Fabulous Folktales
Written by Mrs. Dingman's 5th Grade
May 2006
Our final writing project of the year involved the creation of an original folktale. Children demonstrated clear understanding of story elements, as they controlled and manipulated hyperbole, personification, language choice, and sentence structure. 
Our final copies were prepared in picture book form. Each student created an illustrated, laminated, and bound picture book to share with classmates and then to take home. We made wonderful use of the available technology... love the laptops!
It has been my privilege to teach your children this year. I wish them every future success!!
How Mice Got Their Cheese
by Jessica
When the earth was new, and the soil was wet, there were three little mice named Joe, Bob, and Fred. They lived with a man named Hoogly-Bob. The man was 89 years old, and 40 feet tall. But he told everyone he was as small as a peanut and other people were giants when they were only 4 feet tall. They would look up at him and say I’m nothing compared to you. Anyway, he was nice to those mice but only when they weren’t near his rice! He fed the mice everything they wanted except cheese… he gave them soup, Brussel sprouts, even Chicken on a stick. 
The mice got mad one day so they went and got their friend to get cheese from the fridge for them. 
The old man got confused when the mice’s friend went to the fridge. He said, “Huh googlemaloo (feeling confused)? Why are these mice trying to get into my refrigerator? I feed them all my favorite foods.”
When the mouse got to the refrigerator he stopped dead in his tracks and said to him, “Why am I doing this for them, risking my life so they can eat some cheese?”
He left the house right before the old man hit the poor little mouse with the broom he had just gotten a couple of sentences earlier. 
Meanwhile right after the mouse started toward the fridge, the three other mice got out mouse-sized silverware, plates, napkins, and even little mouse bibs. After another 15 minutes the mice figured out that their friend wasn’t coming back, so they snuck out of their little mousey door. They were about four-fifths of the way there when all of a sudden Joe smelt an aroma and went in that direction. Bob and Fred followed. As they got closer, the smell got farther and farther. A second or two later they found themselves in an enormous cave.
They looked up and realized that they fell through a little trap door that they swore they had walked over before. They looked around and found mountains of cheese… Swiss, Cheddar, American, and every other kind you could think of. Fred walked on a little and found a stream of fondue. The three mice kept going as they ate, to see what lay ahead. 
Then Bob saw a piece of cheese. The cheese said, “You should start looking for the Doodooling head (a live gargoyle)!”
Bob didn’t listen. He ate the talking cheese instead. Bob’s brothers asked who was talking to him. He said no one. They went on, and on, and on. Then they saw the Doodooling head. The Doodooling head said you better hide before the wicked Hoopfalloo comes. 
Bob said, “Wow, the talking cheese was right.” His brothers Joe and Fred said, “What did you say?”
They heard an evil laugh. They stopped and hid. A moment or two later a wicked hoopfalloo (a witch/ goblin) came. The hoopfalloo took the mice and brought them to her cave. Surprisingly the hoopfalloo wasn’t wicked at all! She gave them 20 lifetimes of cheese and told them they better be on their way before the nice Shoohoo (bunny/ leprechaun) comes. 
“So if the wicked Hoopfalloo is joyous that means that the joyous Shoohoo must be wicked,” said Bob. They were right. The joyous Shoohoo was as evil as a demon. 
Joe and Fred said, “Googlemaloo” (feeling confused).
Bob said, “Ah-ha I was right.” 
Then Joe said, “Wait! Isn’t the wicked Hoopfallo (a witch/ goblin) supposed to be… well… wicked, and the joyous Shoohoo should… should be joyous, right?” 
Then Fred shouted, “And we should be… g…g…GONE!”
The three of them started to run but they got grabbed by the Shoohoo (a bunny/ leprechaun). The shoohoo announced, “I’m going get you and squeeze the juices from your eyeballs to make my jelly and I’m going to jumble you into pudding.”
All of a sudden light got in the cave and the Shoohoo said, “I’m melting!” But it didn’t. Then it stepped in the water and melted into ice cream, only it wasn’t very tasty.
So the mice got out with more cheese than they could imagine. They went to the cave every time they wanted any more cheese. Bob never told his brothers about the talking cheese. He thought his brothers would get mad at him if they knew they could have avoided the joyous Shoohoo if Bob had just told them about the talking cheese. And that’s How Mice Got Their Cheese.

Why the Squid Squirts Ink
by Audrey
Once upon a time, under the deep blue sea, there lived a squid named Sammy Squid that tried to teach himself to swim. He was very unhappy because his tentacles always stuck to everything. When he shook someone’s hand, his tentacles stuck to him or her. When he tried to swim around, his tentacles stuck to rocks or the ground he was near. So, one day the squid decided that he didn’t want to have sticking problems anymore. He put big rocks on each of his tentacles. Of course there are a lot of problems caused by putting rocks all over your hands (or tentacles).
