

• did they like it, or not (with reasons)
• describe the parts that were particularly interesting
• engage with the story by asking questions about the characters and their motivations (e.g. Why did the woman want to kill her husband?)

ESL Writing Class

Short stories can be used as models. They show students what is possible in terms of creative ideas and story organisation. But first, students need to notice these things.

Here’s a noticing activity. Assign a short story as reading homework. Ask students to complete two tasks.

• summarize the character, plot and setting
• analyze the text according to the 6+1 writing traits

The analysis asks students to understand the 6+1 writing traits (pre-teach) and point out good examples from the text for each trait (maybe not presentation, the seventh trait).

Why bother with the 6+1 writing traits? Because they provide students with a clear answer to the question: what is good writing?

Short Stories

1.  death by scrabble by charlie fish (1280 words, high beginner).

Is Scrabble a dangerous game? Get the answer in this delightful short story.

Three features make it a great piece to study with students in the ESL writing class.

• watch how two different sets of action can be blended into a single plot
• notice how the writer uses small details to foreshadow a future event
• be amazed by a surprise ending

2.  The Case of the Lower Case Letter  by Jack Delany (598 words, advanced)

If some of your students are eager to try crime writing, here’s a great model. It’s short, so it lacks a lot of the subtle detail which you might find in a novel with Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. But because it’s short, it’s easy for ESL students to follow.

It’s a crime story, so expect the usual elements – a dead gentleman, a widow, a mysterious letter and a coffee sipping sleuth in Starbucks – along with a terrific pivot point which could be emulated by adventurous students in the class.

3.  Witches’ Loaves  by O. Henry (1265 words, advanced)

Here’s an excellent model for an ESL class that is writing creative stories.  Writing in the third person, the author generates a lot of descriptive detail by telling us what the main character is thinking. This is instructive because ESL students often write stories driven by action rather than character reflection or over-simplified internal motivation.

This delightful story also demonstrates how a small clever twist can create an impactful ending.

The only part of the story which I don’t like, from the perspective of a language teacher, is that a small amount of the dialogue is written in English with a German accent. That, in itself, is not bad; it just adds a small amount of text confusion. Pre-teaching a few of those words would probably go a long way to aiding student comprehension.

4.  After Twenty Years by O. Henry (1263 words, high beginner)

A straightforward plot with a terrific end. It’s the tale of two young friends who follow separate paths in search of fortune. Before setting out on their respective journeys, they agree to meet up again in twenty years. Well, that time has arrived and one man has returned to the agreed-upon spot at the agreed upon time.

For the ESL writing class, this is a good model because it shows students how to use dialogue to drive the plot.

4 thoughts on “Short Stories for ESL Students”

Great! Thanks a lot.

This is going to be so helpful. I was only yesterday telling students that reading for fun will help their speaking and writing. Thanks for reading my mind!!!

Great resource. I spend so much time looking for good short stories for my HS Sheltered English class. Thanks for sharing your hard work.

Thank you for your hard work but my experience working with most ELL’s is that many have low reading levels , especially if they have been in the U.S. for 4 years or less. Many have 2nd/3rd grade reading levels and this material would be very difficult and time consuming if this were attempted to translate.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

May 16, 2018: Alternative Word‐Search Method for ESL YES = At a new tab, type: site:eslyes.com word OR type: site:eslyes.com "exact words"

WELCOME TO ESL YES!

1,600 FREE Short Stories for English Learners,

with Exercises, Audio, Grade Level.

A Family‐Friendly Site

E‐Books "English Learner 500 Short Stories for Beginner‐Intermediate" Vols. 1 and 2 only 99¢ each! (iPhone or Android) at Amazon-Kindle .

We use cookies on this site to optimize site functionality and give you the best possible experience. By using this site, you accept our use of cookies. Learn more

Don't have an Account? Register Now!

Forgot Password

English for intermediate learners (ii).

1 Sara Went Shopping

2 Man Injured at Fast Food Place

3 A Life-Saving Cow

4 Driver Loses Mabel, Finds Jail

5 Jerry Decided To Buy a Gun

6 Freeway Chase Ends at Newsstand

7 Better To Be Unlucky

8 Food Fight Erupted in Prison

9 Wanted To Know How His Pig's Doing

10 Goats Being Hired

11 A Missing Cat

12 Book Him

13 Water Under the Sink (Part One)

14 Water Under the Sink (Part Two)

15 Theft Occurs Everywhere

16 Eggs and a Bunny

17 Hotel Says Goodbye to Clean Couple

18 $100 Deposit

19 Books Don't Grow on Trees

20 A Murder-Suicide

All Formats

Resource types, all resource types.

• Rating Count
• Price (Ascending)
• Price (Descending)
• Most Recent

Free short stories homework

Reading Comprehension Strategies MEGA Bundle | Social Emotional Learning | ELA

Step up to Writing Inspired Narrative Writing Bundle

Poetry Writing Bundle with Interactive Notebook & Lapbook

CVC Words Worksheets: Decodable CVC Reading Comprehension Passages

Phonics Reading Passages for Fluency & Comprehension - Blends - FREE PREVIEW!

Phonics Reading Passages for Fluency & Comprehension - Long Vowels - PREVIEW!

Reading Comprehension Passages & Questions Differentiated FICTION FREE

Reading Comprehension: Sequence of Events Passages | FREEBIE

Reading Passages for Fluency and Comprehension - Digraphs - FREE PREVIEW!

FREEBIE - Benchmark Advance 2nd Grade Fluency Passages (2017- 2022)

Comprehension/ Fluency Passages + Running Records- Beginners - PREVIEW!

First Grade Word Work | Science of Reading | Digital Option - Free Sample

• Easel Activity

Benchmark Advance Reading Passages First Grade Unit 1

Easy Reading for Reading Comprehension in Spanish - spec. edit. - Hygine FREE

"Night of the Volcano" Reading Comprehension Practice Passage w/ Questions

Story Elements Characters and Settings Worksheet FREEBIE

Reading Comprehension: Read and Respond Passages | FREEBIE

AR stories for articulation

2nd Grade Word Work Activities (weekly) w/ Digital Option-FREE Distance Learning

• Internet Activities

Winter Main Idea, Inferencing, Details, Retell & Vocabulary: Speech Therapy

The Bad Seed Worksheet

• Word Document File

Short Stories & Pictures Writing Prompts, 2 Writing and 2 response options

Short Story Sequencing Retelling with Pictures for pre-k, reading comprehension

PREFIXES Morphology Lesson & Decodable | Advanced Phonics FREEBIE

{Read, Write and Respond} Fluency, Comprehension & Questioning - PREVIEW!

Valentines Day Reading Comprehension Passages and Questions 3rd Grade Nonfiction

Fantasy Reading Comprehension Passages

CVCe Decodable Worksheet- Depth of Knowledge Levels 1&2

• We're hiring
• Help & FAQ
• Privacy policy
• Student privacy
• Terms of service
• Tell us what you think

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience.

13 Entertaining ESL Homework Ideas to Keep Your Students Engaged

Homework may not be many students’ favorite thing, but research says it’s truly an effective learning tool that teachers should use .

The trick is assigning great homework.

To help you do this with ease, we’ve compiled an awesome list of 13 homework assignments that will have your ESL students begging for more.

1. Read a Short Story

2. share a passion, 3. start a chat group, 4. listen to a podcast, 5. write a letter, 6. write an amazon review, 7. do a wikipedia edit, 8. write a short story or poem, 9. share their culture, 10. catch a movie, 11. meet new people, 12. analyze a song, 13. go on a photo scavenger hunt, what makes homework effective.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Have students read a short story for homework and then ask them to tell the class about the story in the next session.

I would recommend giving students some suggestions on what short stories to read, depending on the level of your students.

Here are some suggestions of short story collections for each level of ESL learner:

• “The Very First Americans” by Cara Ashrose: This collection of short stories features Native American culture and history, written in simple language.
• “Oxford Bookworms Library: Starter Level” This series offers simplified versions of classic stories, such as fairy tales, adventure stories and more.
• “Classic Tales for ESL Students” by L.A. Hill: This collection of classic stories from literature is retold with easier vocabulary and sentence structure.

Intermediate

• “The Best American Short Stories” This series features contemporary short stories from a wide range of American writers, so there’s something for everyone here.
• “Short Stories in English for Intermediate Learners” by Olly Richards: This collection of engaging stories is designed specifically for intermediate ESL students.
• “Roald Dahl: The Collected Short Stories” This delightful collection of quirky and imaginative tales has become a favorite of many of my students.
• “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri: This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories explores the immigrant experience, something which many ESL students can relate to.
• “Dubliners” by James Joyce: This classic collection of interconnected stories captures the essence of Dublin in 1914. But it still feels modern to many students.
• “Nine Stories” by J.D. Salinger: This classic collection of short stories is a class favorite when I’ve used it.

What do your students really care about? Give them a chance to talk about it in front of the class. 

Have each person choose something they’re passionate about, something they might consider themselves an expert on.

Challenge students to think of a creative way to present five must-know facts about that subject. They might make a movie, create a poster or brochure, write a song or even put on a skit.

Have each person present their creative project to the class, and then give the class five minutes to ask questions of the presenter.

Set certain parameters like students must speak in complete sentences or require that every student ask at least two questions at some point during the presentations.

