Educational stories for children
We invite you to read the story of V.A. Oseeva. “The Magic Word” is about how the boy Pavlik learned the magic word, with the help of which he was able to achieve what he really wanted.
MAGIC WORD
A little old man with a long gray beard was sitting on a bench and drawing something in the sand with an umbrella.
“Move over,” Pavlik told him and sat down on the edge.
The old man moved and, looking at the boy’s red, angry face, said:
– Did something happen to you?
- Well, okay! What do you care? – Pavlik looked sideways at him.
- Nothing for me. But now you were screaming, crying, quarreling with someone...
- Still would! – the boy muttered angrily. “I’ll soon run away from home completely.”
- Will you run away?
- I’ll run away! I’ll run away because of Lenka alone. – Pavlik clenched his fists. “I almost gave her a good one just now!” Doesn't give any paint! And how many do you have?
- Does not give? Well, there's no point in running away because of this.
- Not only because of this. My grandmother chased me out of the kitchen for one carrot... just with a rag, with a rag...
Pavlik snorted with resentment.
- Nonsense! - said the old man. - One will scold, the other will regret.
“Nobody feels sorry for me!” Pavlik shouted. “My brother is going for a boat ride, but he won’t take me.” I tell him:
“You better take it, I won’t leave you anyway, I’ll steal the oars and climb into the boat myself!”
Pavlik slammed his fist on the bench. And suddenly he fell silent.
- Why doesn’t your brother take you?
– Why do you keep asking?
The old man smoothed his long beard:
- I want to help you. There is such a magic word...
Pavlik opened his mouth.
- I'll tell you this word. But remember: you need to say it in a quiet voice, looking straight into the eyes of the person you are talking to. Remember - in a quiet voice, looking straight into your eyes...
- What word?
The old man leaned close to the boy's ear. The soft beard touched Pavlik’s cheek. He whispered something and added loudly:
- This is a magic word. But don't forget how to say it.
“I’ll try,” Pavlik grinned, “I’ll try right now.” “He jumped up and ran home.
Lena was sitting at the table and drawing. Paints - green, blue, red - lay in front of her. Seeing Pavlik, she immediately raked them into a pile and covered them with her hand.
“The old man deceived me!” the boy thought with annoyance. “Will someone like that understand the magic word!”
Pavlik walked sideways towards his sister and pulled her sleeve. The sister looked back. Then, looking into her eyes, the boy said in a quiet voice:
Lena, give me one paint... please...
Lena opened her eyes wide. Her fingers unclenched, and, taking her hand off the table, she muttered embarrassedly:
- Which one do you want?
“I’ll have the blue one,” Pavlik said timidly.
He took the paint, held it in his hands, walked around the room with it and gave it to his sister.
He didn't need paint. He was now thinking only about the magic word.
- I'll go to my grandmother. She's just cooking. Will it drive away or not?
Pavlik opened the door to the kitchen. The old woman was removing hot pies from the baking sheet.
The grandson ran up to her, turned her wrinkled face with both hands, looked into her eyes and whispered, “Give me a piece of pie... please.”
Grandma straightened up. The magic word shone in every wrinkle, in the eyes, in the smile.
- I wanted something hot... something hot, my darling! – she said, choosing the best, rosy pie.
Pavlik jumped for joy and kissed her on both cheeks.
"Wizard! Wizard!" - he repeated to himself, remembering the old man.
At dinner, Pavlik sat quietly and listened to his brother’s every word.
When his brother said that he would go boating, Pavlik put his hand on his shoulder and quietly asked:
- Take me, please.
Everyone at the table immediately fell silent. The brother raised his eyebrows and grinned.
“Take it,” the sister suddenly said. - What is it worth to you!
- Well, why not take it? - Grandma smiled. -Of course, take it.
“Please,” Pavlik repeated.
The brother laughed loudly, patted the boy on the shoulder, ruffled his hair:
- Oh, you traveler! Okay, get ready!
“It helped! Helped again!”
Pavlik jumped out from the table and ran into the street. But the old man was no longer in the park. The bench was empty, and only the incomprehensible signs drawn by an umbrella remained on the sand.
Now think and answer these questions:
1) Pavlik behaved rudely, demandingly, and disrespectfully. How did his sister, grandmother, brother react to this?
2) What magic word did the kind old man whisper to Pavlik and how should it be said?
3) Did sister Lena’s attitude towards Pavlik change after he asked her to give him paint, adding the magic word?
4) Why did the grandmother’s eyes shine so much and she smiled at Pavlik when he addressed her with the magic word?
5) Did the magic word help Pavlik when he asked his brother to take him on a boat ride?
