Arabic Short Stories

A hungry dog finds a bone and, crossing a bridge, sees his reflection holding another bone. Greedy for both, he barks and drops his bone into the river. He goes home hungry, having learned that greed leads to loss.

Maryam’s grandfather gives her a seed. She’s frustrated when nothing appears, but he explains seeds need water, sun and time. She cares for it every day until it grows into a little lemon tree. Good things take time.

Robi the robot can do every chore but can’t laugh. Sara and Youssef try jokes, funny faces and tickles with no luck. Then their puppy slips on a banana peel and tumbles into a box, the kids burst out laughing, and Robi laughs for the first time.

A little raindrop falls from a cloud onto a mountain leaf, flows down a stream and a river, reaches the sea, and rises again as vapor when the sun warms the water. A gentle introduction to the water cycle.

On a rainy day, Huda shares her rainbow umbrella with a wet kitten, an elderly woman and her friend Karim. Her teacher says the umbrella must be magic, but Huda knows the magic is in sharing.

Fadi the little elephant is teased for his big ears and slow walk. When a flood traps baby monkeys, rabbits and gazelles on a small island, only Fadi dares to wade through the current and carries them all to safety. No one teases him again.

Salim, a poor woodcutter, drops his only axe into a river. A kind old man dives in and offers him a golden axe and then a silver one, but Salim honestly refuses both. When he shows the plain iron axe, Salim claims it, and the old man rewards his honesty with all three.

Zaid finds a fallen star and keeps it in a jar by his bed, but its light fades because it misses the sky. He climbs a hill and sets it free, and every night afterward the star winks at him before he sleeps.

Slowpoke the snail is always late because his steps are small, and his friends laugh. When he misses the cake at a picnic, a ladybug helps the others understand. The next picnic is held right by his house, and the friends learn to wait for each other.

Reem loves stars and planets. One night a glowing little spaceship takes her on a tour: bouncing on the Moon, passing red Mars, seeing Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, and finally the beautiful blue Earth. She wakes up determined to become a space scientist.