Students will love sharing about their passions, and they’ll get some great speaking, listening and discourse information in the process, as well as teach the rest of the class some interesting vocabulary.

Ask for class for a volunteer to start a class WhatsApp chat group. They can also decide to use another messaging app like Telegram, Viber, Voxer or any other app that has a group chat function. 

Encourage them to send at least one message and to respond to a couple others for their homework. 

This text group has the added advantage of students being able to make friends with one another, and a place to ask about missed homework assignments on days when they can’t make it to class.

Note that if a student doesn’t want to be included in the chat group, you should have a back up assignment prepared for them.

Listening is one of the ESL student’s most difficult skills to acquire, so listening to a short podcast episode is ideal homework.

You can ask students to write a little about the podcast to turn in to you, or you can ask them to briefly summarize what they heard for the class in the next session.

Here are some suggestions for well done podcasts:

The English We Speak : Produced by the BBC, this podcast focuses on teaching commonly used phrases and idioms in conversational English.

The Moth : A storytelling podcast where real people share their personal experiences and anecdotes in English.

Stuff You Should Know : Though not specifically designed for ESL students, this podcast covers a vast array of interesting topics, providing exposure to diverse vocabulary and subject matters.

Ask your students to write a letter . The letter can be written to a friend or family member (which they could then actually mail or email), or it could be a fan letter to a favorite musician or actor. They could even write a letter to Santa Claus or a historical figure. 

For example, a student might choose to write a letter to Marie Antoinette, asking her what it was like to be the queen of France at such a young age. 

You can also choose to have students write letters to one another. Then the next homework can be writing that letter writer back.

Ask you students to review a product on Amazon (or any other shopping website that has reviews). Ask them to select a product they have really used, so they have a genuine opinion on the quality of the product and whether it lived up to their expectations.

Then, in the next session, show the reviews on the overhead projector to the class and ask a student to read the review.

You can then go over any errors in vocabulary, grammar or sentence structure and revise the review together as a class.

Since anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, it’s a great place for ESL students to hone their writing and editing skills, and they’ll have a built-in readership, too!

Ask students to select a person that they know a lot about—a well-known figure from history, pop culture, music or film would all work. Then ask them to read the Wikipedia entry to see if they can add anything else to the article.

Perhaps the article on Ryan Gosling is missing a key detail about his recent Ken performance. If so, the student will revise and edit the article. They should take notes on what they changed, so they can explain it to you or the class the next day.

Ask your students to get creative. Have them write a short story or a poem . This can get them to use descriptive language that they don’t always have a chance to use.

One good activity to do before you assign this homework is an adjective bubble chart. For this, you start with one adjective. For example, write “moist” on the board, circle it and then draw 4-5 lines coming off of the”moist” bubble.

Ask your students to come up with other adjectives that are related to “moist” and so on. They may come up with “wet,” “watery,” “soaked” or “damp.” Then draw lines from each of those. This can lead to words that you never expected to come up.

Have your students select 3-4 adjectives from this introduction activity that they’ll use in their story or poem.

Ask your students to prepare a short presentation on an aspect of their home culture to tell the class about in the next session. 

For example, a student from China may explain the Lunar New Year, a student from Vietnam may explain Tet or a student from El Salvador may tell the class about their quinceañera .

They can use photos, art, a PowerPoint presentation or they can just explain in their own words.

Then open the class up for questions.

Can you legitimately send students to the movies for homework? You can when you’re teaching ESL.

Your students don’t have to commit to a full-length movie. Instead, you can use the videos on FluentU to screen mini-lessons using clips from TV shows and movies, movie trailers, news segments, vlogs or music videos.

Use these videos in the classroom or assign homework to watch a few and complete the subsequent quizzes. You can also ask students to complete flashcard quizzes based on vocabulary words you want them to pay special attention to. These quizzes are adaptable so every student will have a unique experience catered to his learning level.

There are plenty of ways to use a movie for language development. And whether students watch a new release or catch an old Elvis flick on TV, they can do any of the following activities as homework:

• Summarize the plot.
• Describe a main character.
• Note new or interesting vocabulary (particularly slang) they hear while watching.
• Write an interview with one of the characters in the movie.

I’m sure you also have your favorite movie-related language activities and many work as homework assignments. So get creative with how you have students share about what they watched.

For the most part, people are willing to help someone in need, and that is doubly true for someone who needs to complete an assignment for school.

That’s why sending students out to interview native speakers on campus is such a fun homework assignment.

Start by helping your students write a list of questions they’ll use for their interviews. Students can choose a topic or you can assign one, like leisure activities or celebrity news.

Tell students to list five to ten questions they might ask on that topic that will elicit specific answers. 

As a class, discuss how students might introduce themselves to a potential interviewee. 

Then send students out to their interviews after class. They can share the answers they got in the next session.

Music is great for English learners since it stresses many aspects of language that can otherwise be hard to isolate, like the emotion of language, intonation and stress.

Have students choose their favorite English language song to listen to for homework and then ask them to do the following:

• Practice the lyrics to learn intonation and rhythm.
• Note slang and cultural references in the songs.
• Summarize the theme of the song, or just what it’s about.
• Have students share their favorite lyrics and what a particular song means to them.

Give individual students or groups of up to three students a list of items to find on their homework scavenger hunt. But instead of being specific in your list (for example, including items such as cat), be descriptive in your list.

You might include items such as something frightening, something beautiful, something quiet, something cool.

Students find items they think fit the description. For example, someone who is claustrophobic might choose an elevator for something frightening. They then take a picture of it.

The next day, have each person get with a partner and show them the pictures they took for each item on the list.

If the connection is not obvious, students should ask their partner to explain why they chose a particular item, such as the elevator.

Assigning homework that works isn’t as hard as you might think, especially if you focus on the following points.

• Put your homework in writing. It can be tempting to just announce homework assignments to students at the end of class, but language learners benefit when you reinforce what you say with what they can see. So take a minute to write any homework assignment on the board so students can read it as well as listen to it.
• Let students know what goals you have for a particular assignment. Is it practicing a certain grammar point ? Improving their listening skills ? Pronunciation practice ? When students know why they’re doing something, they’ll be able to tell on their own when they’ve successfully completed their homework assignment.
• Keep your homework practical . Your students may not find themselves planning out a menu for Thanksgiving when they leave your ESL classroom, but odds are they’ll have to order food at a restaurant at some point. Think about realistic ways students will have to use English in the real world and try to make your homework practical.
• Let your students be creative . Give your students choices on how they express themselves or present information. It’s okay for students to make a home movie, put on a one-man play or paint a picture to present to the class. Just because you prefer a particular type of creative expression doesn’t mean your students do, so give them choices and let them express themselves.
• Make homework fun! Every class has its own personality, so what’s fun for one might not be fun for another. Tailor your assignments to the personality of your class. Think about what they would think is fun, and go with that.

No matter what you believed in your student days, homework doesn’t have to be boring. With a little creativity when assigning homework, you might find that the activities you assign for outside of class become the highlights of your students’ days.

Enter your e-mail address to get your free PDF!

We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe

• Added: 16/11/2021
• Course type: Advanced stories (B1-B2) , Beginner stories (A1-A2) , Intermediate stories (A2-B1)
• No Comments

A Selection of Our Best Short Stories in English: Level A1-A2-B1-B2

OUR BEST SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH

Hello and welcome!

Do you remember the first short story you ever read in your life? What was it like? Did you like it?

As for me, I cannot pinpoint a particular short story. All I remember is that my late mother used to bring us Greek mythology stories.

In fact, she worked as a secretary at the Polytechnic College in Malawi. Therefore, she had access to the university’s library, so she would get books for us every Friday.

I am forever grateful to her because she introduced me to one of my passions, which is reading and writing stories!

Later on, I would read my first novel “ Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë at the age of 9. It was such a wonderful and enriching experience.

It was not rare for me to spend days cooped up in my bedroom, exploring other worlds and, unknowingly, improving my level of English at the same time.

I published my first short story in a local newspaper when I was 12. I knew right then that I would choose a writing career when I grew up.

So far, I have self-published 7 books, one of which is a novel .

On top of that, I have also written several short stories in beginner , intermediate and advanced levels on this website.

Today, you will discover some of our most read short stories.

Beginner Short Stories : Level A1-A2

Below our best short stories in English written for beginners:

The Most Beautiful Garden: (Free)

Once upon a time, there was a rich family that lacked nothing except happiness. One day, a member of the family decided to do something about their situation.

The Old Witch and the Wish:   (For Subscribers)

Charles always meets an old woman on his way to school. She is very friendly to him but rumour has it that she is a witch! However, the old lady has a wish.

When Lions Come to Town: (For Subscribers)

This is a beginner short story about a courageous boy who learns to fight in a clever way with the help of his grandfather.

A Party in the Savannah:   (For Subscribers)

Things can really get wild in the savannah. What happens when the animals decide to have fun? Who is invited? Who is left out? What type of food do they eat? What do they drink? Read this surprising short story to find out!

Dreams Can’t Be Too Big: (For Subscribers)

We all have dreams and goals. They can be big or small; they can be achievable or not. What a pleasure it is when our dreams come true! This is a story about a boy who has such dreams. Will he be able to achieve them? Read on to find out!

Listen to one of our best short stories in English: Mangoes for Lydia

Intermediate short stories: level a2-b1.

