Things That Sometimes Happen: Very Short Stories for Little Listeners

By Avi

Here are a few things that sometimes happen: HAPPY THINGS An unpopular Black Crayon proves to a Little Girl how useful he really is. SAD THINGS On a very hot day, an Ice-Cream Cone waits...and waits...to be eaten. EXCITING THINGS A Papa catches cold, so his Little Boy gets to go to work instead These nine very short stories for very young readers -- culled from Newbery Honor author Avi's first book and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Marjorie Priceman -- ingeniously capture the funny, surprising spirit of a child's imagination.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689839146
• ISBN13: 9780689839146
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.3" x 12.3"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Likable silliness for young kids

I recently bought this book for my 6 year old daughter, who is a pretty good reader. The stories are short and she can easily read them quickly, but she enjoys them and I think she'll end up reading them to her younger cousins. I think both of us like the silliness and unpredictability of the stories. Also, we like to give "voice" to inanimate objects, which is really what each story does. The watercolor illustrations are vivid and really capture the imagination of the story itself!

peculiar but fun

Nine very short stories that at first seem peculiar, but kids will understand them. There is the meaningful story of the boy and his father in role reversal. The boy goes to work for his father when his father stays home, ill in bed. The boy calls home and also buys his father a gift to help him feel better. There is a story about a design conscious hippo in search of a car. There is a boy and his cat with very active imaginations. The story about a thirst elephant and the equally giving glass of water is quite cute. And what about the tallest crayon in the box, the rarely used black crayon. One day it convinces a girl to use it in a drawing. A fun book that stimulates the imagination