Author and Illustrator Janie M. Stape
From a
Caterpillar to
a Butterfly
Once
in a little forest living under an old oak tree was Charlie Caterpillar. He lived a simple life just squirming around
and soaking up the warm sunshine from above. He
would
play with his other caterpillar friends.
Often one of his friends would climb onto the limb of the old
oak tree
and spin himself a cocoon.
After doing this, the caterpillar would never come back to play
with him. This would be a very sad time
for Charlie
because
he missed playing his friends. Charlie
often found himself
wondering
what had happened to all of his caterpillar friends.
One
day Charlie felt the urge to climb up the branch of the old oak tree
and
spin a cocoon. However, Charlie was
certain that he would climb back down the old oak tree so that he could
squirm on the ground. After Charlie was
snug
inside the cocoon, he fell sound asleep.
As
Charlie slept, his body went through a change.
Many days passed and Charlie finely woke up. He chomped away at
his
cocoon
until he could see the bright summer sun shining into his eyes. Charlie climbed out of his cocoon and
discovered that he had developed wings.
Charlie was wobbly at first, but then he spread his wings apart
and
began to fly high into the blue sky.
He looked down upon the ground where he once squirmed
with his friends.
What did he see? Charlie saw all of the
caterpillars crawling on the ground. Oh,
if only Charlie could tell them how much more wonderful it was to be in
the
sky to
see all of the beautiful things on earth.
Charlie then realized that someday soon his little friends would
join
him in the sky. Charlie decided it would
be best not to worry about his friends down on the ground. He
realized that all of
his
friends would join him in the sky. They could enjoy the beauty of
the earth together.
Critical thinking questions to ask students that would change your story to their story:
1. How would you change the main character? (introduction)
2. Where would your story take place? (setting)9
3. What would happen to the main character in your story? (Plot)
4. How would your story end? (Ending)
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