Short Stories for Kids : Elie the Elephant learns to be confident
Elie, the baby elephant , lived with her mother Vinny in a forest. She lived in a beautiful home and had never been outside much. She loved her home and the beautiful forest land around it.
One day, Mr Owl came to visit. He also got the news that Vinny’s sister was going to have a baby and she could use some help. Vinny got very excited and decided to visit her sister soon. She started preparing for the travel. They had to walk a few days to reach the place where the sister lived. Elie was excited about the upcoming trip.Vinny spent a few days collecting tasty fruit. Elie helped her in preserving the fruit. In the evening Elie and Vinny spent time knitting for the new arrival in the family.
On the day of the journey, Elie and her mother woke early and started the journey. They walked during the day and slept at night. The first day of the journey was uneventful. They found plenty of food. They saw some new trees. Elie was happy to see a lot of new birds that she had never seen in her life.
On the next day, they had to cross a river to reach the other side. Ellie had never crossed a river before. She was paralyzed with fear, she thought she would drown . Her mom tried to make her move. She gave her encouragement. She even resorted to threatening her but nothing happened. Elie refused to move. There was no other way to reach the other bank. Frustrated, Vinny decided to make camp.
It was almost evening and Mr.Owl, who loved to fly in the night saw the two elephants making camp. He came down and started chatting. Vinny expressed a lot of frustration at Elie’s inability to cross the river. Mr. Owl knew what needed to be done.. He told Vinny that he will help her. “ Please sleep without worrying too much, tomorrow we will ensure Elie is able to cross the river.”
As soon, as Elie and Vinny went to sleep. Mr Owl started his work. He called the fishes in the river and told them that little Elie was feeling a lack of confidence in crossing the river. He wanted the fishes to tell him that they will carry him across the river. While, this was impossible Mr. Owl just wanted Elie to believe that some else was doing the work.
He called all the other owls in the locality and explained to them that Elie the little elephant was struggling to cross the river. He wanted all the owls to tell him that they would lift him, should he drown. This was also impossible in reality, but Mr. Owl just wanted the other owls to give Elie confidence.
At the crack of dawn, Mr. Owl woke Vinny up and told her of his plan. She was happy and was willing to try it. Mr Owl also told Vinny that she had a role to play. She had to tell Elie that she would always be by her side. Elie woke up a few minutes later. They slowly walked to the river. As soon as, Elie walked to the river the fishes came to the edge of the bank and told her. “ Dear Elie, we saw you getting scared to swim across the river. Don’t worry, all you need to do is jump inside and move your legs. We will carry you to the next side.”
Soon after, the owls gathered and said, “ Elie, dont worry! Even if you drown we will lift you by your ear and carry you to the bank. You can trust the fish to carry you to the bank, but just in case you are scared. We are there for you as well. We will keep flying over head till you reach the bank.”
Elie was a bit happy, but not yet confident enough to jump in. Finally, Vinny added her bit. Vinny told her that she was a very strong swimmer and in her younger days, before Elie was born,she used to swim daily. During that time, she worked as a lifeguard where young elephants learnt to swim. Vinny reassured Elie that if she could not swim, Vinny would be able to rescue her.
By now Elie was feeling confident, she went into the water and started moving her legs. She started swimming and realised that she didnt need the fish to take her to the next side. Neither did she need the owls to rescue her.
After this, Elie and Vinny walked very fast and reached Vinny’s sister’s home just in time to help her deliver her baby. Elie was a proud and confident older cousin. Not only did she leave her home, that she had never left before, she had also learnt how to swim. More importantly, she learnt how important it is for her to be confident of her own abilities. Both Vinny and Elie also realised the important role Mr. Owl had played in making Elie confident. They thanked him profusely and never forgot to send special goodies across to him from time to time!
Moral of the Story:
This story is a beautiful way to teach kids self confidence. Kids and sometimes even adults need someone to show confidence in them to gain self confidence.
Why Short Stories:
Short stories are a great way
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To Build empathy in kids
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They can help in driving home a moral or a value
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If you as a parent are reading the story with the kid, it provides great parent child bonding time
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Short stories are also a great way for kids aged about 6 to start independent reading
If you like this story, you are sure to like our Posters, maps and flashcards.
In case you want to read more moral stories - This story on punctuality is very popular .