6) Did Pavlik feel better or worse after he started addressing his family members politely, kindly, and respectfully?
Have you noticed that not only people but also animals can be kind? You can learn about this by reading the instructive story by K. D. Ushinsky “Playing Dogs.” This story is about a kind, smart big dog.
DOGS PLAYING
Volodya stood at the window and looked out onto the street, where a large dog, Polkan, was basking in the sun.
A small pug ran up to Polkan and began to rush and bark at him; he grabbed his huge paws and muzzle with his teeth and seemed to be very annoying to the large and gloomy dog.
- Wait a minute, she’ll ask you! - Volodya said. - She will teach you a lesson.
But the pug did not stop playing, and Polkan looked at him very favorably.
“You see,” the father said to Volodya. - Polkan is kinder than you. When your little brothers and sisters start playing with you, it will certainly end with you beating them. Polkan knows that it is a shame for the big and strong to offend the small and weak.
(Source: Ushinsky K.D. Stories and fairy tales - M.: Det. lit., 1986. -159 p.)
Speaking about kindness, I would like to say that there is such a science - ETHICS, which teaches you to be kind and attentive to the people around you. It increases the amount of good in the world.
There is such a wonderful book “THE READING ON ETHICS”. These are small stories about good and evil that teach you to develop sensitivity and a kind attitude towards people and nature. The “Anthology on Ethics” was written by the outstanding teacher V. A. Sukhomlinsky. You have probably already read some of the stories of V. A. Sukhomlinsky on our website. Now we will continue to introduce you to his work, but first we will briefly talk about his biography.
Outstanding teacher V. A. Sukhomlinsky (1918-1970)
Vasily Aleksandrovich Sukhomlinsky was born in the Kirovograd region into the family of a village carpenter. In 1939 he graduated with honors from the Poltava Pedagogical Institute. He worked as a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature in rural schools in the Kirovograd region.
Sukhomlinsky is a participant in the Great Patriotic War. In 1942 he was seriously wounded under the heart. Awarded for military merits the Order of the Red Star.
He worked as a school director, and since 1944 as head of the Onufrievsky district department of public education. From 1948 until the last days of his life, he was the director of a secondary school in the Kirovograd region.
In 1955 he defended his Ph.D. thesis. V. A. Sukhomlinsky created an original pedagogical system based on the principles of humanism, on the recognition of the child as the highest value, towards which the processes of upbringing and education should be oriented.
Vasily Sukhomlinsky is the author of 30 books and 500 articles. The book of his life “I give my heart to children.”
V. A. Sukhomlinsky was a corresponding member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, a candidate of pedagogical sciences, an honored school teacher, and a Hero of Socialist Labor.
We invite you to read several stories by V. A. Sukhomlinsky about sensitivity, kindness and evil.
Stories for children
THE APPLE TREE IS ALIVE
First-grader Mishko was running around the yard and broke a small apple tree.
- Bear broke the apple tree! Bear broke the apple tree! – the children shouted, ran to the teacher and told her how it all happened.
- Why don’t you watch where you’re running? – the teacher asked reproachfully. - What to do now? The apple tree died. Let the broken trunk stand.
Mishko became silent and thoughtful. He came to school long before classes, looked at the green row of apple trees.
The broken Apple tree stood dry and crippled. It was hard for Mishka to look at her.
One day the teacher took the class to the garden.
“Children,” she said, “let’s count how many apple trees, pears, and cherries are in our young garden.”
Mishko walked along the row of apple trees. He knew well that there were thirteen living apple trees and one dead. It hurt him to look at the dry trunk. He approached the dead apple tree and almost screamed in surprise: a twig was growing from the withered trunk.
- The apple tree comes to life! – he said excitedly to the teacher. The teacher approached the dry tree.
“Yes, the apple tree is coming to life,” she rejoiced. - This will be your apple tree. Okay, Mishko?
“Good!” exclaimed Mishko, and his eyes shone. He ran to the well.
-Where did you run, Mishko? – asked the teacher.
- I’ll water my apple tree.
THE HORSE RAN AWAY
In the fourth grade, during a mathematics lesson, the teacher gave problems for independent work. Everyone bent over their notebooks and wrote intently.
Vitya was sitting on the last desk. He was finishing solving a problem when suddenly a note fell on his desk.
“This is probably from Petrik again,” thought Vitya. - He asks for skates again. Why am I going to give him my skates all the time?”
“Ivan Petrovich,” Vitya stood up, “someone threw me a note... Is it possible to write notes in class?”
