Quick answer: These are the first chapters of 20 short stories from the Qalam and Kitab Premium Collection. You can read each first chapter here without an account. Every story has three short chapters and ends with a moral. To read the rest, create a free account: it takes about a minute and every book on the site is free.
The stories are written for children aged about 8 to 12, and younger children enjoy them read aloud by a parent. They are set in Pakistani villages, homes, classrooms and deserts, and each one is built around a single idea such as patience, honesty, kindness or courage.
Jump to a story
- The Dream of Seven Stars
- The Lantern of Madinah
- The Chosen Path: Tales of Bani Israel
- Grandmother’s Old Fables
- The Adventures of Koomo
- A Festival Gift for Ammi
- Tales from the Garden of Wisdom
- The Thirty-Two Steps to the Throne
- The Spirit’s Twenty-Five Riddles
- The Drum That Called the Animals
- The Sparrow Who Flew Twice
- Who Took My Laddoo?
- Sheikh Taang and the Market Day
- The Monkey in Our Classroom
- Why Good Manners Matter
- Tengi and the Missing Cows
- The Night the Village Caught Fire
- Chanda Mama’s Lullaby Book
- The Shepherd’s Last Warning
- A Little Atlas of Pakistan
The Dream of Seven Stars
A shepherd boy dreams of seven stars bowing to him, and learns that a dream kept patiently is never wasted.
Chapter 1: A Dream Under the Neem Tree
Every Ramzan evening, Zoya sat under the neem tree while Dada Jaan told the old qissa of a shepherd boy named Rayyan. One night Rayyan dreamed that seven stars bowed low before him in the sky.
In the morning he ran to tell his brothers. They laughed. ‘Stars don’t bow to shepherd boys,’ they said, and walked away shaking their heads.
Rayyan kept the dream folded quietly in his heart, the way Dada Jaan folded his prayer mat after Maghrib.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Long Drought and Chapter 3: Water Under the Stars. Read the whole story free
The Lantern of Madinah
A boy who lights the street lanterns of old Madinah every evening discovers why a small kindness, kept faithfully, is never wasted.
Chapter 1: The Keeper of Small Lights
In the old quarter of Madinah, a boy named Hamza had one quiet job: every evening, just before Maghrib, he lit the small clay lanterns along the road for travellers arriving after dark.
‘Why bother,’ his cousin teased, ‘when most nights no one comes at all?’ Hamza only shrugged and lit the lanterns anyway, one by one, until the road glowed like a string of little moons.
Still to read: Chapter 2: A Traveller in the Dark and Chapter 3: The Lanterns Remember. Read the whole story free
The Chosen Path: Tales of Bani Israel
A teacher’s old stories of desert travellers who chose the harder path teach a class why the right road is rarely the easy one.
Chapter 1: The Teacher’s Old Stories
Every Friday afternoon, Ustani Aapa closed her chalk-dusted register and said the same words: ‘Now, the old stories.’ Her class of ten-year-olds always sat up straighter.
‘Long ago,’ she began, ‘a tired group of travellers crossed a desert with no map, trusting only that the path they had chosen, however hard, would lead somewhere good.’
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Hardest Part of the Journey and Chapter 3: Choosing the Harder, Better Path. Read the whole story free
Grandmother’s Old Fables
Dadi tells a fable a night from her mysterious tin box, until her grandchildren discover where the real stories were kept all along.
Chapter 1: The Fable Box
Dadi kept an old tin box under her charpai. Nobody had ever seen inside it, but every night she would tap it twice and say, ‘Tonight’s fable,’ as if pulling it straight out of the box.
Her favourite was about a slow tortoise who carried a message across a flooding river while a fast hare refused, afraid of getting wet.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Hare’s Regret and Chapter 3: Dadi’s Real Box. Read the whole story free
The Adventures of Koomo
A curious young camel calf wanders off chasing a butterfly and learns from a wise desert fox how wisdom brings you safely home.
Chapter 1: Koomo Runs Off
Koomo was the smallest camel calf in the herd, and also the most curious. One afternoon, while the grown camels dozed under a thorn tree, Koomo spotted a bright yellow butterfly and trotted after it, further and further from home.
