A story based on a North American tale about a fox who tricks a bear out of his tail.

A fictional story on why bears have short tails.

A boastful bear and a jealous fox is the reason that bears have short tails.

Short and fuzzy, long and scaled: no matter their size and shape, tails aren't just hanging around—they're useful! This fun, informative book invites readers to guess the owner of nine tails, and then turn the page to see the animal and its tail in action.

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: When Tree Kangaroo and Koala dig a well to get some water, Tree Kangaroo ends up doing all of the work and Koala ends up with a stumpy tail in this origin story from Australia.

According to legend, bears used to have long tails. What happened to them?

A fun retelling of this Native American legend. Bear is tricked by Otter into fishing with his beautiful, long tail - and it ends up getting frozen and snapping off! Reading Champion offers independent reading books for children to practise and reinforce their developing reading skills. Fantastic, original stories are accompanied by engaging artwork and a reading activity. Each book has been carefully graded so that it can be matched to a child's reading ability, encouraging reading for pleasure. The Key Stage 2 Reading Champion Books are suggested for use as follows: Independent Reading 11: start of Year 3 or age 7+ Independent Reading 12: end of Year 3 or age 7+ Independent Reading 13: start of Year 4 or age 8+ Independent Reading 14: end of Year 4 or age 8+ Independent Reading 15: start of Year 5 or age 9+ Independent Reading 16: end of Year 5 or age 9+ Independent Reading 17: start of Year 6 or age 10+ Independent Reading 18: end of Year 6 or age 10+

In this sweet, lyrical picture book, perfect for bedtime, a playful cub prepares for hibernation, saving just enough time for Mama to share a story before they must settle down. Autumn is ending and a chilly breeze is drifting in, which can mean only one thing-- it's time to hibernate over the long winter. But before Small Bear does, she'd like for Mama to tell her some stories. Mama agrees, with one condition: all the preparation must get done-- no dilly, no dally. So Small Bear tries to be good, venturing off to find sprigs for her winter bed, splishing and splashing in the stream, and climbing up, up, up into the tall forest trees in search of acorns. When she finally returns home, Small Bear snuggles down with Mama in their den. Did she make it back in time? "You did," Mama answers, and pulls her in close. And then Mama tells the most wonderful tale of a little bear--just like Small Bear--who, while enjoying the world around her, saved just enough time for stories.

Throughout the Middle Ages, enormously popular bestiaries presented people with descriptions of rare and unusual animals, typically paired with a moral or religious lesson. The real and the imaginary blended seamlessly in these books—at the time, the existence of a rhinoceros was as credible as a unicorn or dragon. Although audiences now scoff at the impossibility of mythological beasts, there remains an extraordinary willingness to suspend skepticism and believe wild stories about nature, particularly about insects and their relatives in the Phylum Arthropoda. In The Earwig’s Tail, entomologist May Berenbaum and illustrator Jay Hosler draw on the powerful cultural symbols of these antiquated books to create a beautiful and witty bestiary of the insect world. Berenbaum’s compendium of tales is an alphabetical tour of modern myths that humorously illuminates aerodynamically unsound bees, ear-boring earwigs, and libido-enhancing Spanish flies. She tracks down the germ of scientific truth that inspires each insect urban legend and shares some wild biological lessons, which, because of the amazing nature of the insect world, can be more fantastic than even the mythic misperceptions.

The Beacon Second Reader is a collection of classical fairy tales arranged by James H. Fassett. Excerpt: "There was once an old goat who had seven little kids. She loved them all as much as any mother ever loved her children. One day the old goat wished to go into the woods to get food for her kids. Before she started she called them all to her and said: "Dear children, I am going into the woods. Now do not open the door while I am away. If the old wolf should get into our hut, he would eat you all up, and not a hair would be left. You can easily tell him by his rough voice and his black feet." "Dear mother," cried all the young kids, "we will be very careful not to let the old wolf in. You need not think of us at all, for we shall be quite safe." So the old goat went on her way into the dark woods. She had not been gone long when there came a loud rap at the door, and a voice cried: "Open the door, my dear children. I have something here for each of you." But the young kids knew by the rough voice that this was the old wolf."