The squid was going over to his friend Claudia Catfish’s house. Mrs. Catfish opened the door and Sammy was going to shake her fin but she thought he was trying to throw rocks at her so she screamed and slammed the door in his face. He tried doing this again but his time Mrs. Catfish had rocks too and threw them in Sammy’s face.
After that day Mrs. Catfish told everyone in the Catfish Village that Sammy was very violent. Soon later, all the catfishes in the deep blue sea thought that the Sammy was a roocko (a sea animal that throws rocks at other sea animals). Catrina found out and she told her friend Oscar Octopus. Octopus was surprised that squid would do such a thing, but Octopus told his parents and his parents told him to stay away from Sammy.
The next day Sammy was going to Octopus’s house as a surprise. When he knocked on the door, Mrs. Octopus was petrified to see him. She also thought that Sammy was trying to throw rocks at her so she slammed the door in his face. When Sammy knocked again she had rocks in her hand, threw them in Squid’s face, and she closed the door on him. Sammy was very unhappy that day because in just 2 days he lost 2 friends and he had no idea why. Soon everyone in the Octopus Village hated him. 
The Catfishes told the Octopus,’ the Octopus’ told the Clown Fish, the Clown Fish told the Sea Horses, the Sea Horses told the Dolphins, and the Dolphins told the Sharks. Soon, the entire deep blue sea hated Sammy Squid. 
Serena Shark was thinking in her head that she could defeat Sammy. She thought that Sammy couldn’t harm a shark with rocks. So the next day Shark went to the Squid Village. This was a problem because Sammy was allergic to sharks. When Serena knocked on the door you could hear Sammy sneezing and sneezing and sneezing. Sammy came to the door and was so petrified he took pens and threw them at Shark. He missed when he threw, so Shark picked up the pens and threw them at Sammy. The pens landed in each of Sammy’s tentacles. He breathed in and all the ink from the pens went straight inside his tentacles. The ink never came out even when he took millions and millions of baths. 
Every time you see a squid squirting ink, the squid is trying to get all the ink out of his tentacles but he never does. The ink moved from squid to squid for generations. So a squid will squirt ink forever and ever.

Why the Rainforest Rains
by Maggie
Once in the Rain Forest there lived a monkey named Ton Te who loved to climb trees. He was French and VERY competitive and swift. He had a lot of friends, like two parrots named Pete and Repeat, a tiger named Stripes, and a cheetah named Race. The cheetah’s name was Race because she loved to race. And she always won, until one day, a new monkey, named Hyper, came. She was also very swift and Race knew that she was fast so she challenged her to a race. If she won, she could have Race’s most prized possession and favorite thing in the world… her laying boulder.
Once the race began, everyone was cheering for Race to win, but the cheering stopped when Hyper went right past the finish line and Race was almost 8 miles back. Race was distressed and devastated. She was also stunned because she had never lost a race before in her life.
Once Ton Te heard about Race losing, he went to see the princess of the Rainforest, Leona the Lion. When Ton Te went to her and told her his dilemma, she told him to go see the prince of the Rainforest, Leo Jr. the Lion. 
When Ton Te told him his dilemma, he told him to go see the queen of the Rainforest, Levona the Lion. When Ton Te told her his dilemma she told him to go see the king of the Rainforest Leo the Lion.
When King Leo heard Ton Te’s dilemma, Leo gave him a contema (hat) with an abona (banana) inside. The king said to challenge Hyper to a race, but to eat the abona (banana) right before the race and to wear the contema (hat) during the race. 
During the race, Ton Te wore the contema (hat) and right before the race ate the abona (banana) and he won the race. Race was VERY extremely happy and thankful so she started to cry and she never ended! To this day Race is still crying and that’s why the Rainforest rains.

Why the Cow Sings to the Moon
by Gia
In the town of Honeymill there lives a cow. The cow’s name is Mr. Moohoo. Mr. Moohoo is very kind and has many friends! Also, Mr. Moohoo has a very important job here in Honeymill. His job is to sing to the moon. 
Well, in Honeymill the moon needs to get sung to in the daytime because the moon can’t fall asleep by himself. You see, the moon has… well, “sleeping issues” and, if he doesn’t fall asleep in the daytime there is no logical way that he can be awake all through the night!