Below our best short stories in English meant for intermediate learners:

A Job for Joe: (For Subscribers)

This is a heart-warming short story about a young man who has just received an employment offer. Nothing can ruin his happiness or almost…

The Last Piece of Chicken: (For Subscribers)

This is a funny short story about a boy who wants to get the last piece of chicken in the plate. He has a plan. Will it work? Read on to find out!

Things: (For Subscribers)

Tawonga is a twelve-year old girl who wants to become a journalist in the future. One day, four visitors from England make their way into her village. They have a surprise. ‘Things’ is an intermediate to advanced level short story about objects and their roles in our lives.

Nice to Meet You Father Christmas: (For Subscribers)

Luso and his friends want to write a letter to Father Christmas, the richest man in the world. They want to ask him for presents. They have never done this before. Will their letter reach the North Pole? Will they get their presents? Read this quirky intermediate short story to find out.

Beyond:   (For Subscribers)

Two people meet at the airport after a long, long time. Circumstances have brought them together for a common goal. Read this short story and follow this moving encounter while learning ‘Airport Vocabulary’ at the same time.

Listen to one of our best short stories in English: The Will

Advanced short stories: level b1-b2.

Below our best short stories in English which advanced students will surely love:

The Perfect Present: (For Subscribers)

Have you ever bought somebody a present and they destroyed it right in front of your eyes? Read this surprising short story and learn more about the Present Perfect . 

The Language of the Heart: (For Subscribers)

Sarah is a torn young woman who is getting to know the voice that resides within her heart. Learn vocabulary for self-talk and self-expression with this powerful motivational short story.

Unconditional Love: (For Subscribers)

A deeply moving story about a mother’s ‘unconditional love’ for her children. The story is set in a once-thriving village that is slowly losing its sons.

The Departure Lounge:  (For Subscribers)

Airports are busy places. Airport patrons are busier. Grace is a quiet and timid 23-year-old student on her way back to Paris. She doesn’t like travelling. A hot afternoon, a surly guard, a chance encounter and a dose of courage. What does it take for a young woman to change in an irrevocable way?

Welcome to Migodi, the City of Hope: (For Subscribers)

This is an inspirational story about the rebirth of a city that was once in decline. What brought about this incredible change? Who is responsible for this transformation?

Take advantage of this exceptional offer and subscribe to our website for free! Use this coupon code when checking out and you get a 100% discount!

Copy and paste this Coupon Code: X4I0FKCQMJ

Subscribe here .

Further Exploration: Our Best Short Stories in English

• English Short Story: The Will, with Modals or Modal Verbs, Level B1-B2, Learn English With Africa, February 2021
• English Grammar (Lesson 2): Very Short Stories with the Past Perfect Continuous Tense (Level A2-B1)
• English Short Story, The Astronaut from Bolero, with Great Vocabulary for Talking About Space, Level A1-A2
• English Short Story: Nice to Meet You Father Christmas, with Wonderful Vocabulary for Describing People, Level A2-B1

Watch: Learning Other Languages (How I Reached C2 Level in French). This video is in English and French.

In this video, I demonstrate how I was able to reach the C2 level in French. I worked hard but I also worked smart. Do you want to know how I did it? Watch to hear my story.

About the Author

Thandi Ngwira Gatignol is the founder of  Learn English With Africa . She was born on June 11th, 1981 in Blantyre, Malawi. When she was 19, she left her country of birth for France. She currently lives with her two daughters and husband in Poland.

Thandi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English studies obtained at the Université Paris X Nanterre in France and a Certificate in Journalism from Malawi. She has taught English as a French Ministry of Education certified teacher both in France and in Poland. She speaks six languages fluently, including French, Polish and Italian. She is now learning Kiswahili, German and Spanish.  Salt No More  is her debut novel and you can find her other books  here  on the website or on  Amazon .

Course Title:  A Selection of Our Best Short Stories in English: Level A1-A2-B1-B2  © Learn English With Africa, November 2021

Are you enjoying our courses?

See other advanced stories (b1-b2) , beginner stories (a1-a2) , intermediate stories (a2-b1).

• All Advanced stories (B1-B2) , Beginner stories (A1-A2) , Intermediate stories (A2-B1)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

See our newest resources:

Surprising Adverbs of Place!—A Stranger in Our Town, English Short Story (Level A1-A2)

Learn more about ADVERBS OF PLACE with this beginner short story! It is fascinating and fairly easy to read. If you love nature and talking about travelling then this short story will please you! You can also watch a video and download useful vocabulary charts!

Top Holiday Destinations in Africa and Europe: English Travel Vocabulary (Lesson 5): Which Super Country to Visit Next? (Level A1-A2)

In this last lesson of the travel vocabulary series, we talk about top holiday destinations in Africa and Europe. Are you curious to learn more about these amazing countries? I guess you are! Colourful charts are available for download! (Level A1-A2)

Fun Holiday Activities!—English Travel Vocabulary (Lesson 4): How to Describe Your Leisure Activities While You are on Vacation (Level A1-A2)

Fun holiday activities are a great way to spend time during vacation. Learn how to describe them in this lesson using LIKE and DO NOT LIKE. Many useful examples are given. Enjoy!

Windhoek!—English Travel Vocabulary (Lesson 3): How to Talk About the City You are Visiting Using Brilliant Adjectives (Level A1-A2)

Learn how to talk about the city you are visiting. We will use the example of the stunning city of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital city. There is a colourful vocabulary chart that you can download. Have fun! (Level A1-A2)

by Thandi Ngwira Gatignol

Inspired by African Culture from Malawi

If you have any questions, contact me and I will  be glad to answer them!  I usually reply within 24 hours so check your spam inbox as well.

Thandi Ngwira Gatignol, Content Creator

• [email protected]
• +48 695 490 951
• Rotmistrzowska 20B, 02-951, Warsaw, Poland
• +48 790 471 683

Contact form

© 2021 All Copyrights Reserved By Learn English With Africa.

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Web design: Digital Dumpling

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Submissions

Free Short Stories

We believe that the key to writing good short stories is reading good short stories.

Below, we have provided an ever-expanding selection of old and new short stories that are free to download.

Short story writers are listed alphabetically.

In 2020 we’ll be adding a wide range of new stories to read online.

Recently added stories will be fund at the top of the page.

Recently added

Aiken, Conrad ‘Silent Snow, Secret Snow’ (online read: c. 6000 words)

No adverts. No pop-ups. No Sign-ups.

That’s because we’re a very small, but passionate team who spend hundreds of hours curating resources such as these classic short stories. But we don’t just focus on the old. We’re also a paying market, publishing brilliant new work of fiction and non-fiction. Please do consider supporting us in whatever way you can, so we can maintain the work we do. Thank you.

Please support our work

Anderson, Sherwood ‘The Dumb Man’ (c. 500 words)

Ade, George ‘The Collision’ (c. 1500 words)

Ade, George ‘The Divine Spark’ (c. 1000 words)

Ade, George ‘The Juvenile and Mankind’ (c. 500 words)

Antsey, F. ‘Marjory’ (c. 8500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Bruce and the Spider’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘The Bell of Atri’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Casablanca’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Antonio Canova’ (c. 1000 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Arnold Winkelried’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘Doctor Goldsmith’ (c. 500 words)

Baldwin, James ‘The Endless Tale’ (c. 1000 words)

Balzac, Honore de ‘The Conscript’ (c. 6000 words)

Balzac, Honore de ‘Innocence’ (c. 1000 words)

Balzac, Honore de ‘The Devil’s Heir’ (c. 6500 words)

Bierce, Ambrose ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek’ (c. 3000 words)

Bierce, Ambrose ‘Oil of Dog’ (c. 1500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘Bankrupt’ (c. 7500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘Heartease’ (c. 3500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘The Advocate’ (c. 4500 words)

Brown, Alice ‘The End of All Living’ (c. 7000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘The Bet’ (c. 3000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘The Lottery Ticket’ (c. 2000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘About Love’ (c. 4000 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘An Actor’s End’ (c. 2500 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘Art’ (c. 2500 words)

Chekhov, Anton ‘An Avenger’ (c. 2000 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Blue Cross’ (c. 7500 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Bottomless Well’ (c. 6500 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Eye of Apollo’ (c. 6000 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The God of Gongs’ (c. 6000 words)

Chesterton, G. K.  ‘The Hammer of God’ (c. 6500 words)

Chesterton, G. K. ‘The Purple Wig’ (c. 5500 words)

Collins, Willie ‘A Fair Penitent’ (c. 4500 words)

Conrad, Joseph ‘An Anarchist’ (c. 8500 words)

Crane, Stephen ‘A Desertion’ (c. 1500 words)

Defoe, Daniel ‘The Apparition of Mrs Veal’ (c. 3500 words)

De Mille, James ‘The Artist of Florence’ (c. 7000 words)

De Quincey, Thomas ‘Love-Charm’ (c. 13,000 words)

De Quincey, Thomas ‘The Avenger’ (c. 19,000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Black Veil’ (c. 4500 words))

Dickens, Charles ‘Criminal Courts’ (c. 2000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘Down with the Taid’ (c. 4000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Ghost of Art’ (c. 2500 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Baron of Grogswig’ (c. 4000 words)

Dickens, Charles ‘The Child’s Story’ (c. 2000 words)

