French Short Stories

Chloé finds a yellow umbrella in her grandfather’s attic that lifts her into the sky on a windy day. Flying over the town, she helps a boy whose kite is stuck on a chimney. Her grandfather explains the umbrella only flies for kind hearts.

Gaston the snail joins the garden race and everyone laughs at him. The grasshopper lands in a puddle, the ladybug stops to snack and the ant gets lost, while Gaston keeps going slowly and steadily — and crosses the finish line first.

Pablo the penguin is always cold, even in a hat, scarf and three pairs of socks. He sails north on an ice boat — which melts — to a sunny beach, but soon finds it far too hot. He returns home with a hot-water bottle and sleeps cozily with his family.

On Candlemas (la Chandeleur), Nathan’s family makes crêpes and Grandma explains the tradition of flipping a crêpe while holding a coin for good luck. His first tries land on the floor and the ceiling, but the third flips perfectly.

Gaspard, an old lighthouse on a Breton island, keeps shining every night even though few boats pass and the seagulls tease him. One foggy night his light guides a lost father and daughter safely back to harbor.

Bip, a street-sweeping robot in a concrete city, discovers a yellow flower between paving stones and waters it. Fascinated by the flower and a visiting bee, he secretly plants seeds every night until an empty lot becomes a beautiful garden for the whole neighborhood.

Loulou is a wolf who wants to be kind, but every fairy-tale character runs away from him. When the seven little goats’ roof collapses under snow, he spends the night fixing it. The goats thank him, and the tale of the kind wolf spreads through the forest.

For his birthday, Jules takes a hot-air balloon ride with his grandfather. They float over tiny houses, toy-like cows and mountains, an eagle flies beside them, and Grandpa shares his childhood dream of flying. They land in a lavender field at sunset.

In France, the Tooth Mouse (la petite souris) collects baby teeth. Zoé waits up and finds the mouse under her bed, sniffling with a cold and a heavy sack. Zoé lends her a toy truck and a scarf, and in the morning finds a coin and a thank-you note.

An old apple tree gives flowers to the bees, shade to walkers and apples to the village children. During a harsh winter, the birds, squirrels and children it helped all come to keep it warm. The next spring it blooms more beautifully than ever.