Ladybug Stories, Poems, and Songs Magazine for Young Kids and Children May/June 2020

max and kate

It is the first day of May. Kate is making a surprise for Max. She rolls a piece of paper into a cone. Her grandma helps her tape it shut. Next, she cuts out flowers and tapes them to drinking-straw stalks. She adds a ribbon handle and pops in some candies. What a pretty May basket! Now she creeps up to Max's house and hangs the basket on the door. She rings the bell . . . . . . and runs away when Max opens the door. Max finds the basket. Who is it from? Max runs after his secret friend, and he catches her! “Happy May Day, Kate!” says Max with a laugh.…

fifty-fifty friends

A shiny coin sat in the grass in the middle of the park. Cam saw it. Mac saw it. “I saw it first!” they both shouted. Cam picked it up. “A Wyoming quarter,” he said. “Now I have quarters from all fifty states.” Mac took the coin from Cam. “Twenty-five cents,” he said. “Now I have enough to buy ice cream today.” Cam grabbed the coin from Mac. “Ice cream?” he hollered. “I’ve collected every state from Alabama to Wisconsin. I never found Wyoming. I need Wyoming!” Mac snatched the coin from Cam. “Wyoming?” he yelped. “Twenty-five cents buys the flavor of the day. I’ve eaten strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, and boysenberry. I’ve never tasted huckleberry. I need huckleberry ice cream!” “Wait,” said Cam. “We are fifty-fifty friends.” Mac agreed. “Remember the cupcake last week? We cut it in half.” “The chips, too,” said…

while alena was sleeping

Alena was asleep in bed. Outside, a slug moved smoothly out from under the century plant. It traveled in a wide, wobbly arc across the bricks and into the flower bed, where it nibbled lacy holes in the leaf of a petunia seedling. Its silvery path glittered in the moonlight. A whiskery opossum waddled across the yard, stopping at a dripping faucet to drink. She had seven babies in her pouch, and she was very thirsty. Two striped skunks strolled delicately into the garden to dig for roots. When the spotted owl passed above them, one stamped in alarm, raising its tail to spray. Three raccoons came along next. They pulled the lid off the garbage can using their strong, long fingers and jumped in to look for food. When the lid clattered to…

mouse deer and the tigers

King Tiger thought he was the greatest tiger in the world. While I do not know if that was true, he was certainly the greediest. One day he said to himself, “I wonder if there is tasty food nearby on the Island of Borneo.” He called three of his strongest tigers and said to them, “I have a job for you. You must swim to Borneo and ask their tiger king for food. Tell them the King of All Tigers demands it. If they don’t agree, we will attack.” The king pulled out one of his large whisk “Show him this, and he will see what kind of he is dealing with.” The three tigers swam over to Borneo, roaring all the way. Now, there were no tigers on Borneo but all the…

ocean in a jar

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: wide-mouth glass jar, vase, or bowl pebbles or heavy beads water sponge scissors toothpick glue feather WHAT TO DO: 1. With a grownup, create an ocean floor by pouring pebbles or beads into the bottom of the jar. What else could you use for the ocean floor? 2. Here comes the ocean! Pour water into the jar, leaving plenty of room for a boat. 3. To make a boat, cut the sponge into a square or oval boat shape. The shape should be at least one inch long and one inch wide. 4. To add a sail, ask your grownup to help you poke a toothpick through the middle of the boat. It is fine if the toothpick goes all the way through the sponge. Put a thin line of glue on the toothpick and press a feather on…