Dahl, Roald ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ (c. 3000 words)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor ‘The Dreams of a Ridiculous Man’ (c. 8500 words)

Eliot, T. S. ‘Eeldrop and Appleplex’ (c. 3000 words)

Eggleston, Edward ‘A Basement Story’ (c. 6500 words)

Eggleston, Edward ‘Adventures in Alaska’ (c. 1500 words)

Eliot, George ‘Brother Jacob’ (c. 17,000 words)

Field, Eugene ‘Daniel and the Devil’ (c. 3000 words)

Field, Eugene ‘Death and the Soldier’ (c. 1500 words)

Flaubert, Gustave ‘The Dance of Death’ (c. 3000 words)

Freeman, Mary ‘A New England Nun’ (c. 5000 words)

Galsworthy, John ‘The Knight’ (c. 13,000 words)

Galsworthy, John ‘The Stoic’ (c. 30,000 words)

Goldsworthy, John ‘The Silence’ (c. 8000 words)

Goethe, Johann ‘New Paris’ (c. 5500 words)

Gogol, Nikolai ‘The Clash’ (c. 4500 words)

Gaskell, Elizabeth ‘An Accursed Race’ (c. 6500 words)

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ (c. 6000 words)

Greene, Graham ‘The End of the Party’ ( c. 3500 words)

Gissing, George ‘A Capitalist’ (c. 5500 words)

Gissing, George ‘The House Of Cobwebs’ (c. 8000 words)

Gissing, George ‘The Salt of the Earth’ (c. 4000 words)

Hardy, Thomas ‘The Grave by the Handpost’ (c. 4000 words)

Hardy, Thomas ‘The Three Strangers’ c. 8500 words)

Harte, Bret ‘An Heiress of a Red Dog’ (c. 5500 words)

Harte, Bret ‘Under Karl’ (c. 6500 words)

Harte, Bret ‘Who Was My Quiet Friend?’ (c. 3000 words)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel ‘The Wedding-Knell’ (c. 3000 words)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel ‘The Ambitious Guest’ (c. 3500 words)

Henry, O ‘The Gift of the Magi’ (c. 2000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘Conspiracy of the Cocked Hats’ (c. 2000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘Little Britain’ (c. 5000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘The Bermudas’ (c. 2500 words)

Irving, Washington ‘The Birds of Spring’ (c. 2000 words)

Irving, Washington ‘The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow’ (c. 12,000 words)

Ing, Charles ‘Tight Squeeze’ (c. 6000 words)

Ingelow, Jean ‘A Last Want’ (c. 8000 words)

Ingelow, Jean ‘The Prince’s Dream’ (c. 3500 words)

Please support us.

Jacobs, W. W. ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ (c. 4000 words)

James, M. R. ‘Lost Hearts’ (c. 4000 words)

Jerome, Jerome K. ‘The Man Who Did Not Believe In Luck’ (c. 3000 words)

Joyce, James ‘Araby’ (c. 2500 words)

Joyce, James ‘A Little Cloud’ (c. 5000 words)

Joyce, James ‘After the Race’ (c. 2000 words)

Joyce, James ‘An Encounter’ (c. 3500 words)

Joyce, James ‘Counterparts’ (c. 4000 words)

Joyce, James ‘Eveline’ (c. 2000 words)

Joyce, James ‘The Boarding House’ (c. 3000 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘How the Leopard got his Spots’ (c. 2000 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘Wireless’ (c. 6500 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘A Bank Fraud (c. 2500 words)

Kipling, Rudyard ‘Beyond the Pale’ (c. 2000 words)

King, Charles ‘Starlight Man’ (c. 9500 words)

King, Charles ‘Van’ (c. 8000 words)

Lawrence, D. H. ‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’ (c. 7500 words)

London, Jack ‘Aloha Oe’ (c. 2500 words)

London, Jack ‘The Story of Keesh’ (c. 3000 words)

London, Jack ‘How to Build a Fire’ (c. 7000 words)

Lovecraft, H. P. ‘The Cats of Ulthar’ (c. 1500 words)

Lovecraft, H. P. ‘The terrible Old Man’ (c. 1000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Stranger’ (c. 5000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Garden Party’ (c. 5500 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Voyage’ (c. 3000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Ideal Family’ (c. 2500 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘Miss Brill’ (c. 2000 words)

Mansfield, Katherine ‘The Singing Lesson’ (c. 2000 words)

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia ‘Eyes of a Blue Dog’ (c. 3000 words)

Maupassant, Guy de ‘The Kiss’ (c. 1500 words)

Munro, H. H. (SAKI) ‘The Mouse’ (c. 1500 words)

Nesbit, Edith ‘Acting for the Best’ (c. 4500 words)

Nesbit, Edith ‘Archibald the Unpleasant’ (c. 5000 words)

Nesbit, Edith ‘Billy the King’ (c. 5500 words)

Norris, Frank ‘A Deal in Wheat’ (c. 5000 words)

Norris, Frank ‘The Wife of Chino’ (c. 5500 words)

Norris, Frank ‘Two Hearts That Beat as One’ (c. 4000 words)

Orwell, George ‘The Shooting of an Elephant’ (c. 2000 words)

Osbourne, Lloyd ‘Ben’ (c. 6000 words)

Osbourne, Lloyd ‘The Golden Castaways’ (c. 3500 words)

Parker, Dorothy ‘A Telephone Call’ (c. 2500 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ (c. 2500 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Angel of Odd’ (c. 4000 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ (c. 2500 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘The Black Cat’ (c. 4000 words)

Poe, Edgar Allan ‘Four Beasts in One’ (c. 3000 words)

Potter, Beatrix ‘Ginger and Pickles’ (c. 1000 words)

This page receives about 10,000 views a month and we are keen to continue expanding this resource, for our users. We have limited resources, but with your help, we can continue to build and support writers and readers, past and present.

Quiller-Couch, Arthur ‘Elisha’ (c. 1500 words)

Quiller-Couch, Arthur ‘The Burglary Club’ (c. 3000 words)

Quiller-Couch, Arthur ‘The Dark Mirror’ (c. 1000 words)

Roby, John ‘The Goblin Builders’ (c. 3500 words)

Ruskin, John ‘The King of the Golden River’ (c. 9000 words)

Skinner, Charles ‘The Barge of Defeat’ (c. 500 words)

Somyonov, S. T. ‘The Servant’ (c. 2000 words)

Twain, Mark ‘Luck’ (c. 2000 words)

Trollope, Anthony ‘George Walker at Suez’ (c. 8000 words)

Trollope, Anthony ‘Returning Home’ (c. 9000 words)

Van Dyke, Henry ‘Ashes of Vengeance’ (c. 500 words)

Van Dyke, Henry ‘The Art of Leaving Off’ (c. 2500 words)

Verne, Jules ‘A Drama in the Air’ (c. 7000 words)

Wells, H. G. ‘The Crystal Egg’ (c. 7000 words)

White, E. B. ‘The Door’ (c. 2000 words)

Wilde, Oscar ‘The Birth of the Infanta’ (c. 7500 words)

Williams, William Carlos ‘The Use of Force’ (c. 1500 words)

Woolf, Virginia ‘A Haunted House’ (c. 1000 words)

Yeats, William Butler ‘Out of the Rose’ (c. 2500 words)

Yeats, William Butler ‘The Old Men of the Twilight’ (c. 2000 words)

Yeats, William Butler ‘The Twisting of the Rope’ (c. 3000 words)

Younger, Charlotte M. ‘The Last Fight in the Coliseum’ (c. 3000 words)

Zola, Emile ‘Captain Burle’ (c. 11, 500 words)

Zola, Emile ‘The Flood’ (c. 8000 words)

• Listen and watch

Short stories

Do you like listening to and reading stories? Reading stories is a great way to improve your vocabulary and we have lots of great stories for you to watch. Watch stories, print activities and post comments!

A dog's life

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Ali and the magic carpet

Angel! Look out!

Beatrix Potter

Buzz and Bob's big adventure

Circus escape

Dark, dark wood

Dick Whittington

Dinosaur Dig

Elizabeth I

Emmeline Pankhurst

Eric the engine

Florence Nightingale

George and the dragon

Goldilocks and the three bears

I couldn't believe my eyes

I'm too ill

Isaac Newton

Jack and the beanstalk

Little Red Riding Hood

Monster shopping trip

Much Ado About Nothing

My favourite clothes

My favourite day - Chinese New Year

My favourite day - Christmas

My favourite day - Diwali

My favourite day - Eid al-Fitr

My secret team

Nessie - the Loch Ness Monster

One moment around the world

Our colourful world

Planet Earth

Pyramids in Paris

Ratty robs a bank

Record breakers

Romeo and Juliet

Santa's little helper

Superhero High

Teddy's adventure

The animal shelter

The bird king

The clever monkey

The cold planet

The first marathon

The great race

The greedy hippo

The haunted house

The hungry dragon

The lazy bear

The lion and the mouse

The lucky envelope

The lucky seed

The lump of gold

The magic fish

The magic paintbrush

The magic spell

The princess and the dragon

The Ramadan lantern story

The sneaky rabbit

The snowman

The story of quinine

The treasure map

The ugly duckling

The voyage of the animal orchestra

Twelfth Night

Twins' week

What will I be when I grow up?

What's that noise?

Why Anansi has thin legs!