“You can’t write notes in class,” said Ivan Petrovich. “But if someone wrote you a note, then telling the teacher about it is not good, Vitya.” The note is a secret that should only be known to you and your friend. And you reveal this secret. Take the note, hide it, and read it during recess...
Vitya blushed. Silence reigned in the class. From time to time, some boys raised their heads and looked at Vitya, and in their glances he saw surprise and indignation.
Vitya unfolded the note and read it. “Vitya,” Petrik wrote, “I drew you a fire-maned horse. If you want, I’ll give it to you.”
During recess, Vitya approached Petrik.
“Give me a horse,” said Vitya.
“The horse ran away...” Petrik answered quietly.
WE TREATED TO APPLES
An old grandmother has a large apple tree growing near her hut. There have been a lot of apples this year. Even the branches bend. Autumn came. The apples are ripe. Three cheerful boys were walking home from school - Peter, Nikolai and Ivan. They see apples hanging on an apple tree, fragrant, red-sided.
Peter says:
- Let's ask grandma for apples.
They asked. Grandma invites the guys.
- Go, children, pick yourself some apples and eat.
The boys picked a bucket full of apples. They sat down and ate. And the cores are thrown near the hut.
We ate, got up and went home. They forgot to thank him, but there’s nothing to say about the stubs: they’re lying under the hut. The old grandmother stood up, sighed and went to collect the cores. I collected it and gave it to the goat.
Ingratitude for kindness is ugly.
STONE HEART
A great tragedy happened in one family - the father died. Father was buried.
The young man returned home, and at this time a friend came to him and said:
- Today is a football competition. We are playing with a team from a neighboring village. But you are our best player. We have to go play.
“Well, well, I’ll go and play,” said the young man.
And he played football. As if nothing had happened at home, as if my father had not died, as if there had been no funeral...
This is a man with a hard, stony heart. How could such a terrible, soulless, heartless person grow up?
This young man lived only by his own desires. He never did anything good for people. And he grew up to be a man with a heart of stone.
GRANDMOTHER IS RESTING
Little Galinka came home from school. She opened the door and wanted to say something cheerfully to her mother. But mom threatened Galinka with her finger and whispered:
- Quiet, Galinka, grandma is resting. I didn’t sleep the whole night, my heart hurt.
Galinka quietly walked up to the table and put down her briefcase. I had lunch and sat down to study homework. He reads the book quietly, to himself, so as not to wake up his grandmother.
The door opened and Olya, Galinka’s friend, came. She said loudly:
- Galinka, listen...
Galinka threatened her with her finger, like a mother, and whispered:
- Quiet, Olya, grandma is resting. She didn’t sleep the whole night, her heart ached.
The girls sat down at the table and looked at the drawings.
And two tears rolled out from grandma’s closed eyes.
When the grandmother stood up, Galinka asked:
- Grandma, why did you cry in your sleep?
Grandmother smiled and kissed Galinka. Joy shone in her eyes.
BEAUTIFUL WORDS AND BEAUTIFUL DEEDS
There is a small hut in the middle of the field. It was built so that in bad weather people could hide and sit out in warmth.
One day, in the middle of a summer day, the sky was covered with clouds and it began to rain. There were three boys in the forest at that time. They hid from the rain in time and watched as streams of water poured from the sky.
Suddenly they saw a boy of about ten running towards the hut. They didn't know him; the boy was from a neighboring village. He was wet to the skin and shivering from the cold.
And so the eldest of those who ran away from the rain and sat in dry clothes said:
- How bad it is that you, boy, got caught in the rain. I feel sorry for you…
The second boy also uttered beautiful and pitiful words.
“It must be scary to find yourself in the middle of a field in this weather.” I feel for you boy...
And the third did not say a word. He silently took off his shirt and gave it to the boy, who was shivering from the cold.
Beautiful words are not beautiful. Beautiful are beautiful things.
Read this interesting folk tale about a kind young man who treats old people with respect and politeness, helps them in everything and achieves his goal in life.
Talking dog
A boy walks into a cafe with a dog. He timidly declares that his dog can talk and invites those who want to bet with him for money. Many cafe visitors, having heard this, came closer, expecting a miracle. Someone handed over money, agreeing to the dispute. And everyone stared at the dog...
The boy loses the bet, loses his bet money and leaves amid general laughter.
- Well, why are you doing this? Because of you I lost my money! - the boy says to the dog. - Why didn’t you speak?
- Don't worry! - the dog answers. - Just imagine how much money we can now earn tomorrow.
