A String of Colored Balloons  

Original story by Sharon K. Cook-Gordon-Spellman
Edited for length by Corey Heller

A story to read out loud to your children in English or a translation in your language

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a family. They went for a walk through a park and before they knew it, they found themselves standing in the middle of the park in front of a person who was doing magic tricks and juggling colored balls in the air. He had lots and lots of colored balloons tied to his back.  Do you know who he was? He was a clown!

When the family got very close to him, the clown said, “Hello, happy family, I’m glad you came walking this way, because I think you might enjoy some of my tricks.”  Although the family was a bit apprehensive, they stayed very close together, held each other’s hands, and sat down on the green grass to see the clown’s magic tricks.

First the clown pulled out some balloons and string from his pockets, and gave some to each family member, and said, “Fill these balloons up with air from your mouth, and then tie them with string to the backs of each other’s shirt collars.”  So that’s what they did.  Before they realized what was happening to them, or how it was being done, they found themselves floating up, up, up and away, high, high above the park, then higher and higher above the clouds, until all they could see was the clearest, deepest, bluest sky they had ever seen.

You might think they would be afraid, but they weren’t, for two reasons:  One, because they were still holding each other’s hands, and two, because they could hear the clown’s voice saying, “Don’t be afraid, because the place where you are going to next is very good and kind and beautiful.”  So they squeezed each other’s hands as tight as they could, took a deep breath, and continued floating.
Suddenly, in an instant, right before their eyes, appeared a place they had never seen or even heard of.  It was a wonderful forest, with moisture in the air around them, and vines for swinging on. Flowers were everywhere and colorful butterflies and birds flew through the air, and the family could hear animal voices murmuring through the forest, like sweet music.

As the family floated down, down, down, through tree branches, limbs and leaves, past vines, flowers, birds and butterflies, they finally felt their feet on what they thought was solid ground.  But what at first they had thought was solid ground beneath their feet began to roll and move, causing them to go thump onto their behinds. 

Then they noticed that the moving thing they were sitting on had a head, and big floppy ears and as they crawled up closer to its head, they could see it also had two, long ivory tusks on either side of its long, tube-like, hose-like snout.  Then they realized they were sitting on top of a huge, grey-colored animal.  The huge grey-colored animal then raised it’s huge head up toward the tops of the trees, opened its mouth, and gave one, long, very loud trumpet-call that echoed through the whole forest. What kind of animal could this be?

After the huge grey animal made the trumpet call, another animal with a very long neck and big, dark-colored, motley-shaped patches all over its body came crashing through the forest’s vines and branches, leaves and flowers, and stopped right in front of the huge, grey-colored animal. What kind of animal could this be?  Then in a soft voice, the tall, tall animal said to the huge grey animal with the floppy ears, “Do you know that family is sitting on your back?”

The huge grey-colored animal, with the long tube-like, hose-like snout said, “I thought I felt something strange crawling on my back, but I didn’t know what it could be, and, since I can’t see what’s on my back, I called out with my trumpet voice, into the deep forest, in hopes that another animal would come and tell me if there was something wrong with my back.  So thank-you, long-necked, very tall animal, for coming to tell me. I am delighted to have a family on my back.”

So the huge, grey, floppy-eared animal with the family on his back sauntered along, slowly and leisurely, through the forest beside the long-necked, long-legged animal with the motley-shaped patches, until they came to a clearing at the edge of the forest.  There in front of them they all could see a great expanse of blue sky arched over a rolling, broad vista of meadows, grasslands and marshes.  In the center of the great expanse, was a clear, placid lake, fed by dozens and dozens of tiny freshwater streams.  And floating and resting or walking were hundreds and hundreds of long-necked, long-legged, white birds.

As the huge, grey, floppy-eared animal, with the family on his back, and the long-necked, long-legged animal with motley-shaped patches all over his body came to the lake, one of the white birds walked over to them.  The white bird said to the huge, grey, floppy-eared animal, “It is time for me to fly to the place where the family lives.  Would you like me to take the family onto my wings and carry them back to their far-away home?”

The huge grey animal said to the white bird, “Yes.  I think it’s probably time for the family to return to their own home, and it would be very kind of you to carry them there, on your great white wings.”
So white bird flew up to where the happy family sat, on the back of the huge grey animal and while hovering there, the white bird made a ramp out of one of his wings and the family climbed onto his back.  Then with a huge whoosh of air and flapping of white wings, the white bird flew away as the family waved good-bye to the grey, floppy-eared animal and the long-necked, long-legged animal.

Suddenly, as quick as a wink, without knowing how it happened or exactly when, the family found themselves standing together again, holding each other’s hands in the middle of the park.

Without stopping his juggling of the colored balls, the clown then said, “Well, how did you enjoy my magic trick?  Did you get to meet the huge, grey, floppy-eared animal and the tall, long-necked, long-legged animal, with the motley-shaped patches all over his body?  Did you get to fly up into the blue sky on the long-legged, white bird’s wings?”  The family smiled at each other, and then at the clown, and said, “Yes, thank-you!  It’s been a wonderful, beautiful, happy adventure, but now we are very happy to be home.”  Then, with a last waving of good-byes to the clown, the family went all the way back to their very own home.

Tips for reading stories aloud to your children:

• Snuggle together with your children in a comfortable location: a sofa, couch, cozy chair, in their bed. Your children will cherish these special times with you for years to come.
• Read stories with emotion. Change your voice so that it is appropriate to different parts of the story. This will engage your children and hold their interest.
• Let your children ask as many questions as they want about the story and take time to answer their questions! Reading a story is more than just saying the words on the page. It is part teaching, part learning, part interacting with one another.
• Ask your children questions about the story as you read. Try to pique their curiosity to ideas and images above and beyond just the details of the story. But try to find questions that must be answered with more than just a one word response. Ask open-ended questions that require some thought. However, if your children are tired or prefer just to listen, that is fine as well. They may just want to be near you and hearing your voice.

The only way your children can learn vocabulary is if they hear the words used by people around them in context and via stories. Expand your children’s vocabulary and you will be providing them with the essential foundation for learning to read and write in the future. And why not do this while enjoying snuggles on the sofa along the way!

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