William Shakespeare

English courses for children aged 6-17

Sign up to our newsletter for free learning tips and resources

We will process your data to send you our newsletter and updates based on your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of every email. Read our privacy policy for more information.

Learn English Through Story

Reading English stories is one of the most effective ways of improving your language skills. We have a lot of story books for all levels to learn English easily and quickly. Each English stories has audio files with subtitles. You can also free download them in PDF book form. We offer you to learn English through stories.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (for Elementary Levels A2)

English Stories to improve English – “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” Free Download

Watch this story on YouTube and improve your English skills.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll

Retold by Jennifer Bassett

Chapter one: Down the rabbit-hole

Chapter two: the pool of tears, chapter three: conversation with a caterpillar, chapter four: the cheshire cat, chapter five: a mad tea-party, chapter six: the queen’s game of croquet, chapter seven: who stole the tarts.

     Alice was beginning to get very bored. She and her sister were sitting under the trees. Her sister was reading, but Alice had nothing to do. Once or twice she looked into her sister’s book, but it had no pictures or conversations in it.

     ‘And what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversations?’

     She tried to think of something to do, but it was a hot day and she felt very sleepy and stupid. She was still sitting and thinking when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran past her.

Suddenly a White Rabbit ran past her

      There was nothing really strange about seeing a rabbit.  And Alice was not very surprised when the Rabbit said, ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (Perhaps it was a little strange, Alice thought later, but at the time she was not surprised.)

     But then the Rabbit took a watch out of its pocket, looked at it, and hurried on. At once Alice jumped to her feet.

      ‘I’ve never before seen a rabbit with either a pocket, or a watch to take out of it,’ she thought. And she ran quickly across the field after the Rabbit. She did not stop to think, and when the Rabbit ran down a large rabbit-hole, Alice followed it immediately.

     After a little way the rabbit-hole suddenly went down, deep into the ground. Alice could not stop herself falling, and down she went, too.

     It was a very strange hole. Alice was falling very slowly, and she had time to think and to look around her. She could see nothing below her because it was so dark. But when she looked at the sides of the hole, she could see cupboards and books and pictures on the walls.  She had time to take things out of a cupboard, look at them, and then put them back in a cupboard lower down.

     ‘Well!’ thought Alice. ‘After a fall like this, I can fall anywhere! I can fall downstairs at home, and I won’t cry or say a word about it!’

      Down, down, down. ‘How far have I fallen now?’ Alice said aloud to herself. ‘Perhaps I’m near the centre of the earth. Let me think …  That’s four thousand miles down.’ (Alice was very good at her school lessons and could remember a lot of things like this.)

      Down, down, down. Would she ever stop falling? Alice was very nearly asleep when, suddenly, she was sitting on the ground.  Quickly, she jumped to her feet and looked around. She could see the White Rabbit, who was hurrying away and still talking to himself. ‘Oh my ears and whiskers!’ he was saying. ‘How late it’s getting!’

      Alice ran after him like the wind. She was getting very near him when he suddenly turned a corner. Alice ran round the corner too, and then stopped. She was now in a long, dark room with doors all round the walls, and she could not see the White Rabbit anywhere.

      She tried to open the doors, but they were all locked. ‘How will I ever get out again?’ she thought sadly. Then she saw a little glass table with three legs, and on the top of it was a very small gold key. Alice quickly took the key and tried it in all the doors, but oh dear! Either the locks were too big, or the key was too small, but she could not open any of the doors.

      Then she saw another door, a door that was only forty centimetres high. The little gold key unlocked this door easily, but of course Alice could not get through it – she was much too big. So she lay on the floor and looked through the open door, into a beautiful garden with green trees and bright flowers.

     Poor Alice was very unhappy. ‘What a wonderful garden!’ she said to herself. ‘I’d like to be out there – not in this dark room. Why can’t I get smaller?’  It was already a very strange day, and Alice was beginning to think that anything was possible.

     After a while she locked the door again, got up and went back to the glass table. She put the key down and then she saw a little bottle on the table (‘I’m sure it wasn’t here before,’ said Alice).  Round the neck of the bottle was a piece of paper with the words DRINK ME in large letters.

     But Alice was a careful girl.  ‘It can be dangerous to drink out of strange bottles,’ she said. ‘What will it do to me?’ She drank a little bit very slowly. The taste was very nice, like chocolate and oranges and hot sweet coffee, and very soon Alice finished the bottle.

‘What a strange feeling!’ said Alice.  ‘I think I’m getting smaller and smaller every second.’

      And she was. A few minutes later she was only twenty- five centimetres high. ‘And now,’ she said happily, ‘I can get through the little door into that beautiful garden.’

     She ran at once to the door. When she got there, she remembered that the little gold key was back on the glass table. She ran back to the table for it, but of course, she was now much too small! There was the key, high above her, on top of the table. She tried very hard to climb up the table leg, but she could not do it.

      At last, tired and unhappy, Alice sat down on the floor and cried. But after a while she spoke to herself angrily.

      ‘Come now,’ she said. ‘Stop crying at once. What’s the use of crying?’ She was a strange child, and often talked to herself like this.

      Soon she saw a little glass box near her on the floor. She opened it, and found a very small cake with the words EAT ME on it.

     Nothing could surprise Alice now. ‘Well, I’ll eat it,’ she said. ‘If I get taller, I can take the key off the table. And if I get smaller, I can get under the door. One way or another, I’ll get into the garden. So it doesn’t matter what happens!’

Alice tried very hard to climb up the table leg.

     She ate a bit of the cake, and then put her hand on top of her head.  ‘Which way?  Which way?’  she asked herself, a little afraid. Nothing happened.  This was not really surprising. People don’t usually get taller or shorter when they eat cake. But a lot of strange things were happening to Alice today. ‘It will be very boring,’ she said, ‘if nothing happens.’

      So she went on eating, and very soon the cake was finished.

       Curiouser and curiouser!’ said Alice. (She was very surprised, and for a minute she forgot how to speak good English.)

      ‘I shall be as tall as a house in a minute,’ she said. She tried to look down at her feet, and could only just see them. ‘Goodbye, feet!’ she called. ‘Who will put on your shoes now? Oh dear! What nonsense I’m talking!’

     Just then her head hit the ceiling of the room. She was now about three metres high. Quickly, she took the little gold key from the table and hurried to the garden door.

     Poor Alice!  She lay on the floor and looked into the garden with one eye.  She could not even put her head through the door.

    She began to cry again, and went on crying and crying. The tears ran down her face, and soon there was a large pool of water all around her on the floor. Suddenly she heard a voice, and she stopped crying to listen.

    ‘Oh, the Duchess, the Duchess! She’ll be so angry! I’m late, and she’s waiting for me. Oh dear, oh dear!’

    It was the White Rabbit again. He was hurrying down the long room, with some white gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other hand.

     Alice was afraid, but she needed help. She spoke in a quiet voice.  ‘Oh, please, sir—’

    The Rabbit jumped wildly, dropped the gloves and the fan, and hurried away as fast as he could.

     Alice picked up the fan and the gloves. The room was very hot, so she began to fan herself while she talked. ‘Oh dear! How strange everything is today! Did I change in the night? Am I a different person today?  But if I’m a different person, then the next question is – who am I? Ah, that’s the mystery.’

The Rabbit jumped wildly, and dropped the gloves and the fan.

     She began to feel very unhappy again, but then she looked down at her hand. She was wearing one of the Rabbit’s white gloves. ‘How did I get it on my hand?’ she thought.  ‘Oh, I’m getting smaller again!’ She looked round the room. ‘I’m already less than a metre high. And getting smaller every second! How can I stop it?’ She saw the fan in her other hand, and quickly dropped it.

      She was now very, very small – and the little garden door was locked again, and the little gold key was lying on the glass table.

     ‘Things are worse than ever,’ thought poor Alice. She turned away from the door, and fell into salt water, right up to her neck. At first she thought it was the sea, but then she saw it was the pool of tears. Her tears. Crying makes a lot of tears when you are three metres tall.

    ‘Oh, why did I cry so much?’  said Alice.  She swam around and looked for a way out, but the pool was very big. Just then she saw an animal in the water near her. It looked like a large animal to Alice, but it was only a mouse.

     ‘Shall I speak to it?’  thought Alice.  ‘Everything’s very strange down here, so perhaps a mouse can talk.’

     So she began: ‘Oh Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming, oh Mouse!’ (Alice did not know if this was the right way to speak to a mouse. But she wanted to be polite.)

      The mouse looked at her with its little eyes, but it said nothing.

     ‘Perhaps it doesn’t understand English,’ thought Alice. ‘Perhaps it’s a French mouse.’ So she began again, and said in French:  ‘Where is my cat?’  (This was the first sentence in her French lesson-book.)

It looked like a large animal to Alice, but it was only a mouse.

     The mouse jumped half out of the water and looked at her angrily.

    ‘Oh, I’m so sorry!’ cried Alice quickly. ‘Of course, you don’t like cats, do you?’

    ‘Like cats?’ cried the mouse in a high,  angry voice. ‘Does any mouse like cats?’

    ‘Well, perhaps not,’ Alice began kindly.

     But the mouse was now swimming quickly away, and soon Alice was alone again.  At last she found her way out of the pool and sat down on the ground. She felt very lonely and unhappy. But after a while the White Rabbit came past again, looking for his white gloves and his fan.