Instructive parables with morals for children
A Tale of Kindness
LIVING WATER AND REJUVINATING APPLES
Once upon a time there was a king, he had three sons. The sons grew up, and the king grew old and fell ill with an unknown disease. They called the best doctors from wherever possible, but they could not help the king, his health became worse and worse. They brought healers to the palace. The healers examined the king and said:
– Only living water and rejuvenating apples can help. All this is located in the distant kingdom, in the thirtieth state. No one knows how to get there, there is a well with living water and an apple tree with rejuvenating apples grows.
The king called his sons to him and said:
“Whoever of you gets me living water and rejuvenating apples, I will give him half the kingdom during my lifetime, and when I die, he will get it all.”
“I will be the first to experience my happiness,” said the eldest son. - If I don’t succeed, then the middle brother will go on a search, and if he doesn’t succeed, then the youngest, Ivan Tsarevich, will set off.
The king ordered the ship to be equipped and sent his eldest son to search. The ship sailed for a day, two days, and on the third day the ship suddenly flew like a bird. No matter what the sailors did: they lowered the sails, threw anchors - nothing could hold him, until on the fourth day they sailed to some island. The prince went ashore, and there was such beauty that it was difficult to describe. Everywhere wild flowers are blooming, unusual fruits are growing on the trees and beautiful birds are singing, and a stream is babbling merrily between the trees. The prince walked and wandered around the island and marveled at its beauty, when suddenly he saw a small bird. She sang so beautifully that the prince wanted to catch her. As soon as he sneaks up on her, she flies from one bush to another. The prince hunted like this for a long time, until night fell and the bird disappeared somewhere. The prince looked around and realized that he was lost, and it was not clear how to return to the ship. I began to look around more closely and saw a barely noticeable path. I walked along this path and saw an old hut standing. He entered a hut, and an old man with a large gray beard was sitting in it.
- Hello, good fellow! Why did you complain? - the old man greeted him.
- Oh, you old brat! I am a prince, and you must feed me and give me something to drink, and then, if I allow, you can ask all sorts of questions.
The old man looked at the prince sternly, stood up, and all his plain clothes turned into a royal caftan embroidered with gold, the royal crown sparkled with precious stones on his head, and the hut became a palace.
- Hey! Guards! This young man is disrespectful to old people, take him! - the old man ordered in a loud voice.
It is not clear where the guards jumped out and grabbed the prince and threw him into prison.
For three days the ship's crew searched for the prince. They walked around the whole island, examined all the trees and bushes, the prince was nowhere to be found, it was as if he had fallen through the ground. The ship sailed back.
The Tsar Father was very upset when he learned about the disappearance of his eldest son, and fell even more ill.
The middle son came to his father and asked him to let him go on his way.
It was a pity for the king to let his middle son go, but there was nothing to do. They equipped the ship, and it sailed according to the will of the waves. Again he swam calmly for two days, and on the third he flew like an arrow and nothing could stop him.
On the fourth day, as before, the ship landed on the island, the prince went down to the shore and again the same story happened as with his elder brother.
For ten days the team searched for the prince. They searched everything, but the prince disappeared into thin air. So the ship returned empty-handed.
The Tsar Father fell completely ill after learning the sad news. After some time, he calls his youngest son to him and says:
“I know that you also want, following the example of your older brothers, to go for living water and rejuvenating apples, but I tell you not to do this, apparently, I don’t have long to live and I ask one thing, find your older brothers, I want before death to look at them for the last time, but I don’t need living water and rejuvenating apples, apparently it’s not fate.
They equipped the ship for the third time. And for the third time history repeated itself, but not all of it...
The prince entered the hut, saw the old man, bowed to him and said:
- Hello, grandfather! Why are you sitting in the dark, and the stove isn’t lit, and you’re probably hungry. Well, that’s okay, I’ll chop some wood, light the stove and cook something for dinner.
With these words, he took off his caftan, took an ax, and work began to boil. Soon the hut became warm and light. The old man and his guest were sitting at the table, drinking tea and having a leisurely conversation. The old man asked, and the young man told him to himself. Then they went to bed.
In the morning, the prince woke up and was amazed: everything around him had changed. Yesterday's hut turned into a royal palace, the hard bench on which he slept became a soft bed. He went to the window and saw a wonderful garden outside the window. The prince went out into the garden, and a maiden of unusual beauty was walking towards him.
“Hello, beauty!” the prince bowed to her, “my name is Ivan Tsarevich, where am I and who are you?”
- Hello, Ivan Tsarevich, my name is Elena the Beautiful, I am the only daughter of the magician king. My father decided to marry me off and is looking for a groom for me - luring princes to the magical island and testing them. Those who do not pass his tests, he puts in prison, and you are in his palace.