One day Mr. Moohoo was singing to the moon. Usually, Mr. Moohoo just sings one song and the moon is sound asleep, almost like a baby who has been awake for 3 weeks. But, not tonight! The moon just wouldn’t go to sleep… not AT ALL!  So, Mr. Moohoo called down a few of his friends to ask if maybe, just maybe…they could help the moon get to sleep!          
Mr. MooHoo invited… Mr. Cipey, Mrs. Dancarella, Mr. Coco, and Mrs. Momulbug. First, Mr. Cipey sang the moon “Rock A Bye Baby”. The moon just didn’t listen… the moon just wouldn’t fall asleep! 
Then we have Mrs. Dancarealla who sang “Mocking Bird” beautifully and still, not an eye halfway closed. Then Mr. Coco sang “Night, Night” which was a song his mom sang to him to get him to sleep. Again, not even a blink out of the moon. 
Finally, Mrs. Mohumbug, the meanest lady in town, sang a sweet chiliman (lullaby) called “I Love You, I Hope You Love Me Too!” and FINALLY… the moon went to sleep and everyone in Honeymill could go to sleep as well! 
The next day, Moon woke up and Mr. Moohoo happened to ask why he wouldn’t go to sleep. 
Moon said, “All I wanted was for someone to love me!” 
And, Mr. Moohoo said, “I Love You!” 
Then, Moon said, “No, I love you more than a chubby kid loves cake!”

Why Crabs Pinch People's Toes
by Michelle
Generations and generations ago there was this very little crab.  His name was Timothy and he loved a game called untoismorg (a game like football.)  But he was too small to play. One day on his way home from school and he saw a group of electric eels playing untoismorg (a game like football) and he wanted to play.  He went over to the eels and asked if he could play. They said that he was too small to play and made fun of him so Timothy ran away from them. While he was running away he decided that he could at least try to ask them again if he could play again. So that is what he did.
When he got there he asked again but the eels got so, so, so mad that they chased him susususususu.  Timothy decided to hide in an underwater sand dune. That was a bad idea because even though the eels couldn’t find him he got stuck in the dune.
It was getting late and Mama Crab was getting very, very, very, very worried for Timothy so she called the school. They said that Timothy had already left. Then she called the Fisshylantic Police. The police came to her house and did some questioning.
After they left Mama Crab broke into tears huhuhu-waah (crying.)  She wept all night. She wept all the next morning. Timothy was still in the dune and was also huhuhu-waah (crying.). Then he decided to yell for help.  Timothy yelled and yelled and yelled for help but nobody could hear him. Back at his house Mama Crab was thinking and thinking and thinking about how she could try to find Timothy but she got nothing except a head full of headaches.  
Mama crab was so depressed that she didn’t go to work. That made her boss Mr. FunnyMcfishy get angry. Mr. FunnyMcfishy called Mama Crab’s house but nobody answered.  So he went over to Mama Crab’s house and talked to her.  Mama Crab told Mr. FunnyMcfishy that Timothy was missing and he told her to take some time off. While Mama Crab was at home Timothy was still stuck in the sand dune.
A couple of hours passed and Timothy was about to go to sleep again. But, right as he closed his eyes a huge whale swam over him and asked if he needed help. Timothy couldn’t believe his eyes. Timothy was jumping for joy heehewhabubblebubble (crying and laughing underwater.) Timothy got on to the whale’s back and told him about what had happened. And at that exact moment Timothy was home.
When Mama Crab saw him she cried and laughed and cried and laughed heehewhabubbelbubbel (crying and laughing underwater.) Mama Crab invited the whale into her house but her house was too small. So the whale worked some of his magic and the house and all of its accessories got big enough. The whale went into the house and told Mama Crab what happened while Timothy went to bed. After the whale was done telling Mama Crab what happened he left and turned her house back to the normal size. Mama Crab called Mr. & Mrs. Eel to tell them what happened and they didn’t care at all.
A couple of years passed and Timothy got really big.  In fact he got so big that he was the biggest crab in the whole sea… even bigger than the eels that chased him. One day he was in the Gulf-o-Mexico Market and he saw the eels that chased him.  But, he just left them alone. Then while he was checking out, they saw him and made fun of him.  Timothy just ignored them.  But they kept on making fun of him and then they hurt his feelings really badly with one of the remarks they made. He pinched them with one of his crabby claws. After the eels got pinched they looked like human toes. So whenever Timothy sees toes, he thinks they are eels and he pinches them.  OOWWWW!!!

Why Dinosaurs Became Extinct
by Mikey
Hello, I’m Bob Rex. I was a dinosaur in the year X01 (first year ever!).  I’m telling you why the dinosaurs became extinct. Everyone thinks it was a comet, poison in the air, or, this one is funny… the plants died. HA! They’re cooko (crazy). The real reason why the dinosaurs became extinct is that Mikey M’s parents bored us to death. 