    ‘The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my ears and whiskers! She’ll cut my head off, I know she will! Oh, where did I drop my gloves?’ Then he saw Alice. ‘Why, Mary Ann, what are you doing here? Run home at once, and bring me some gloves and a fan. Quick, now!’

     Alice hurried away. ‘But where is his house?’  she thought while she ran. Strangely, she was no longer in the long room with the little door, but outside in a wood. She ran and ran but could not see a house anywhere, so she sat down under a flower to rest.

   “Now,’ Alice said to herself. ‘First, I must get a little bigger, and second, I must find my way into that beautiful garden. I think that will be the best plan. But oh dear! How shall I get bigger? Perhaps I must eat or drink something, but the question is, what?’

     Alice looked all around her at the flowers and the trees, but she could not see anything to eat. Then she saw a large mushroom near her. It was as tall as she was. She walked across to look at it, and there, on top of the mushroom, was a large caterpillar, smoking a pipe. After a while, the Caterpillar took the pipe out of its mouth and said to Alice in a slow, sleepy voice, ‘Who are you?’

     ‘I don’t really know, sir,’ said Alice. ‘I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I have changed so often since then. I think I am a different person now.’

    ‘What do you mean by that?’ said the Caterpillar. ‘Explain yourself!’

    ‘I can’t explain myself, sir,’ said Alice, ‘because I’m not myself, you know.’

    ‘I don’t know,’ said the Caterpillar.

‘Explain yourself!’ said the Caterpillar.

     ‘It’s difficult to describe,’ Alice replied politely.  ‘One minute I’m very small, the next minute I’m as tall as a house, then I’m small again. Usually, I stay the same all day, and changing so often feels very strange to me.’

      ‘You!’ said the Caterpillar, in a very unfriendly voice. ‘Who are you?’

      They were now back at the beginning of their conversation, which was not very helpful. Alice felt a little cross and decided to walk away.

      ‘Come back!’  the Caterpillar called after her. ‘I’ve something important to say.’

      This sounded better, so Alice turned back.

     ‘Never get angry,’ said the Caterpillar.

      ‘Is that all?’ said Alice, trying not to be angry.

     ‘No,’ said the Caterpillar. For some minutes it smoked its pipe and did not speak, but at last it took the pipe out of its mouth, and said, ‘So you’ve changed, have you? How tall do you want to be?’

     ‘I would like to be a little larger, sir, please,’ said Alice. ‘Eight centimetres is really very small.’

     For a while the Caterpillar smoked its pipe. Then it shook itself, got down off the mushroom, and moved slowly away into the grass. It did not look back at Alice, but said, ‘One side will make you taller, and the other side will make you shorter.’

     ‘One side of what?’ thought Alice to herself.

     She did not say this aloud, but the Caterpillar said, ‘Of the mushroom.’ Then it moved away into the wood.

     Alice looked at the mushroom carefully, but it was round, and did not have sides. At last she broke off a piece in each hand from opposite sides of the mushroom. She ate some of the piece in her left hand, and waited to see what would happen.

     A minute later her head was as high as the tallest tree in the wood, and she was looking at a sea of green leaves. Then a bird appeared and began to fly around her head, screaming, ‘Egg thief!  Egg thief! Go away!’

    ‘I’m not an egg thief,’ said Alice.

    ‘Oh no?’ said the bird angrily. ‘But you eat eggs, don’t you?’

    ‘Well, yes, I do, but I don’t steal them,’ explained Alice quickly. ‘We have them for breakfast, you know.’

     ‘Then how do you get them, if you don’t steal them?’ screamed the bird.

      This was a difficult question to answer, so Alice brought up her right hand through the leaves and ate a little from the other piece of mushroom. She began to get smaller at once and, very carefully, she ate first from one hand, then from the other, until she was about twenty- five centimetres high.

     ‘That’s better,’ she said to herself. ‘And now I must find that garden.’ She began to walk through the wood, and after a while she came to a little house.

     There was a boy outside the door, with a large letter in his hand. (He was dressed like a boy, but his face was very like a fish, Alice thought.) The Fish-Boy knocked at the door, and a second later a large plate came flying out of an open window.

      ‘A letter for the Duchess,’ the Fish-Boy shouted. He pushed the letter under the door and went away.

     Alice went up to the door and knocked, but there was a lot of noise inside and nobody answered. So she opened the door and walked in.

‘A letter for the Duchess,’ the Fish-Boy shouted

      She found herself in a kitchen, which was full of smoke. There was a very angry cook by the fire, and in the middle of the room sat the Duchess, holding a screaming baby. Every few minutes a plate crashed to the floor. There was also a large cat, which was sitting on a chair and grinning from ear to ear.

     ‘Please,’ Alice said politely to the Duchess, ‘why does your cat grin like that?’

     ‘It’s a Cheshire Cat,’ said the Duchess. ‘That’s why.’

     ‘I didn’t know that cats could grin,’ said Alice.

     ‘Well, you don’t know much,’ said the Duchess. Another plate crashed to the floor and Alice jumped. ‘Here!’ the Duchess went on. ‘You can hold the baby for a bit, if you like. The Queen has invited me to play croquet, and I must go and get ready.’ She pushed the baby into Alice’s arms and hurried out of the room.

There was a large cat, which was grinning from ear to ear.

     ‘Oh, the poor little thing!’ said Alice, looking at the baby, which had a very strange face. She took it outside into the wood and walked around under the trees. Then the baby began to make strange noises, and Alice looked into its face again. Its eyes were really very small for a baby, and its nose now looked very like the nose of a pig.

      ‘Don’t make noises like that, my dear,’ said Alice. ‘It’s not polite. You’re beginning to sound like a pig.’

    But a few minutes later, there was no mistake. It was a pig.  Alice put it carefully on the ground, and it ran quietly away on its four legs into the wood.

    ‘I’m pleased about that,’ Alice said to herself. ‘It will be a good-looking pig, but it would be terrible to be a child with a face like that.’

     She was thinking about pigs and children when she suddenly saw the Cheshire Cat in a tree. The Cat grinned at her, and she went nearer to it.

    ‘Please,’ she said, ‘can you tell me which way to go from here?’

      ‘But where do you want to get to?’ said the Cat.

      ‘It doesn’t really matter—’ began Alice.

      ‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

      ‘But I would like to get somewhere,’ Alice explained.

      ‘If you just go on walking,’ said the Cat, ‘in the end you’ll arrive somewhere.’

     That was true, thought Alice, but not very helpful, so she tried another question.  ‘What kind of people live near here?’

     ‘To the left,’ the Cat said, ‘lives a Hatter. And to the right, lives a March Hare. You can visit either of them. They’re both mad.’

     ‘But I don’t want to visit mad people,’ said Alice.

     ‘We’re all mad here, you know,’ said the Cat. ‘I’m mad. You’re mad.’

     ‘How do you know that I’m mad?’ said Alice.

     ‘Of course you’re mad,’ said the Cat.  ‘Only mad people come here.’

     Alice was thinking about this, but the Cat went on, ‘Are you playing croquet with the Queen today?’

    ‘I would like to very much,’ said Alice, ‘but nobody has invited me yet.’

    ‘You’ll see me there,’ said the Cat, and vanished.

     Alice was not really surprised at this, because so many strange things were happening today. She was still looking at the tree when, suddenly, the Cat appeared again.

     ‘I forgot to ask,’ said the Cat. ‘What happened to the baby?’

     ‘It turned into a pig,’ Alice said.

     ‘I’m not surprised,’ said the Cat, and vanished again.

     Alice began to walk on, and decided to visit the March Hare. ‘It’s the month of May now,’ she said to herself, ‘so perhaps the Hare won’t be as mad as he was in March.’

    Suddenly, there was the Cheshire Cat again, sitting in another tree. Alice jumped in surprise.

    ‘Do you think,’ she said politely, ‘that you could come and go more slowly?’

    ‘All right,’ said the Cat. And this time it vanished very slowly. First its tail went, then its body, then its head, and last, the grin.

      ‘Well!  I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,’ thought Alice, ‘but never a grin without a cat!’

     Soon she saw the house of the March Hare in front of her.  It was a large house, so she ate a little piece of mushroom to get bigger, and walked on.

This time the Cat vanished very slowly.

      There was a table under a tree outside the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea. A Dormouse was sitting between them, asleep. The three of them were all sitting together at one corner of the table, but the table was large and there were many other seats. Alice sat down in a big chair at one end.

     ‘Have some coffee,’ the March Hare said in a friendly voice.

     Alice looked all round the table, but she could only see a teapot. ‘I don’t see any coffee,’ she said.

    ‘There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.

     ‘Then why did you ask me to have some?’ said Alice crossly. ‘It wasn’t very polite of you.’

     ‘It wasn’t very polite of you to sit down. We haven’t invited you to tea,’ said the March Hare.

    ‘But there are lots of seats,’ said Alice.

    ‘Your hair’s too long,’ said the Hatter, looking at Alice with interest.

    ‘It’s not polite to say things like that,’ said Alice.

    The Hatter looked surprised, but he said, ‘Why is a bird like a desk?’

    Alice was pleased.  She enjoyed playing wordgames, so she said, ‘That’s an easy question.’

    ‘Do you mean you know the answer?’ said the March Hare.

