The Mending Basket · ages 3-5

The Kite Tail Is Too Short

The idea: line the ends up, then the bit that sticks out is how much longer.

Read it

The five-night book 282 words

Five nights, one book

Little children love the same story again. Read this one five nights running, with a different job each night.

listen.
say the last words.
make the guess.
do the 'now you' in the room.
tell it to a toy.

Who is in this book

Bà Tư The grandmother who keeps the basket and does the sewing from VầnTots
Tí a child of the Green Notices small things; says "again"
Noodle Line the ends up before you say which is longer from StretchTots
Bean The bit that sticks out is how much longer from StretchTots
Miro & Moro Two pieces exactly the same size match from PatchPals

Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.

The Honest Page

Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?

True

To see which of two things is longer, line up one end of each first. Source
A tail of six hand-spans is two hand-spans longer than a tail of four.
Kites often have tails that help them fly steadily. Source

Stretched

A hand-span is not the same size for everyone. What we simplified: The story measures with one person's hand all the way through, so the sizes agree.

Made up

Noodle, Bean and the otter twins are made up. Ribbons do not talk.

Tell it back

Tell the story to a toy, or to a grown-up. When you have, the grown-up taps the button, and a keepsake from The Kite Tail Is Too Short goes on your belt.

Ring the hammer for someone

Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.

Across the Table → For the grown-up: the story in three lines, one question to ask, and one thing to do together.