2nd Grade Folktales

How the Dalmation Got His Spots

Tue, 15 May 2007 15:19:52 -0500

One fine day in New York a dalmatian was being bullied. Duck said, “You look so weird.” Squirrel said, “You really need to try look like me.” Everyone was laughing their heads off. Dalmatian had no friends. He was always sad. Everyone made fun of him. One day he saw a man painting with black paint. Dalmatian had an idea. ”I could make me look different,” he thought. ”Then Duck and the others might like me.”
The next day he was running and purposely ran into a ladder with black paint on top. When he was running to the pond, squirrel saw him and told Bird he had spots. They were confused. When he got to the pond, Duck, Rabbit, and Bird were so surprised. They all liked him now and were all happy.
And that's how Dalmatian got his spots.

How the Peacock Got Its Big Tail

Tue, 15 May 2007 15:13:57 -0500

One day Peacock was strolling through the forest when suddenly a black figure swooped down and scared him. Crow laughed at Peacock. Peacock thought about all the times Crow scared him. Peacock decided to run away.
Peacock ran away. He ran to the other side of the forest. On the other side he said to himself, “This place will work. There is a pond and a lot of food.” Peacock walked over to the pond to have a drink.
Suddenly a tiny voice said, “Hi,my name is Fish. What’s yours?” Peacock jumped backwards and screamed, “AHHHHH!” Then he walked slowly and looked in the pond. He saw a little orange fish swimming. The fish said, “Sorry if I scared you.” Peacock said, “Who are you?” Fish said, “My name is Fish.” Peacock said, “Hi. My name is Peacock. Nice to meet you.” Peacock asked Fish, “Can you show me how to be scary like you?” Fish answered, “What part of me did you see and get scared?” Peacock said, “Your tail.” Fish said, “I thought so. That’s what usually scares my friends.”
Fish jumped onto Peacock’s nose and scared him so much that his tail feathers popped out! Fish got scared of Peacock’s tail and all of the eye spots on his feathers. Fish swam away quickly.
Peacock went back to the other side of the forest. He got in front of Crow and popped out his tail feathers. Crow got scared and flew away “Caw! Caw! Caw!” Crow never teased Peacock again.
And that’s how the peacock got its big tail.

How the Leopard Got Its Spots

Tue, 15 May 2007 15:07:55 -0500

Once upon a time, Leopard was afraid of birds. The birds scared Leopard far, far, far away.
Leopard was upset because he was sad and lonely without any friends. He met some Magic Mice in the jungle. The Magic Mice turned Leopard into a scary animal. They gave Leopard a magic cookie. Leopard got big black spots. The birds thought the spots were big eyes. They were afraid of Leopard. Then Leopard wasn’t afraid of birds anymore forever and ever.
And that’s how the leopard got its spots.

How the Octopus Got Eight Arms

Tue, 15 May 2007 15:02:24 -0500

One day Octopus was going to school. Shark was bullying Octopus around. He was pushing him and called him names. Shark was mean to Octopus every day. But Octopus always ran away.
One day Octopus ran away into a DEEP DARK Hole! He was getting scared. Then he saw a squid. Octopus said to Squid, “How did you get those arms?” He said, “I grew them.”
Then after time, Octopus made friends with Squid. One night he grew eight arms. Then he scared Shark and everyone else. Shark came back and said, “I am sorry for being mean to you.”
And that is how the Octopus got 8 arms.

How the Zebra Got His Stripes

Tue, 15 May 2007 11:01:56 -0500

Back then zebra was all white. Zebra was very bad at paint ball. Bird was the best. Zebra always got hit a lot!
One morning a big storm came when they were playing paint ball. The paint spots slid down Zebra’s body from the rain. It formed stripes! He never got hit again because the stripes camouflaged him. He was the best of the best. He was better than bird.
And that’s how the Zebra got his stripes.