    ‘Yes,’ said Alice.

    ‘Then you must say what you mean,’ the March Hare said.

    ‘I do,’ Alice said quickly. ‘Well, I mean what I say. And that’s the same thing, you know.’

    ‘No, it isn’t!’ said the Hatter. ‘Listen to this. I see what I eat means one thing, but I eat what I see means something very different.’

    Alice did not know what to say to this. So she took some tea and some bread-and-butter while she thought about it. The Dormouse woke up for a minute and then went to sleep again. After a while the Hatter took out his watch, shook it, then looked at it sadly.

    ‘Two days slow! I told you that butter wasn’t good for watches!’ he said angrily to the March Hare.

    ‘It was the best butter,’ said the March Hare sadly.

    Alice was looking at the watch with interest.  ‘It’s a strange watch,’ she said. ‘It shows the day of the week, but not the time.’

    ‘But we know the time,’ said the Hatter. ‘It’s always six o’clock here.’

    Alice suddenly understood. ‘Is that why there are all these cups and plates?’  she said.  ‘It’s always tea-time here, and you go on moving round the table.  Is that right? But what happens when you come to the beginning again?’

    ‘Don’t ask questions,’ said the March Hare crossly. ‘You must tell us a story now.’

    ‘But I don’t know any stories,’ said Alice.

    Then the March Hare and the Hatter turned to the Dormouse. ‘Wake up, Dormouse!’ they shouted loudly in its ears. ‘Tell us a story.’

    ‘Yes, please do,’ said Alice.

     The Dormouse woke up and quickly began to tell a story, but a few minutes later it was asleep again. The March Hare poured a little hot tea on its nose, and the Hatter began to look for a clean plate. Alice decided to leave and walked away into the wood. She looked back once, and the March Hare and the Hatter were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.

The March Hare poured a little hot tea on the Dormouse’s nose.

    ‘Well, I won’t go there again,’ said Alice.  ‘What a stupid tea-party it was!’ Just then she saw a door in one of the trees. ‘How curious!’ she thought. ‘But everything is strange today. I think I’ll go in.’

    So she went in. And there she was, back in the long room with the little glass table. At once, she picked up the gold key from the table, unlocked the little door into the garden, and then began to eat a piece of mushroom. When she was down to about thirty centimetres high, she walked through the door, and then, at last, she was in the beautiful garden with its green trees and bright flowers.

    Near the door there was a rose-tree and three gardeners, who were looking at the roses in a very worried way.

     ‘What’s the matter?’ Alice said to them.

    ‘You see, Miss,’ said the first gardener, ‘these roses are white, but the Queen only likes red roses, and she—’

    ‘The Queen!’ said the second gardener suddenly, and at once, the three gardeners lay down flat on their faces. Alice turned round and saw a great crowd of people.

     It was a pack of cards, walking through the garden. There were clubs (they were soldiers), and diamonds, and ten little children (they were hearts).  Next came some Kings and Queens. Then Alice saw the White Rabbit, and behind him, the Knave of Hearts. And last of all, came THE KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS.

    When the crowd came near to Alice, they all stopped and looked at her, and the Queen said, ‘Who are you?’

    ‘My name is Alice, Your Majesty,’ said Alice very politely. But she thought to herself, ‘They’re only a pack of cards. I don’t need to be afraid of them!’

    ‘And who are these? said the Queen, looking at the three gardeners. Then she saw the white roses, and her face turned red and angry. ‘Off with their heads!’  she shouted, and soldiers hurried up to take the gardeners away. The Queen turned to Alice. ‘Can you play croquet?’ she shouted.

    ‘Yes!’ shouted Alice.

     ‘Come on, then!’ shouted the Queen. The crowd began to move on, and Alice went with them.

    ‘It’s – it’s a very fine day,’ said a worried voice in her ear. Alice saw that the White Rabbit was by her side.

    ‘Very fine,’ said Alice. ‘Where’s the Duchess?’

     ‘Shhh!’  said the Rabbit in a hurried voice.  ‘She’s in prison, waiting for execution.’

     ‘What for?’ said Alice.

    But just then the Queen shouted, ‘Get to your places!’ and the game began.

    It was the strangest game of croquet in Alice’s life! The balls were hedgehogs, and the mallets were flamingoes. And the hoops were made by soldiers, who turned over and stood on their hands and feet.  Alice held her flamingo’s body under her arm, but the flamingo turned its long neck first this way and then that way. At last, Alice was ready to hit the ball with the flamingo’s head. But by then, the hedgehog was tired of waiting and was walking away across the croquet-ground.  And when both the flamingo and the hedgehog were ready, there was no hoop! The soldiers too were always getting up and walking away.  It really was a very difficult game, Alice thought.

     The players all played at the same time, and they were always arguing and fighting for hedgehogs. Nobody could agree about anything. Very soon, the Queen was wildly angry, and went around shouting ‘Off with his head!’ or ‘Off with her head!’ about once a minute.

    Alice began to feel worried. ‘The Queen is sure to argue with me soon,’ she thought.  ‘And what will happen to me then? They’re cutting people’s heads off all the time here. I’m surprised there is anyone left alive!’

     Just then she saw something very strange. She watched carefully, and after a minute or two she saw that the thing was a grin. ‘It’s the Cheshire Cat,’ she said to herself.  ‘Now I’ll have somebody to talk to.’   

The balls were hedgehogs, and the mallets were flamingoes

    ‘How are you getting on?’ said the Cat, when its mouth appeared.

    Alice waited. ‘I can’t talk to something without ears,’ she thought. Slowly the Cat’s eyes, then its ears, and then the rest of its head appeared. But it stopped at the neck, and its body did not appear.

    Alice began to tell the Cat all about the game. ‘It’s very difficult to play,’ she said.  ‘Everybody argues all the time, and the hoops and the hedgehogs walk away.’

    ‘How do you like the Queen?’ said the Cat quietly.

     ‘I don’t,’ said Alice. ‘She’s very—’ Just then she saw the Queen behind her, so she went on, ‘—clever. She’s the best player here.’

    The Queen smiled and walked past.

    ‘Who are you talking to?’ said the King. He came up behind Alice and looked at the Cat’s head in surprise.

      ‘It’s a friend of mine – a Cheshire Cat,’ said Alice.

      ‘I’m not sure that I like it,’ said the King.  ‘But it can touch my hand if it likes.’

     ‘I prefer not to,’ said the Cat.

    ‘Well!’  said the King angrily.  He called out to the Queen, ‘My dear! There’s a cat here, and I don’t like it.’

     The Queen did not look round. ‘Off with its head!’ she shouted. ‘Call for the executioner!’

      Alice was a little worried for her friend, but when the executioner arrived, everybody began to argue.

     ‘I can’t cut off a head,’ said the executioner, ‘if there isn’t a body to cut it off from.’

      ‘You can cut the head off,’ said the King, ‘from anything that’s got a head.’

     ‘If somebody doesn’t do something quickly,’ said the Queen, ‘I’ll cut everybody’s head off.’

      Nobody liked that plan very much, so they all turned to Alice. ‘And what do you say?’ they cried.

     ‘The Cat belongs to the Duchess,’ said Alice carefully. ‘Perhaps you could ask her about it.’

    ‘She’s in prison,’ the Queen said to the executioner. ‘Bring her here at once.’

     But then the Cat’s head slowly began to vanish, and when the executioner came back with the Duchess, there was nothing there. The King ran wildly up and down, looking for the Cat, and the Duchess put her arm round Alice. ‘I’m so pleased to see you again, my dear!’ she said.

     ‘Let’s get on with the game,’ the Queen said angrily, and Alice followed her back to the croquet-ground.

    The game went on, but all the time the Queen was arguing, and shouting ‘Off with his head!’ or ‘Off with her head!’  Soon there were no hoops left, because the soldiers (who were the hoops) were too busy taking everybody to prison.  And at the end there were only three players left – the King, the Queen, and Alice.

     The Queen stopped shouting and said to Alice, ‘Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?’

    ‘No,’ said Alice. ‘I’m not sure what a Mock Turtle is.’

    ‘Then come with me,’ said the Queen.

    They found the Mock Turtle down by the sea. Next to him was a Gryphon, asleep in the sun. Then the Queen hurried away, saying, ‘I have to get on with some executions.’

    The Gryphon woke up, and said sleepily to Alice, ‘It’s just talk, you know. They never execute anybody.’

    Alice was pleased to hear this. She felt a little afraid of the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, because they were so large. But they were very friendly, and sang songs and told her many stories about their lives. The Mock Turtle was in the middle of a very sad song when they all heard a shout a long way away: ‘It’s beginning!’ ‘Come on! We must hurry!’ cried the Gryphon. It took Alice by the hand and began to run.

The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon were very friendly.

      The King and Queen of Hearts were sitting on their thrones when Alice and the Gryphon arrived. There was a great crowd of birds and animals, and all the pack of cards.

    Soldiers stood all around the Knave of Hearts, and near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand.

    In the middle of the room there was a table, with a large plate of tarts on it. ‘They look good,’ thought Alice, who was feeling a little hungry.

     Then the White Rabbit called out loudly, ‘Silence! The trial of the Knave of Hearts will now begin!’ He took out a long piece of paper, and read:

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,

All on a summer day.

The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,

And took them all away.