First they lectured us about brushing our fangs (teeth) 10 trillion times a day. 
They kept on saying, “Don’t forget to brush behind those scales mister!” If that wasn’t enough, they always told Mr. Platypus to shut his beak when he talked back. I mean, REALLY. It’s not a beak. It’s a bill. DUH! 
That’s not even the most annoying part. They always tell the T-rex’s not to eat the Apatosauruses because they might become extinct. But look, now we’re all extinct! Mrs. M. was so loud that even the rocks helix to life and had to situate earmuffs on and they don’t have any ears!
Now I’ll tell you about the actual stuff that made us extinct. The T-Rex’s always ate at least 5 pterodactyls a day. But the M’s always said, “Only chew what your mouth can hold.” 
Then they put the carnivores on a plant diet. All we ate was grass and leaves… not even an Apatosaurus soup here and there. Of course the vegetarians got to eat whatever they wanted because they NEVER debilitated anyone. 
One day a mystifying magician came into town and he started a magic show. But then, after one little catastrophe… He turned Mr. and Mrs. M into massive people. Now the whole valley had to hear their lectures. First we thought about running away. But that wouldn’t work. Their mouths are larger than the Grand Canyon. So we just habbered (sneaked) away. 
Of course they grateyed (found) us. So, we just used… a… stole... the magician’s wand and BOOM we were gone. Mrs. M ran around and fribbered (tripped) over us, so of course we had no choice but to become extinct. I got away. Don’t tell anyone that I’m in the Grand Canyon in a hole…
“UH-OH! HERE’S MRS. M! SHE FOUND ME! AHHHHH!” 
“Hello kids. This is Mrs. M. Bob will not be talking to you for a while… he ran away for a billion years… well… now he’s grounded for a billion years. This story is now over. Goodbye…. BOB YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!!!!!!!!!”

Why Chickens Lay Eggs
by Drew
One day, Clucky Chicken was laying eggs. Down at the meadows, came Little Lizard. Little Lizard was quite midgety, and Clucky Chicken didn’t realize when Little Lizard went and stole one of her eggs. 
Little Lizard smirked and whispered to himself, “Eggs, yum!”
Clucky Chicken soon realized that her favorite egg, Egg Number 4, was missing. 
She clucked at her loudest. “Egg stealer on the loose! Help!” Little Lizard heard the noise and started leaping around. Then Mannie Monkey arrived at the scene. 
He wanted a well-balanced meal, so he removed the egg right from Little Lizard’s mouth and whispered to himself, “Eggs, delicious!”
Little Lizard and Clucky Chicken soon realized that the egg had been taken from the scene. 
Little Lizard squeaked at his loudest, “Egg stealer on the loose! Help!” 
Mannie Monkey heard Little Lizard’s shout from the top of the highest tree, a million miles tall, and got worried. He started leaping from tree to tree when he collided with Penny Pigeon. Penny soon regained her form, and stole the egg from Mannie Monkey. 
Penny didn’t have a good vocabulary or vocal tone so she said, “Egg, dalaciss!”
Little Lizard, Mannie Monkey, and Clucky Chicken soon realized that the egg had been taken from the scene. 
Mannie Monkey screeched at his loudest, “Egg stealer on the loose! Help!” Penny Pigeon, though, had terrible hearing. She did not panic at all. She just settled on a farm to sleep. 
Farmer Frank was harvesting crops today. When he saw that egg in that pigeon’s mouth, he wanted it. He chased over and struggled to take the egg from Penny Pigeon. Soon, Little Lizard, Mannie Monkey, and Clucky Chicken were all there. All of them were struggling to take the egg, each of them having the power of sumo wrestlers. All at once, the egg was tossed in the air and was passed around. The egg finally got cracked by Farmer Frank and formed a bomb egg. Everyone who ever touched it again exploded a gazillion times louder than any other explosion.
Everyone soon found out about this bomb and wanted to know who created it. Farmer Frank was called on the FarmerFone by the national Foodzers to come to the Food Court to discuss the matter. When he got there the Foodzers asked him how was the bomb egg created. 
He said, “Well, it was really Penny Pigeon’s fault because she gave me the egg that exploded into a bomb." So the national Foodzers called Penny Pigeon on the BirdCall to the case at the Food Court. They asked her how the bomb egg was created. 
She said, “It was Mannie Monkey’s fuwlt ‘cause he gave me the egg witch Farmer Frank stole from me.”
So the national Foodzers called Mannie Monkey on the MonkeyMachine to the case at the Food Court. They asked him how the bomb egg was created. 
