The Storks is a lovely story about a family of storks and their four young birds. They live in a nest on the roof of a small house.

The young storks are learning to fly, but some children in the town make fun of them. Only one boy, Peter, thinks that it is wrong to be unkind to animals.

Soon, the young storks become strong enough to fly to a warm country. But they do not forget the children who were cruel to them.

This is a simple and interesting story about kindness, courage, and learning to do the right thing.

This story was rewritten by bestchildrenstories.com for English learners. The story is in the public domain, so it is free from copyright.

The Storks

By Hans Christian Andersen 

Contents

Chapter One: The Stork Family and the Boys

Chapter Two: Learning to Fly and the Journey Southq

Vocabulary

Comprehension Questions

Grammar Exercises

Chapter One

The Stork Family and the Boys

On the roof of a small house, there was a large stork’s nest. A mother stork lived there with her four young birds. The little storks were growing quickly. Their long legs were becoming stronger, but their bills were still black.

Near the nest, the father stork stood on the roof. He stood very still on one leg. He looked proud and serious.

“I must look like a good guard,” he thought. “Everyone will think that I am watching the nest.”

The mother stork stayed with her babies. The father brought them food every day. He often brought small frogs, snails, and other food that storks liked.

One day, some children were playing in the street below. They looked up and saw the storks.

One boy began to sing a silly song about them. The other children joined him.

“Stork, stork, long-legged stork!
Go back to your nest!
You have four little babies there!”

The children laughed and pointed at the nest.

The young storks became very afraid.

“Mother!” one of them cried. “What are they saying? Are they going to hurt us?”

“Do not listen to them,” said the mother stork. “They are only making fun of us. They cannot hurt you.”

But the children came back the next day. They sang the same song again.

The young storks hid their heads under their wings.

“We are afraid,” they said.

The mother looked at them calmly.

“Look at your father,” she said. “He is not afraid. He is standing there and watching the nest.”

The father stork continued to stand on one leg. He did not move.

Only one boy did not join the others. His name was Peter.

“It is not right to make fun of animals,” Peter said. “The storks have done nothing to us.”

The other children laughed at Peter, but he did not care.

The next day, the boys came again.

“Stork! Stork! Long-legged stork!”

The young storks looked at their mother.

“Will they really hurt us?”

“No,” she said. “But you must learn to fly. Then you will be able to go far away from them.”

“Where will we go?” asked one of the young storks.

“We will fly to a warm country,” said their mother. “We will go to Egypt.”

“Egypt?” the young storks asked.

“Yes. It is very warm there. There are many frogs, and there is plenty of food.”

The young storks were excited.

“Can we fly there now?”

“Not yet,” said their mother. “First, you must learn to fly.”

She told them that all the storks would practise together before winter.

“We will fly over fields, forests, and towns,” she explained. “You must learn to fly well. You must be strong and careful.”

“What happens if we cannot fly well?” asked one of the young storks.

“You must practise,” said their mother. “That is how you will become good at flying.”

The next morning, the mother stork began their first lesson.

“All of you, come out of the nest,” she said.

The four young storks climbed onto the roof. They were nervous.

“Do not be afraid,” said their mother. “Watch me carefully.”

She opened her wings and flew a short distance.

“Now you try.”

The young storks opened their wings.

One, two, three!

They jumped.

But they could not stay in the air.

Down they fell onto the roof.

The mother stork laughed gently.

“Try again,” she said.

The young storks tried again and again.

One little stork became tired.

“I do not want to fly,” he said. “I want to stay here.”

“If you do not learn to fly,” said his mother, “you cannot go to the warm country. You will have to stay here during the cold winter.”

The little stork looked worried.

“And the boys will come again,” his mother added.

“Oh, no!” he cried. “I will learn to fly!”

He quickly joined the others.

For three days, the young storks practised. They moved their wings again and again. They jumped from the roof and tried to stay in the air.

At first, they often fell.

But slowly they became better.

Soon they could fly across the roof without falling.

The boys saw them flying.

“Look!” one boy shouted. “The storks are learning to fly!”

The young storks became angry.

“Can we fly down and scare those boys?” they asked.

“No,” said their mother. “Leave them alone. You have something much more important to do.”

“What?”

“You must become strong and learn to fly well.”

The young storks listened to her.

Every day they practised.

They flew to the right.

Then they flew to the left.

They flew around the chimney and back to the nest.

Their mother watched them carefully.

“Keep your heads up,” she said. “Move your wings strongly. And remember to stand straight.”

The young storks worked very hard.

Soon they could fly beautifully.

The mother was proud of them.

“Tomorrow,” she said, “you will fly with me to the marsh. Many other stork families will be there.”

The young storks were happy.

They were ready for their next adventure.

But they had not forgotten the boys.