        ‘Very good,’ said the King. ‘Call the first witness.’

    Alice looked at the jury, who were now writing everything down. It was a very strange jury. Some of the jurymen were animals, and the others were birds.

     Then the White Rabbit blew his trumpet three times, and called out, ‘First witness!’

    The first witness was the Hatter.  He came in with a teacup in one hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the other hand.  ‘I’m very sorry, Your Majesty,’ he said.  ‘I was in the middle of tea when the trial began.’

     ‘Take off your hat,’ the King said.

     ‘It isn’t mine,’ said the Hatter.

    ‘Stolen! Write that down,’ the King said to the jury.

     ‘I keep hats to sell,’ explained the Hatter. ‘I don’t have a hat myself. I’m a Hatter.’

     ‘Give your evidence,’ said the King, ‘or we’ll cut your head off.’

    The Hatter’s face turned white. ‘I’m a poor man, Your Majesty,’ he began, in a shaking voice.

     Just then Alice had a strange feeling. After a minute or two she understood what it was.

    ‘Don’t push like that,’ said the Dormouse, who was sitting next to her. ‘I’m nearly falling off my seat.’

     ‘I’m very sorry,’ Alice said politely. ‘I’m getting bigger and taller, you see.’

     ‘Well, you can’t do that here,’ said the Dormouse crossly, and he got up and moved to another seat.

    The Hatter was still giving evidence, but nobody could understand a word of it. The King looked at the Queen, and the Queen looked at the executioner.

     The unhappy Hatter saw this, and dropped his bread- and-butter.  ‘I’m a poor man, Your Majesty,’ he said again.

    ‘You’re a very poor speaker,’ said the King. He turned to the White Rabbit. ‘Call the next witness,’ he said.

    The next witness was the Duchess’s cook, who spoke very angrily and said  that  she  would  not  give  any evidence. The King looked worried and told the White Rabbit to call another witness. Alice watched while the White Rabbit looked at the names on his piece of paper. Then, to her great surprise, he called out loudly, ‘Alice!’ ‘Here!’ cried Alice, jumping to her feet.

     ‘Here!’ cried Alice, jumping to her feet.

     ‘What do you know about these tarts?’ said the King.

     ‘Nothing,’ said Alice.

     The Queen was looking hard at Alice. Now she said,

     ‘All people a mile high must leave the room.’

     ‘I’m not a mile high,’ said Alice. ‘And I won’t leave the room. I want to hear the evidence.’

    ‘There is no more evidence,’ said the King very quickly, ‘and now the jury will—’

     ‘Your Majesty!’ said the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry.  ‘We’ve just found this letter. There’s no name on it, but I think the Knave wrote it.’

    ‘No, I didn’t!’ said the Knave loudly.

    ‘Read it to us,’ said the King.

    ‘Where shall I begin, Your Majesty?’ asked the Rabbit.

    ‘Begin at the beginning,’ said the King, ‘and go on until you get to the end, then stop.’

    Everybody listened very carefully while the White Rabbit read these words.

They tell me you have been to her,

And talked of me to him.

She thought I was a gardener,

But said I could not swim.

He tells them that I have not gone,

(We know that this is true).

If she decide to hurry on,

What will they do to you?

I gave her one, they gave him two,

You gave us three or more.

They all returned from him to you,

But they were mine before.

   ‘That’s a very important piece of evidence,’ said the King. He looked very pleased. ‘Now the jury must—’

     ‘If anybody in the jury can explain that letter,’ said Alice (she was not afraid of anything now, because she was much bigger than everybody in the room), ‘I’ll give him sixpence. It’s all nonsense! It doesn’t mean anything.’

    The jury busily wrote this down.  ‘She thinks it’s all nonsense.’

     ‘All nonsense, eh?’ said the King. He read some of the words again. ‘But said I could not swim. You can’t swim, can you?’ he said to the Knave.

    The Knave’s face was sad. ‘Do I look like a swimmer?’ he said. (And he didn’t – because he was made of paper.)

     The King smiled. ‘I understand everything now,’ he said. ‘There are the tarts, and here is the Knave of Hearts. And now the jury must decide who the thief is.’

    ‘No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Off with his head! The jury can say what it thinks later.’

    ‘What nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The jury must decide first. You can’t—’

    ‘Be quiet!’ said the Queen, her face turning red.

    ‘I won’t!’ said Alice.

    ‘Off with her head!’  screamed the Queen.  Nobody moved.

    ‘It doesn’t matter what you say,’ said Alice.  ‘You’re only a pack of cards!’

    Then the pack of cards flew up into the sky and began to fall on Alice’s face. She gave a little scream . . . and woke up. She was lying next to her sister under the trees, and some leaves were falling on her face.

    ‘Wake up, Alice dear,’ said her sister.  ‘You’ve been asleep a long time.’

    ‘Oh, I’ve had a very curious dream!’  said Alice, and she told her sister all about the strange adventures in her wonderful dream.   

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

English Short Stories Level 03

Emily's secret.

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses

Previous Story |  English Short Stories List | Next Story

Visit  Vocabulary Activities section for more vocabulary action!

Visit Easy English Grammar section to improve your grammar!

Get Updates, Special Offers, and English Resources

Download your free gift (the first two chapters of english short stories book and workbook ) as soon as you join.

By submitting your email, you consent to receiving updates and newsletters from us and to the sharing of your personal data with third parties for the purposes of sending you communications. We will not spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please see our  privacy policy .

Return to English Short Stories

Really Learn English Home

Top of this page

Please share this page with others:

• Spanish Version
• Textbooks and Workbooks
• Why Learn English

Downloads & Products

• English Short Stories Book and Workbook
• Stories and Exercises to Practice Grammar
• Online English Courses

Videos & Tips

• Learn English Videos
• ESL Lessons

Speaking & Pronunciation

• Learn To Speak English
• English Pronunciation
• English Reading Practice
• English Short Stories
• English Reading Comprehension
• Learn to Write in English
• Writing Tips
• Vocabulary Activities
• Building Vocabulary
• Vocabulary Games
• English Dictionaries
• English Spelling Rules
• Confusing Words
• English Grammar Center
• English Grammar Exercises
• English Tenses
• English Parts of Speech
• Parts of a Sentence
• Gerunds and Infinitives
• English Modal Verbs

Teaching Center

• How to Teach English
• Tips & Resources

Keep in Touch

• Ask Questions
• Learn English Blog
• About This Site
• Affiliate Program
• Useful Links
• Privacy Policy

• English Short Stories Book & Workbook
• ESL/EFL Resources for Teachers
• Free ESL/EFL Downloads
• Spanish Version (Español)

Downloads & Products:

Videos & tips:, speaking & pronunciation:, vocabulary:, teaching center:, keep in touch:.

Online English Courses: Interactive and Fun

Copyright © 2010-2023 Really-Learn-English.com. All rights reserved.

Reading & Math for K-5

• Kindergarten
• Learning numbers
• Comparing numbers
• Place Value
• Roman numerals
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Order of operations
• Drills & practice
• Measurement
• Factoring & prime factors
• Proportions
• Shape & geometry
• Data & graphing
• Word problems
• Children's stories
• Leveled Stories
• Context clues
• Cause & effect
• Compare & contrast
• Fact vs. fiction
• Fact vs. opinion
• Main idea & details
• Story elements
• Conclusions & inferences
• Sounds & phonics
• Words & vocabulary
• Reading comprehension
• Early writing
• Numbers & counting
• Simple math
• Social skills
• Other activities
• Dolch sight words
• Fry sight words
• Multiple meaning words
• Prefixes & suffixes
• Vocabulary cards
• Other parts of speech
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Narrative writing
• Opinion writing
• Informative writing
• Cursive alphabet
• Cursive letters
• Cursive letter joins
• Cursive words
• Cursive sentences
• Cursive passages
• Grammar & Writing

Breadcrumbs

Download & Print Only $3.49

Grade 3 Children's Stories & Reading Worksheets

Stories and comprehension worksheets.

Each passage is followed by questions which the child may answer by writing in the space provided or by verbalizing the answer to his tutor or parent. Texts are approximately at a 3rd grade reading level.

Max's Good Habit     386 words

The Little Red Cape      525 Words

Amusement Park Problem      407 words

Anna and Her Basketball Adventure     350 words

Hats in Harvard      450 words

Helping Hally      260 words

The Book, the Girl and the Closet      510 words

My New Scooter      422 words

The Solver     376 words

Tag Rules!      370 words

Amanda's News      391 words

Will the Wolf      459 words

An Idea for Tucker      615 words

Non-Fiction:

In Their Own Words      405 words

What are Clouds?     377 words

How to Make Ice Cream    290 words

Landforms      293 words

Life cycles      288 words

Force    372 words

Healthy Muscles Matter    450 words

The Bee      200 words

The Hunters and the Hunted      405 words

What is K5?

K5 Learning offers free worksheets , flashcards  and inexpensive  workbooks  for kids in kindergarten to grade 5. Become a member  to access additional content and skip ads.

Our members helped us give away millions of worksheets last year.

We provide free educational materials to parents and teachers in over 100 countries. If you can, please consider purchasing a membership ($24/year) to support our efforts.

Members skip ads and access exclusive features.

Learn about member benefits

This content is available to members only.

Join K5 to save time, skip ads and access more content. Learn More

• Forgot Password?