Ten Minute Stories

A sorcerer's apprentice, a flying horse and a magical firebird are just some of the characters in this collection of tales from all over the world, along with more familiar faces such as Dick Whittington and Pinocchio. Each beautifully illustrated story in this hardback book takes just ten minutes to read - perfect for dipping into at bedtime.

Following the success of 10 Ten-Minute Stories, this book provides further bite-sized reading opportunities, based on the research that reading or being read to for ten minutes every day will significantly improve children’s reading skills. This short story collection supports this – each story taking about ten minutes to read. Ideal for sharing with younger children; as children learn to read on their own they can tackle these simple stories on their own.

Reports show that reading or being read to for ten minutes every day will significantly improve children's reading skills. This short story collection supports this - each story taking about ten minutes to read. Ideal for sharing with younger children; as children learn to read on their own they can tackle these simple stories on their own. The ten well-loved tales, include The Billy Goats Gruff, Chicken Licken and The Jungle Book. Full of humour, adventure and endearing animal characters, these stories will delight young children everywhere. Each fully illustrated story has been retold for young readers and bound together in a lovely hardback edition which children will be proud to own and read. Part of Usborne's amazing selection of story books for young children. Previous titles in the '10 Ten-Minutes' series include: '10 Ten-Minute Stories', ISBN: 9781409596745; '10 More Ten-Minute Stories', ISBN: 9781474922067; '10 Ten-Minute Fairy Tales', ISBN: 9781474938037; '10 Ten-Minute Bedtime Stories', ISBN: 9781474938044.

Ten familiar tales, retold for young readers and gorgeously illustrated, including favourites Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and The Magic Porridge Pot, as well as classics The Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland. Ideal for sharing with younger children; as children learn to read, they can tackle these simple stories on their own. Studies have shown that reading for just ten minutes a day can massively improve children's literacy; this collection of stories will inspire children to do that and more.

Written specifically for bedtime, this story is full of magic, sparkle and rainbows... and one naughty little unicorn! Weaving a journey from lively beginning to gentle end, the 10 minute countdown to bed is at the heart of this enchanting story. But will Twinkle get to bed on time? This beautifully illustrated picture book is the perfect length for sending little ones off to sleep.

Stories prompted by research that shows that reading or being read to for just ten minutes every day will significantly improve children's reading skills. This short story collection supports this - each story is selected from Usborne's Reading Programme and will take about ten minutes to read. Ideal for sharing with younger children; as children learn to read on their own they can tackle these simple stories on their own. Part of Usborne's amazing selection of story books for young children. Previous title, '10 Ten-Minute Stories', also available ISBN: 9781409596745.

At the moorland cross-roads Martin stood examining the sign-post for several minutes in some bewilderment. The names on the four arms were not what he expected, distances were not given, and his map, he concluded with impatience, must be hopelessly out of date. Spreading it against the post, he stooped to study it more closely. The wind blew the corners flapping against his face. The small print was almost indecipherable in the fading light. It appeared, however—as well as he could make out—that two miles back he must have taken the wrong turning. He remembered that turning. The path had looked inviting; he had hesitated a moment, then followed it, caught by the usual lure of walkers that it “might prove a short cut.” The short-cut snare is old as human nature. For some minutes he studied the sign-post and the map alternately. Dusk was falling, and his knapsack had grown heavy. He could not make the two guides tally, however, and a feeling of uncertainty crept over his mind. He felt oddly baffled, frustrated. His thought grew thick. Decision was most difficult. “I’m muddled,” he thought; “I must be tired,” as at length he chose the most likely arm. “Sooner or later it will bring me to an inn, though not the one I intended.” He accepted his walker’s luck, and started briskly. The arm read, “Over Litacy Hill” in small, fine letters that danced and shifted every time he looked at them; but the name was not discoverable on the map. It was, however, inviting like the short cut. A similar impulse again directed his choice. Only this time it seemed more insistent, almost urgent. And he became aware, then, of the exceeding loneliness of the country about him. The road for a hundred yards went straight, then curved like a white river running into space; the deep blue-green of heather lined the banks, spreading upwards through the twilight; and occasional small pines stood solitary here and there, all unexplained. The curious adjective, having made its appearance, haunted him. So many things that afternoon were similarly—unexplained: the short cut, the darkened map, the names on the sign-post, his own erratic impulses, and the growing strange confusion that crept upon his spirit. The entire country-side needed explanation, though perhaps “interpretation” was the truer word. Those little lonely trees had made him see it. Why had he lost his way so easily? Why did he suffer vague impressions to influence his direction? Why was he here—exactly here? And why did he go now “over Litacy Hill”? Then, by a green field that shone like a thought of daylight amid the darkness of the moor, he saw a figure lying in the grass. It was a blot upon the landscape, a mere huddled patch of dirty rags, yet with a certain horrid picturesqueness too; and his mind—though his German was of the schoolroom order—at once picked out the German equivalents as against the English. Lump and Lumpen flashed across his brain most oddly. They seemed in that moment right, and so expressive, almost like onomatopœic words, if that were possible of sight. Neither “rags” nor “rascal” would have fitted what he saw. The adequate description was in German.

A boy's hamster leads an increasingly large group of hamsters on a tour of the boy's house, while his father counts down the minutes to bedtime