How the Leopard Got Its Spots

Tue, 15 May 2007 11:00:46 -0500

Long ago in the jungles of Asia lived a leopard, a bird, and a snake. Leopard and Snake never stopped fighting. One day Snake was playing a game with Bird when Leopard ran in and stepped on Snake. Then he reached out and caught the ball, and began playing with Bird. Snake slithered out from Leopard’s paws, reached his head, and bit Leopard. “Ouch!” screamed Leopard, holding his leg. Bird looked embarrassed, considering she was friends with these animals that would not stop fighting.
A few days later, after Leopard’s leg was healed, Leopard was chasing Snake in and out of the shadows. Bird was speeding behind them, going as fast as she could go. “Stop it!” cried bird. “You’re going too fast!” But Leopard and Snake were going much too fast to hear anything that Bird was yelling. “STOP!” screamed Bird, now too tired to move at all. Finally, Snake heard the exhausted animal and stopped. But Leopard could not stop and trampled Snake once again. Of course, since it happened so quickly, Snake thought that Leopard had hurt him on purpose. But really, Snake stopped so quickly that Leopard did not have a tiny chance of stopping in time. Even so, Snake was furious. “Rrrrr!” mumbled Snake.
About ten days later, Snake and Leopard were fighting harder than they had ever fought before. Bird tried to fly into the fight, but Leopard’s tail hit her down. She crashed face first into a big puddle of mud. When Bird finally got up, she was covered with mud. Then she tried to fly into the fight again. This time her muddy body let go of some mud. The mud flew onto Leopard’s back. Suddenly, Leopard ran away. Snake was still looking at the spot that Leopard used to be in.
Some time later, Leopard was looking for Snake. Then Snake passed by not noticing Leopard. Leopard was confused. “Was that really Snake?” he thought. Leopard tried yelling his name. “Snake!” he called. Snake turned his head and then turned back again. “Snake doesn’t recognize me!” whispered Leopard. Suddenly, he remembered. “The mud!” “I must let it dry!” said Leopard. And he did.
And that’s how the Leopard got its spots.

How the Octopus Got Eight Arms

Tue, 15 May 2007 10:59:58 -0500

Long, long ago, when octopuses had fourteen arms, there lived a very depressed octopus. He was not fast at all. Every day when he went to the coral reef after Sea School, they would have a race. Octopus would always lose because his arms would get tangled up. Since they had so much weight, he would fall to the bottom and Star Fish would have to come and save him.
Octopus didn’t know what to do. So he went to the Wise Sea Horse. The Wise Sea Horse put magic potion on six of his arms. They disappeared! Now he only had eight arms! Then he went back to the coral reef and he won a race!
So that's how the octopus got eight arms.

How the Rabbit Got Its Long Ears

Tue, 15 May 2007 10:58:02 -0500

Long, long ago when the world was new there lived a rabbit who went to school. Rabbit could not do her work because her ears were so small. She could not hear. There was another reason, too. It was because all the other students were too loud. All the animals teased her. “Why would the fastest animal in our class be so slow on her work?” wondered Turtle. “You’ll be here all day,” snorted Goat. “I wouldn’t be here all day if you would be quiet,” said Rabbit. With that Rabbit went on with her work.
The next they got their report cards. Everybody was excited, especially Rabbit. “Now is my chance to show everybody I do do good on my work.” When Rabbit got her report card she ripped it open. Then she saw her grades. All of them were zero. Rabbit was very disappointed. Ms. Pony went over to Rabbit and said, “You need to improve your grades.” If you don’t you will be in my class for a long time.” The other students teased her and laughed at her. “You’ll never graduate,” Snake hissed. “Look! All her grades are zero!” Sparrow cheeped. Rabbit was very embarrassed. When the class was dismissed Rabbit was the first to leave.
Rabbit went straight to the wise old squirrel. Squirrel said, “Tonight is a full moon. Your ears will grow tonight.” “Thank you, Squirrel.” said Rabbit. She went straight home. Rabbit did her homework, had dinner, and went to bed. While Rabbit was sleeping, Snake and Sparrow crept into Rabbit’s house. Snake held onto one of Rabbit’s ear’s. Sparrow held onto Snake. Then they pulled and pulled. Finally Rabbit’s ear got stretched out. They did the same thing to the other ear.
When Rabbit woke up she looked at herself in her mirror. Then she saw that her ears were longer. Rabbit was overjoyed. When she went to school she could do her work much more easily. Rabbit never got a zero again.
And that’s how the rabbit got its long ears.