“We will remember them,” they whispered to each other.

---

Chapter 2 — Learning to Fly and the Journey South

Autumn came.

The weather became colder, and the leaves began to fall from the trees.

It was time for the storks to leave.

All the storks in the area came together. They were going to fly south to a warm country.

Before they left, they had a big flying practice.

The young storks were ready.

They flew over fields and forests. They flew above houses and small towns. They followed their mother and stayed close to the other birds.

The four young storks flew very well.

“They are strong and good flyers,” said the older storks.

The young birds were very proud.

“We did it!” they said.

Their mother smiled.

“You worked hard, and now you can fly with us.”

The young storks were happy.

They were also thinking about the boys who had laughed at them.

“Now we can take our revenge,” one of them said.

“Yes!” said another. “We must teach them a lesson.”

Their mother looked at them.

“You must be careful,” she said. “Revenge is not always a good thing.”

“But they were cruel to us,” said the young storks.

“I know,” said their mother. “I have not forgotten.”

She thought for a moment.

“Perhaps I know a way to deal with them.”

The young storks looked at her with interest.

“What can we do?”

“Do you know where human babies come from?” she asked.

“No,” said the young storks.

“There is a special place near the water,” she explained. “Little babies sleep there until the storks come for them.”

The young storks listened carefully.

“We can take babies to families who want them,” their mother continued.

“Can we take one to the boys?” asked the young storks.

“Yes,” said their mother. “But we must choose carefully.”

The young storks were excited.

“What will happen to the good children?”

“The good children will receive a beautiful baby brother or sister,” said their mother.

“And the naughty children?”

“We will not bring them a baby.”

The young storks thought this was a good idea.

“But what about the boy who started the song?” one of them asked.

“He was the first boy to make fun of us.”

Their mother knew exactly who they meant.

“We will not forget him,” she said.

The young storks were happy.

“And what about Peter?” they asked.

“Peter was different,” said their mother. “He told the other children that it was wrong to make fun of animals.”

The young storks remembered him.

“Yes, Peter was kind.”

“We must give him something special,” said their mother.

The next morning, the storks began their long journey south.

They flew over forests and fields.

They flew over rivers and mountains.

The young storks were excited because everything looked new.

Soon they reached a warm country.

The sun was bright, and there were green plants everywhere.

“There are so many frogs!” cried one young stork.

“And look at that water!” said another.

The storks had plenty of food.

They ate frogs and other small animals. They rested in the warm sunshine.

But the young storks still remembered their promise.

“We must return before the winter ends,” they said.

When the time came, the mother stork took the young birds to the special place near the water.

There were many sleeping babies there.

“Now,” she said, “we must remember which children were kind and which were cruel.”

The young storks carefully followed their mother.

The good children received beautiful babies.

The children who had been cruel received nothing.

Then they came to the boy who had started the song.

“He was the worst one,” said the young storks.

The mother stork looked at him.

“There is a little baby here who will never wake up,” she said. “We will take this baby to him.”

The young storks became quiet.

“He will be very sad,” said their mother.

They understood that their actions had consequences.

Finally, they came to Peter.

“This boy was kind to us,” said the mother stork.

She chose two babies.

“One is a little boy, and the other is a little girl.”

The young storks were surprised.

“Why two?”

“Because Peter was kind when everyone else was cruel,” said their mother. “He deserves a special reward.”

The young storks smiled.

“We will remember Peter.”

And so the storks carried the babies to their families.

Peter received a little brother and a little sister.

He was very happy.

The young storks also learned an important lesson.

It was good to be strong and brave, but it was even more important to be kind.

And from that time on, the storks were called Peter.

That is why, people say, storks are still sometimes called Peter to this very day.

 Source: www.gutenberg.org

Vocabulary

Comprehension Questions

1. Where did the stork family live?
 

2. How many young storks were there?
 

3. What did the children do when they saw the storks?
 

4. Why were the young storks afraid?
 

5. What did Peter think about teasing animals?
 

6. What did the mother stork tell her young birds to learn?
 

7. Where did the storks want to go for the winter?
 

8. Why did the young storks practise flying every day?
 

9. What happened when the young storks first tried to fly?
 

10. Why did the young storks want to take revenge on the boys?
 

11. What happened when autumn came?
 

12. How did the young storks perform during the big flying practice?
 

13. What did the young storks want to do after they learned to fly well?
 

14. What did the mother stork plan to do for the good children?
 

15. Why did Peter receive two babies?
 

16. What important lesson can we learn from the story?

Grammar Exercises

Answers:

1-A, 2-B, 3-C, 4-C, 5-B, 6-B, 7-A, 8-A, 9-C, 10-A, 11-B, 12-C, 13-B, 14-C, 15-C, 16-C

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