He said, “It was Little Lizard’s fault. He was the one who gave me the egg that Penny Pigeon stole from me that Farmer Frank stole from Penny Pigeon.”So the national Foodzers called Little Lizard on the LizardLol to the case at Food Court. They asked him how the bomb egg was created. 
He said, “It was Clucky Chicken’s fault. She gave me the egg that Mannie Monkey stole from me that Penny Pigeon stole from Mannie Monkey that Farmer Frank stole from Penny Pigeon.”So the national Foodzers called Clucky Chicken on the CluckCall to the case at Food Court. They asked her how the bomb egg was created. 
She said, “Err... Got to Go!” Clucky Chicken took off without a trace. Whenever somebody catches up to her though, she lays eggs to slow the national Foodzers down. So far, nobody has caught her. One thing is for sure. Clucky Chicken is now multiplied by 1,000,000.

Why Octopuses Have Tentacles
by Ryan
Once a long time ago under the sea a baby octopus asked his father, “Why do we have tentacles?” 
And the father octopus said, “Well let’s see…”
It was a long time ago and one day there was an octopus that had no tentacles. He couldn’t get around to where he wanted to go. So one day he was trying to get around and he found 2 sea turtles.
“That will work,” said the octopus.
When the sea turtles were carrying the octopus around, the octopus kept on falling off the backs of the turtles because they were so round.
So the octopus said, “Dogason” (darn). 
And he told the sea turtles they could go. After a long time of rolling (swish swish) the octopus found some crabs. 
“Hello,” said the octopus, “Can you be my legs so I can get around?” 
“Sure,” said the crabs.
So the crabs balanced the octopus on their back. The octopus felt like he was going 100 miles per hour. Everything was going fine until… SMASH BANG BAM!!! The crabs toppled over a ledge because the octopus rolled onto their eyes.
The crabs said, “Sorry we can’t carry you anymore.” 
The octopus said, “Dogason” (darn). First the 2 sea turtles didn’t work and now the 2 crabs didn’t work for my legs!”
When the octopus started to go to the Under Sea Food Market he spotted a stingray. 
“Hello stingray,” said the octopus. “Can you be my legs?” 
“Sure!” said the stingray.
So the stingray got under the octopus and off they went. 
“I am so happy,” cried the octopus. “This may work this time." 
But then… a huge shark attacked the octopus and the stingray, and the stingray dropped the octopus off and ran away.
After the octopus recovered from the fall he realized that he was in a canyon! By then the octopus spied 8 eels and he rolled over to them and asked, “Can you be my legs?”
“Sure!” said the eels. 
And off they went. After 4 days the octopus was sure the eels would be good for his legs. Then 6 years later the eels magically became attached to the octopus. When the octopus and the girl octopus had babies, to their surprise, the baby octopuses had the eels on them too. 
“I will call these legs tentacles,” said the octopus.
“Then those baby octopuses grew up and had many babies and that’s how we got tentacles.”
“Wow!” said the baby octopus.“I never knew that our tentacles came on to us like that.Thanks father,” said the baby octopus. 
When the baby octopus grew up, his children asked how they got tentacles. And, the father octopus told them what his father had told him a long time ago. 

Why Dogs Bark
by Darlene
At the beginning of the world necows (dogs) could talk. This one necow (dog) named NahNah, he talked the most. He talked day in and day out.
One day NahNah met a wizard and the wizard said to NahNah that if he would not talk so much the wizard would make him immortal. But if he could not control his mouth the wizard would make him and every dog keep their mouths from uttering another word.
One day NahNah said hi to the cat, but he usually talked nonstop to the cat. The cat thought that NahNah was sad and told the snake that NahNah would not talk. And, the snake thought the dog was sad.
The snake was afraid that NahNah was dying so he called forth the monkey friar. The monkey friar called the caretaker rabbit and the caretaker rabbit called the organ-player penguin.
Then the organ-player penguin called the tomb-maker kangaroo and the tomb-maker kangaroo called the wise bear.
The wise bear called forth NahNah to ask him if he was dying.
NahNah had to answer so he said, “The wizard said if I did not talk as much I would live eternally. But he also said if I did talk too much he would punish all the dogs that ever walk this earth and…and…Oh no, I have said too much at one time. I’m doomed and so are all the dogs from now on!” 
Then the wizard came and said, “Wickwackzigzagmigpig, make this dog and the rest of the dogs that walk this earth from now on speak no more.” 
And from that day forth dogs did not speak. They bark instead. 
Now you know and forever will you know. Don’t even get me started on why cats meow.  
The End