YAISHWARYAJ: {Awareness} The War - Goodbye Pappa [2 Attachments]

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Pedagogical Project

"The Joy of Reading"

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Dear Readers,

We would like to invite you to take part in a new project called "From Stories to Books".

The Stories for Everyone Team have been, for some time, gathering and selecting books that provide some sort of reflection on the fundamental ethical principles of

our society, such as solidarity, courage, honesty, respect for differences and a sense of justice, matters that have deserved the attention of writers from various

nationalities.

Therefore, the Stories for Everyone Team proposes to send, together with the usual weekly stories,and also free of charge, full texts of selected books.

In case you are interested in receiving each week, by email, a chapter of an extensive reading book, all you have to do is send an email to

books@storiesforeveryone.com or stories4ev@gmail.com by writing the following sentence in the subject field:

"Yes, I am interested in participating in the project From Stories to Books."

Hoping that this new proposal will meet your utmost interest, we look forward to your reply.

The Stories for Everyone Team

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This week's stories with PDF attachments:

- The War

- Goodbbye, Pappa

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The War

The reds and the blues were at war. Each morning, the soldiers walked to the battlefield. Each evening, the survivors brought home the wounded and the dead. The war had lasted for so long that no one could remember why it had begun.

Victor the Second, king of the Reds, counted his soldiers and counted them again. Ten plus twenty is thirty. Add another fifty, and that makes eighty. Only eighty soldiers! That´s not enough soldiers to win the war. And he began to cry.

But happily for him, Victor the Second, king of the Reds, had a son named Julius. When he saw his father begin to lose hope, Julius called, "Have courage, Papa!" And the king felt his courage rise.

Armand the Twelfth, who ruled the Blues, also had eighty soldiers and a son. But when Armand the Twelfth worried, his son had nothing to say.

Armand the Twelfth´s son was named Fabien, and he wasn´t very interested in war. Actually, Fabien wasn´t interested in much of anything. He spent his days in the park, sitting in a tree.

One day, Prince Fabien received a letter from Prince Julius. It read:

Our fathers are nearly out of soldiers.

If you are brave enough, prepare your horse and armor and meet me on the battlefield tomorrow morning.

We will duel, and the winner of the duel will win the war for his kingdom.

Sincerely, Julius

Fabien sighed.

He didn´t like horses very much.

The princes met on the battlefield early the next morning. Julius rode in on a warhorse. Fabien sat on the back of a sheep. "En garde!" cried Julius, to start the duel.

"Baa!" bleated the sheep.

Julius´s frightened horse reared straight up.

Julius fell to the ground.

"Are you hurt?" asked Fabien.

But Julius was more than hurt. The fall had killed him.

The Red soldiers screamed, "You cheated! The duel was a trick!"

Fabien wanted to explain that it was an accident. But the soldiers had lances and spears, so he decided to run away.

Armand the Twelfth, king of the Blues, was waiting for his son. "You should be ashamed," he scolded Fabien.

"But I did nothing," Fabien protested.

"Precisely. At least Prince Julius tried to win the war," growled his father. "Shame and double shame! I banish you from my kingdom!"

Prince Fabian hid in the park.

As morning turned to afternoon, the soldiers returned to the battlefield, and Fabien had an idea.

…

(To be continued in the PDF attachment)

Anaïs Vaugelade

The war

Minnepolis, Carolrhoda Books, 2001

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Goodbbye, Pappa

In Pappa´s house the boys wake early. Sun sneaks in the window.

Soft wind makes the curtains billow. A bucket rattles.

"Who´s coming to look for mushrooms?" Pappa asks.

Over the fields they go – Shane and Peter and Pappa.

Cocks crow, wisps of smoke curl up.

The boys run to keep up with Pappa´s step.

The mushrooms grow in cool dark nooks.

They pick them as quickly as they can.

"Mushrooms for breakfast," Pappa says.

Nanna fries them on the pan.

In Pappa´s garden the roses are in bloom.

It´s hot this summer and everywhere is dry.

"We have to water them," says Pappa, "before the sun gets too high."

Now Pappa makes path. He lays the slabs of red and grey beside the cabbage rows.

"I need cement," he says. "Let´s go to town."

The boys hop in the car. It isn´t far and Pappa waves to everyone.

Shane and Peter wander round the shop. There´s lots to see – cement and nails.

Then Pappa says, "Who´d like some ice-cream?"

Near Pappa´s house a lazy river flows.

Shane and Peter want to go to look for water-hens. There´s none today but Pappa holds them tightly to see swans gliding between the reeds.

In Pappa´s garden there´s a hen-run. Six brown hens grumble and complain.

Shane and Peter bring the eggs in.

It´s getting late, the stars are out. It´s almost time for bed.

Pappa takes down the accordion. Shane and Peter sit in their pyjamas. They drink their milk and listen while he plays. He knows their favourite tunes and many more. His hands fly in and out, his foot thumps on the floor.

Outside the moon hangs round and yellow.

Lying in bed, scraps of music linger in their heads.

Goodnight, Pappa.

On Friday, Shane and Peter have to go home. Mum takes some photos.

The last thing they see is Pappa´s red tee-shirt by the gate.

Goodbye, Pappa…

Some days later the phone rang. It´s Uncle Jim.

"Pappa died this morning."

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(to be continued in the PDF attachment)

Una Leavy

Goodbye Pappa

London, Orchard Books, 1999

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You can visit us on Facebook where you can find more interesting stories about several different topics.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stories-for-Everyone/125862557478585

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Sir/Madam,

We are a group of people with some experience in the area of storytelling and we would like to share our project – The Joy of Reading – with everyone who is in touch with children and young people in general but above all with everyone that enjoys reading.

This project consists of sending stories for free on a weekly basis. So this particular e-mail and the ones that will follow it in the next weeks are intended to share some small stories with you. All the stories we send have some values within: respect for nature, tolerance, tenderness, responsibility, solidarity and many more. They all aim at developing the reading skills among young people, as well as allowing some moments of reflection and dialogue about topics connected with human values, which seem to have been somewhat forgotten in these times of materialism and hedonism.

We thank you for your attention and hope you will welcome this project (which, it is important to say, does not have any profitable aims).

If you know anyone interested in receiving the weekly stories by email, let us know by sending their emails to us.

Please let us know your opinion about the project.

Yours faithfully

The Pedagogical Team

sg@storiesforeveryone.com

stories4ev@gmail.com