By the time he looked up, the herd was nowhere in sight, and the desert stretched flat and golden in every direction.
Still to read: Chapter 2: Lost Among the Dunes and Chapter 3: Home Before Dark. Read the whole story free
A Festival Gift for Ammi
Sarah saves her Eidi for weeks dreaming of a toy, until she notices her mother’s tired, old dupatta and quietly changes her plan.
Chapter 1: Saving the Eidi
Sarah collected her Eidi in a small cloth pouch all week, dreaming of the toy kitchen set in the market window. Every rupee from her uncles and cousins went straight into the pouch.
By the last day of Eid, she had almost enough. ‘Tomorrow,’ she whispered to her pouch, ‘you’re mine, little kitchen.’
Still to read: Chapter 2: Ammi’s Tired Hands and Chapter 3: The Real Gift. Read the whole story free
Tales from the Garden of Wisdom
An old gardener who is never in a hurry teaches a group of impatient children why the sweetest fruit always takes time.
Chapter 1: The Gardener Who Never Hurried
Baba Ilyas tended the oldest garden in the mohalla, and no matter how busy the day, he was never in a hurry. ‘Patience,’ he always said, ‘grows the sweetest fruit.’
One day, a group of children begged him to plant mangoes quickly so they could eat them before summer ended.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Seed That Could Not Be Rushed and Chapter 3: The First Mango. Read the whole story free
The Thirty-Two Steps to the Throne
A prince must climb thirty-two ancient steps that test his character, and learns leadership is earned, not inherited.
Chapter 1: The Staircase of Trials
In the old kingdom of Kaaf, no prince inherited the throne by birth alone. Each had to climb the palace’s thirty-two ancient steps, and at certain steps, the stones themselves tested the climber’s character.
Prince Faraz began his climb at dawn, nervous but determined.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Step of Listening and Chapter 3: The Thirty-Second Step. Read the whole story free
The Spirit’s Twenty-Five Riddles
When the village well dries up, a blacksmith’s daughter must answer twenty-five riddles guarding the water, and discovers they test kindness, not cleverness.
Chapter 1: The Guardian of the Well
When the village well ran dry one summer, old women whispered of a spirit who guarded the deepest water behind twenty-five riddles. Only someone clever and kind-hearted could answer them all.
Mehrban, the blacksmith’s daughter, decided she would try, though no one her age ever had.
Still to read: Chapter 2: Riddles of the Heart and Chapter 3: The Twenty-Fifth Riddle. Read the whole story free
The Drum That Called the Animals
A boy finds his grandfather’s old drum in the attic, and when the river rises, he discovers it still calls every animal in the valley.
Chapter 1: The Old Drum in the Attic
In his grandfather’s attic, Zubair found an old drum covered in dust, its skin cracked with age. ‘That drum,’ his grandfather said softly, ‘once called every animal in the valley when danger came.’
Zubair laughed, thinking it was only an old story, until the river began to rise that very week.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Flood Warning and Chapter 3: Working Together. Read the whole story free
The Sparrow Who Flew Twice
A little sparrow chick too afraid to leave the nest learns that trying twice is braver than giving up after once.
Chapter 1: Too Scared to Jump
Chiku the little sparrow sat at the edge of the nest, watching his brothers and sisters fly off one by one into the morning sky. His wings felt too small, the ground too far.
‘I can’t,’ he chirped softly, shuffling back into the nest.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The First Fall and Chapter 3: Flying for Real. Read the whole story free
Who Took My Laddoo?
Noor accuses her brother and cousin of stealing her saved sweet, until sticky paw prints reveal the real culprit.
Chapter 1: The Missing Laddoo
Noor saved the last laddoo on her plate for after her nap, carefully covering it with a small steel bowl. When she woke up, the bowl was tipped over and the laddoo was gone.
‘Who took my laddoo?’ she demanded, marching straight to her brother’s room.
Still to read: Chapter 2: Blaming Everyone and Chapter 3: The Real Culprit. Read the whole story free
Sheikh Taang and the Market Day
A clever old man outsmarts a greedy melon seller with nothing but a bag of ordinary stones and a little wit.
Chapter 1: The Overpriced Melons
Sheikh Taang walked to the market with three coins in his pocket, only to find the melon seller charging triple the usual price. ‘The drought made them rare,’ the seller insisted with a sly smile.
