Once there lived a crow and fox. One day crow saw a roti in a hut. It flew down into the hut and took the roti in its beak. A fox was passing by. On seeing roti in the crow’s beak, the fox’s mouth watered. An idea flashed in fox’s mind. He smiled sweetly and called out to the crow, “Your voice is very sweet. Can you sing for me?” The crow knew that the fox was trying to trick him. So he put the roti under the claws and started to sing. The fox quietly went away grumbling. Some rabbits sitting under the tree saw all this and giggled, “Now a days even crows have become clever. We should now say “Foolish Fox and Clever Crow.”

Revisiting ‘The Thirsty Crow’
by Vidisha Sanghvi (10 Years*)

One very hot afternoon, a crow was flying over a village in India. He was very thirsty. He had been flying in search of water. But he could not find water to drink. Now the crow became dizzy. But he did not give up. After a while, he saw a pot of water under a tree. He was very happy. He flew down immediately to the pot. When he reached the pot, he saw that the pot was deep. It had very little water at the bottom. He tried and tried to get it but couldn’t reach the bottom. He felt very sad. Again, he went in search of water, but couldn’t find it anywhere. He went to his friend Flamingo’s house but her pot was also empty. So sat on a branch of a tree, thirsty and tired. His friend Flamingo felt sorry for him and started thinking hard. He got an idea. He flew to the pond nearby, and pulled out a reed. Flamingo came to the crow and said, “We can use this reed as straw.” They went back to the pot under the tree and Flamingo put the reed in the pot. The crow sucked water through the reed and quenched his thirst. He was so thankful and glad to have a friend like Flamingo.

Once there was a crow whose name was Kali. He was playing with his friends during his summer vacations. After playing so much he felt tired and thirsty. So he went in search of water. Far away in the forest, he saw a pot. He fell so relieved and flew down to the pot. He tried to drink the water but the water level was too low. At first he tried hard to get the water himself but when he couldn’t he called one of his friend Pedro, the Ostrich. Pedro with his long neck was able to reach the water. He lowered his neck inside the pot and filled his beak with water. Then he dropped water in Kali’s mouth. Kali said, “ Thank You Pedro. I’m so grateful to you.” “A friend in need is a friend indeed,” they said and smiled.

Jack and Jill got Water
by Parth Chawla (9 Years*)

Once there was a boy named Jack and a girl named Jill who lived in a farm. They were brother and sister. One day their mother asked them to go up the hill and get a pail of water from the well there. While climbing up, Jack and Jill found that the hill side was very steep. When they were half way up, Jack hit a rock and started tumbling down. When Jill saw him slipping down, she ran after him to help. She caught hold of his brother’s hand and started pulling him up. But Jack was very heavy for her. She started slipping down with him. They both went tumbling down and reached the bottom of the hill. Jill started to cry and wanted to go home. But Jack said, “Crying will not help. It’s okay. Such things happen. Let us not give up.” So they both got up and began climbing again. They tried very hard and at last reached the top. Then they filled the pail with cool, well water. They both lifted the bucket and carefully walked down the hill. Mother was very happy when they gave the bucket of water to her.