- And how many princes are in prison?
“For now there are only two, but if you don’t pass the test, then you too will be imprisoned,” the princess answered sadly.
-Where is your father now?
“He is busy now and told me to meet you and show you the palace and garden, so if you want, come with me.”
With these words, Elena the Beautiful took Ivan Tsarevich by the hand and led him along the garden alley. The young people walked for a long time or a short time in the garden, but they fell in love with each other so much that Ivan Tsarevich forgot why he was here. Several days passed like this. Once Ivan Tsarevich dreamed of the Tsar Father and he seemed to say:
“I feel completely bad, and my sons are not near me, apparently I’ll die without saying goodbye.”
The next morning, Ivan Tsarevich says to Elena the Beautiful:
“It’s time for me to go home, but before I leave, I would like to talk to your father, take me to him.”
- What do you want, or are you tired of being my guest, or what concern is driving you, or do you have a request?
Answer, how can I help? I will help,” the king says affably.
- Your truth! I have a request for you, not just one, but two. My father is dying, he wants to say goodbye to his children, so I ask you to let me and my brothers go to my father.
The Tsar frowned, looked angrily at Ivan Tsarevich and said:
- This is not what I expected from you. Well, what's your second request?
“And I also ask you, give me your daughter Elena the Beautiful in marriage.” I can't imagine my life without her.
The king became cheerful.
– I like that you think about others first, and then about yourself. Okay, so be it, I will let you go and give your father living water and rejuvenating apples. Get on the ship and sail to your father.
-What about my brothers? - asks Ivan Tsarevich.
- Brothers? - The king frowned again, I don’t want to let your brothers go, they are bad people, and they will harm you too. I feel like I'm in trouble! On his knees, Ivan Tsarevich begged to let his brothers go, and in the end he got his way.
The happy brothers boarded the ship and sailed home. They've been sailing for a day, two. The older brothers began to say among themselves that Ivan Tsarevich got everything: living water, and rejuvenating apples, and his father would give him the kingdom, but they would get nothing, and they decided to kill Ivan Tsarevich. When the ship landed on the shore, they lured him into the forest, killed him and abandoned him, and they themselves took the living water and rejuvenating apples, came to their father and said that they supposedly got it all themselves, but they didn’t know where the younger brother was. The father ate the rejuvenating apples, drank living water and immediately became young and healthy.
At this time, Elena the Beautiful, sensing something was wrong, came to her father and persuaded him to turn her into a seagull.
The seagull took living water from the well into its beak and flew off to look for its beloved Ivan Tsarevich. The seagull flew for five days and nights. She really wanted to eat, and was even more thirsty, but the seagull could neither eat nor drink, since in her beak she had living water, which she was saving for Ivan Tsarevich.
On the sixth day, an exhausted seagull flew over the sea and flew up to Ivan Tsarevich. The bird sat on his chest and carefully poured living water onto his lips, and she fell lifeless. Ivan Tsarevich shuddered and opened his eyes, saw a dead bird and understood everything, took the seagull in his hands, kissed its beak, and it turned into Helen the Beautiful.
Imagine the surprise of the older brothers when they saw Tsarevich Ivan, alive and unharmed, and Elena the Beautiful entering the palace. They fell at the feet of their younger brother and began to beg him not to destroy them. Ivan Tsarevich approached his father and told him everything. The king-father’s anger was great; he wanted to put his older brothers in prison forever, but Ivan Tsarevich persuaded him not to do this. Then the king ordered the older brothers to be expelled from the kingdom forever and blessed Ivan Tsarevich and Helen the Beautiful.
Soon the whole kingdom celebrated a wedding, and Ivan Tsarevich and the beautiful Elena began to live and live well and make good money.
(Source: LIVING WATER AND REJUVENING APPLES. Donetsk: VESKO, 2003. -5 p.: ill.)
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TALE
1) What did the eldest king’s son go on a ship in search of?
2) How did the old man meet the prince in the hut?
3) Did the prince answer the old man politely and what happened to him then?
4) What did the tsar ask his youngest son Ivan Tsarevich?
5) How did Ivan Tsarevich behave in the old man’s hut, what did he see in the morning?
6) What did the wizard king like about Ivan Tsarevich’s requests?
7) Did the older brothers repay Ivan Tsarevich with kindness for their release from prison?
At what cost did Elena the Beautiful bring Ivan the Beautiful back to life?
9) Did good triumph over evil in this fairy tale?
10) Give examples of good and evil from other fairy tales.
11) Think and explain what it means to be a kind person?
12) Why do you think the peoples of the world decided to celebrate International Kindness Day?