Sheikh Taang said nothing, only nodded, and walked away with an idea forming in his head.
Still to read: Chapter 2: A Clever Trade and Chapter 3: The Fair Price Returns. Read the whole story free
The Monkey in Our Classroom
A monkey swings into the middle of a spelling test, and a village school learns calm thinking beats chasing and shouting.
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visitor
In the middle of a spelling test, a monkey swung in through the open window, snatched a pencil box, and leaped straight onto the teacher’s desk.
The whole class burst into laughter and shrieks as the monkey scattered chalk and papers everywhere.
Still to read: Chapter 2: Chasing Does Not Work and Chapter 3: A Gentle Trick. Read the whole story free
Why Good Manners Matter
A boy who always interrupts misses out on his grandfather’s treasure-map story, and learns that good manners open doors impatience closes.
Chapter 1: Always Interrupting
Aariz had a habit of interrupting everyone, talking over his elders and grabbing things off the table without asking. His family sighed but let it pass, again and again.
One day, his grandfather began telling a story about a hidden treasure map from his own childhood.
Still to read: Chapter 2: The Missed Treasure Map and Chapter 3: Asking Politely. Read the whole story free
Tengi and the Missing Cows
A daydreaming shepherd boy loses half his herd, then tracks them home using the skills his father once taught him.
Chapter 1: Daydreaming in the Field
Tengi loved daydreaming about faraway cities far more than watching cows. One lazy afternoon, lost in thoughts of trains and tall buildings, he looked up to find half the herd had wandered off.
His heart sank. His father trusted him with this one simple job.
Still to read: Chapter 2: Following the Tracks and Chapter 3: A Promise Kept. Read the whole story free
The Night the Village Caught Fire
Sparks from a cooking fire set a haystack ablaze, and the whole village learns that working together saves more than any one person could alone.
Chapter 1: Sparks in the Wind
It was a windy evening when sparks from a neighbour’s cooking fire drifted onto a dry haystack near Rukhsar’s house. Within minutes, orange flames crawled quickly up the stack.
Rukhsar screamed for help, and within seconds, the whole street was awake.
Still to read: Chapter 2: Buckets in a Line and Chapter 3: Rebuilding Together. Read the whole story free
Chanda Mama’s Lullaby Book
Every night, the moon rises softly over the village rooftops, listening to every lullaby, watching over every sleeping child with the same quiet love.
Chapter 1: Chanda Mama Comes Out
Every night, round and gentle, Chanda Mama the moon rose softly over the village rooftops. Mothers everywhere pointed up and sang the same old lullaby to their sleepy little ones.
‘Look, baby, Chanda Mama is here to watch you sleep,’ they whispered.
Still to read: Chapter 2: A Song for Every Baby and Chapter 3: Goodnight, Little One. Read the whole story free
The Shepherd’s Last Warning
A shepherd boy who jokes about wolves one too many times learns that trust, once broken, must be earned back one honest word at a time.
Chapter 1: Wolf! Wolf!
Salman, the youngest shepherd on the hill, found it endlessly funny to shout ‘Wolf! Wolf!’ just to watch the villagers come running with sticks and lanterns, only to find nothing there.
He did it once, then twice, laughing harder each time at their tired, annoyed faces.
Still to read: Chapter 2: No One Comes Running and Chapter 3: Earning Trust Again. Read the whole story free
A Little Atlas of Pakistan
A bored school map project turns alive when a grandmother’s memories of mountains, deserts and rivers show a girl that a country is more than lines on a page.
Chapter 1: A School Project
Hina’s teacher assigned a simple project: draw a map of Pakistan and describe one special thing about each province. Hina groaned, thinking it would be the most boring weekend ever.
Her grandmother, overhearing, smiled and said, ‘Let me help you see it differently.’
Still to read: Chapter 2: Mountains, Deserts and Rivers and Chapter 3: A Country of Many Colours. Read the whole story free
Keep reading
Every story above is free to finish with a free account. Create a free account or log in, then open any story from All Books. More free first chapters, from study skills to careers, are on the Free Chapters page. For younger children there are Playgroup short stories.