How the Dalmation Got Its Black Spots

Tue, 15 May 2007 10:41:54 -0500

Not long ago in Paris, France, there lived a Dalmatian. She was so plain. She didn't even have one piece of clothing like Scottie or the other dogs.
One bright and sunny day, Dalmatian was looking at herself when Scottie and the gang came. “Why look at yourself when you look like a white blob?” wondered Scottie out loud. All the other dogs started to laugh. “Plain old Dalmatian!” yelled Black Lab. “Look at Dalmatian she’s so fancy,” wisecracked Mix dog. “That settles it!” thought Dalmatian. “I’m going to Poodle, The Wise One, she will tell me what to do!”
And that's what Dalmatian did. “Poodllllllllllllllllllle!” whispered Dalmatian. “Come in my girl, come in,” answered Poodle. “What do you want?” asked Poodle. “I need to have something that decorates me, like your ruffles.” answered Dalmatian. “Well you could get spots,” said Poodle sweetly. “No!” boomed Dalmatian. “That is the worst advice!” Dalmatian stormed out of the ragged tent.
While she was walking out, she got stuck in some ink! “Help! Help! Help!” yelled Dalmatian. No one came. “I will have to get out myself,” thought Dalmatian. So she squirmed and wiggled. “Oh I will....whoa!!!” Dalmatian got out but she tripped and fell on spilled ink!! It sprayed all over her! “Oh no!” screamed Dalmatian. She ran as fast as could, but Scottie and the gang stopped her.
“Nice spots,” said Scottie. “Maybe you aren’t that plain after all.” Dalmatian started to smile. “You like these ugly spots?” said Dalmatian with disbelief. “Ugly? I think they’re pretty,” murmured Scottie. “O.K. I am going to keep these spots,” thought Dalmatian.
And that's How the Dalmatian Got Its Black Spots!

How the Peacock Got Its Big Tail

Thu, 3 May 2007 10:59:13 -0500

Once upon in Disney Land there was a very lonely Peacock. His family left him. All the other animals had happy families. The other animals would laugh at him because he didn’t have a family. As Peacock was getting teased, Baby Chick was watching. Baby Chick felt terrible for Peacock. Baby Chick decided to help! Baby Chick told Peacock, “Hi there. My name is Baby Chick, but you can just call me Chick.” “Well hello”, Peacock said sadly. Peacock said to himself, “Maybe Chick can help me out and keep me company.”
After a few weeks, Peacock and Chick became very good friends! Then Chick decided to fix Peacock’s problem. Chick thought to herself, ’’I can puff up my feathers, maybe Peacock can do something cool like that too!” Chick thought and thought and thought. Then she had an excellent idea. “Maybe Peacock can do something with his tail.’’
So Chick decided to go find some magic pie. Chick went to Peacock and gave Peacock the magic pie. Peacock ate it and nearly spit it out!!!! Chick said, “Try to swallow it.” With a mouth full of pie Peacock said, “Okay.” Then it happened... Peacock spread out his tail and took Chick’s breath away! Peacock looked BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!
After Chick got her breath back she said, “Now go look for some female peacocks.” Peacock said, “I will only go if you go with me.”
So Chick and Peacock went to go find some female peacocks. When they were looking for peacocks, they found the most AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL peacock in the world. So the two peacocks mated. Guess What?!?! No one even laughed at Peacock because Peacock had a beautiful wife. All thanks to Chick...
And that’s how peacock got its big tail!!!!!!!