The Spanish call their country España. The name comes from the ancient word Span, which means hidden or remote land. It’s a fitting name, since Spain stands somewhat apart from the rest of Europe.
Thunder and Lightning | Short Reads
A thunderstorm is coming. A bolt of lightning flashes across the sky. Thunder rumbles in the distance. The storm comes closer. The lightning bolts get brighter. They light up the clouds. The thunder gets louder. It crashes and roars. Thunder and lightning can be frightening.
Benjamin Franklin | Short Reads
Was Benjamin Franklin a famous scientist? Or was he an inventor? Was he a diplomat and a statesman? Or a printer and a writer? Franklin was not just one of these things—he was all of them!
Brazil | Short Reads
Brazil is a big country. It covers about half of South America and is home to about half the continent’s people. In fact, only four countries of the world have more land than Brazil: Russia, Canada, China, and the United States. All that area gives Brazil many kinds of landscapes and great natural beauty.
Classical Music | Short Reads
Do not be bored. Classical music can be very stimulating. Classical music began in Europe in the Middle Ages and continues today.
Classical music is the art music of Europe and North America. When we call it art music, we are distinguishing classical music from popular music and folk music. Art music generally requires more training to write and perform than the other two kinds.
Chickens | Short Reads
Have you ever watched baby chickens hatch? You can see them on farms and at many children’s zoos.
The baby chick is inside a shell. It pecks at the shell for a while, and then it rests. When the chick has pecked away enough of the shell, it breaks out. Baby chickens are covered with soft down.
The Exploration of the Poles | Short Reads
Explorers only reached the North Pole and the South Pole in the 1900s. They risked chilling cold, blinding blizzards, and frostbite to investigate these frozen zones.
Crazy Horse | Short Reads
Crazy Horse grew up riding horses and hunting buffalo. But it was his bravery and daring in battle that earned him the name Crazy Horse. This was also his father’s name.
Crazy Horse was one of the greatest Native American chiefs. When the United States government tried to force Native Americans to live on reservations, Crazy Horse fiercely defended his people’s land and way of life.
Ballet | Short Reads
BALLET Raise your arms and bring your fingers together over your head. Now lift one foot, point your toes, and strike a pose. You are doing ballet. Ballet is a form of dance with graceful steps and arm movements as well as leaps and spins. We also use the word ballet...
Vaccination | Short Reads
VACCINATION “You’ll just feel a little jab.” Ouch! That wasn’t too bad, and it could save your life. Most of us have had “shots” from a needle. These are usually vaccinations, and they are extremely valuable. They help protect us against diseases. VIRUSES Most...
Recent Posts
When The Bells Stop Ringing 10 | The Guardian in the Ice
The cold in Moscow is a living entity, prowling the streets for any weakness. Ivan, a homeless veteran, sits on a steam grate behind a metro station, his only warmth coming from the mongrel dog, Laika, tucked inside his coat. When the Social Patrol van pulls up offering a warm bed in a shelter, there is a catch: no dogs allowed. Ivan looks at the open door of the van, and then at the loyal eyes of his companion. This is a story about the family we choose, and the lines we refuse to cross, even when the temperature drops to minus thirty.
When the Bells Stop Ringing 9 | The Longest Ring
In Stockholm, the winter darkness arrives just after lunch, settling over the city like a heavy blanket. Astrid sits by her window, watching a candle burn down—a silent, stubborn signal to a son she hasn’t spoken to in two years. She calls it ‘waiting,’ but deep down, she knows it is pride. The candle is fading, and the silence of the phone is deafening. Tonight, Astrid faces the hardest journey of all: the distance between her hand and the receiver. A story for anyone who is waiting for the other person to blink first.
The Empty Chair and the Orange Crate: Why We Must Break the Seal
In this episode, we explore the danger of hoarding our grief and our joy. Through stories set in Dublin, Beirut, Hokkaido, and Berlin, we ask: What happens when we invite a stranger to the table, and why must we “break the seal” before the moment rots?
When the Bells Stop Ringing 8 | The Spice of Memory
Berlin in December is gray, damp, and smells of wet wool. For Fatima, a refugee from Aleppo, the city feels impossibly cold and distant. Desperate for a sense of home on Christmas Eve, she opens a jar of seven-spice and begins to cook Maqluba, filling her apartment building with the rich, loud scents of the Levant. But when a sharp knock comes at the door, Fatima fears the worst. On the other side stands her stern German neighbor, Frau Weber. What follows is a story about the flavors that divide us, and the unexpected tastes that bring us together.
When the Bells Stop Ringing 7 | The Snowbound Station
A blizzard has erased the highways of Hokkaido, trapping a diverse group of travelers in a roadside station on Christmas Eve. There is a businessman with a deadline, a crying toddler, and a truck driver named Kenji hauling a perishable cargo of sunshine—mandarin oranges. As the power flickers and the vending machines die, the tension in the room rises. With the road closed and hunger setting in, Kenji looks at his sealed cargo and faces a choice: follow the rules of the logbook, or break the seal to feed the strangers stranded with him.
When The Bells Stop Ringing 6 | The Candle Carrier
In Beirut, the darkness doesn’t fall gently; it seizes the city. On Christmas Eve, the power grid fails, leaving twelve-year-old Nour and her neighbors in a suffocating blackout. In a building where iron doors are usually triple-locked and neighbors rarely speak, the silence is heavy. But Nour remembers her grandmother’s beeswax candles and makes a choice. Instead of huddling in her own apartment, she heads for the dark stairwell. This is a tale about what happens when the lights go out, and we are forced to become the light for one another.