Do you remember the stories that you read as a child? Moral stories can needn’t be serious, but they can be funny at the same time help your child learn something. We have compiled a list of 07 short moral stories that are inspirational, from India, and from around the world. <h3>1. The Boy Who Cried, Wolf</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_boy_who_cried%2C_wolf.webp_image_1638188646554.webp" width="359">There was a young boy whose father, a farmer, had asked him to take their herd of sheep grazing every day.One day, the boy was extremely bored as he watched over the sheep and so he cried: “Wolf! Wolf!”On hearing his cries, the villagers rushed to help him chase the wolf away and save the sheep.When they saw the grinning boy and realised he had cried wolf for his amusement, they scolded him and told him to not cry wolf!The next day, the boy cried out that the wolf was there. The villagers came, scolded him again, and left.Later that same day, a wolf came and terrorized the sheep.The boy cried, “Wolf! Wolf! Please help me.”But, the villagers assumed that he was pulling a silly prank again and did not come to his rescue. The sheep ran away and the boy cried.Moral of the story: Don’t lie or engage in foolish pranks, for no one will believe a liar even when he is telling the truth! <h3>2. The Golden Touch Of Midas</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_golden_touch_of_midas.jpg_image_1638188804006.jpg" width="365">A long time ago, there lived a king in Greece named Midas.He was extremely wealthy and had all the gold he could ever need. He also had a daughter whom he loved very much.One day, Midas saw a Satyr (an angel) who was stuck and was in trouble. Midas helped the Satyr and asked for his wish to be granted in return.The Satyr agreed and Midas wished for everything he touched to be turned to gold. His wish was granted.Extremely excited, Midas went home to his wife and daughter touching pebbles, rocks, and plants on the way, which turned into gold.As his daughter hugged him, she turned into a golden statue.Having learnt his lesson, Midas begged the Satyr to reverse the spell who granted that everything would go back to their original state.Moral of the story: Stay content and grateful for what you have. Greed will not get you anywhere. <h3>3. The Foolish Thief</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_foolish_thief.jpg_image_1638188856227.jpg" width="362">Once, a wealthy merchant came to King Akbar’s court to seek help from Birbal. He suspected that one of his servants had robbed him.On hearing this, Birbal thought of a clever plan and summoned the merchant’s servants.He gave each servant a stick of the same length. He told them that the thief’s stick would grow two inches by the next day.The next day, Birbal summoned the servants again. He noticed that a servant’s stick was two inches shorter than the others.He knew who the thief was.The foolish thief had cut the stick shorter by two inches as he thought it would grow two inches. Thus, proving his guilt.Moral of the story: Truth and justice will always prevail. <h3>4. Two Frogs With The Same Problem</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/two_frogs_with_the_same_problem.png_image_1638188962564.png" width="346">Once, a group of frogs was roaming around the forest in search of water. Suddenly, two frogs in the group accidentally fell into a deep pit.The other frogs worried about their friends in the pit.Seeing how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that there was no way they could escape the deep pit and that there was no point in trying.They continued to constantly discourage them as the two frogs tried to jump out of the pit. But keep falling back.Soon, one of the two frogs started to believe the other frogs — that they’ll never be able to escape the pit and eventually died after giving up.The other frog keeps trying and eventually jumps so high that he escapes the pit. The other frogs were shocked at this and wondered how he did it.The difference was that the second frog was deaf and couldn’t hear the discouragement of the group. He simply thought they were cheering him on!Moral of the story: People’s opinion of you will affect you, only if you believe it to be so. It’s better to believe in yourself. <h3>5. The Milkmaid and Her Pail</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_milkmaid_and_her_pail.jpg_image_1638189037353.jpg" width="348">There was once a milkmaid named Patty.She milked her cow and carried the two pails of milk she fetched on a stick and set out to sell the milk at the market.As she was walking to the market, she began to daydream about what she would do with the money she fo for the milk.She thought of buying a hen and selling its eggs and she planned on becoming wealthy.She dreamt of buying a cake, a basket of strawberries, a fancy dress, and even a new house with the money she would make selling the eggs and the milk!In her excitement, she forgot about the pails she was carrying and began to skip.Suddenly, she realised that the milk was spilling down and when she checked her pails, they were empty.Moral of the story: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch! It is important to focus on the process of achieving success and not just success alone. <h3>6. The Elephant Circus</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/elepahnt_circus.jpg_image_1638189224771.jpg" width="361">Once upon a time in a circus, five elephants performed circus tricks. They were kept tied up with weak rope that they could’ve easily escaped, but did not.One day, a man visiting the circus asked the ringmaster: “Why haven’t these elephants broken the rope and run away?”The ringmaster replied: “From when they were young, the elephants were made to believe that they were not strong enough to break the ropes and escape.”It was because of this belief that they did not even try to break the ropes now.Moral of the story: Don’t give in to the limitations of society. Believe that you can achieve everything you want to!<h3> </h3>7. The Elephants And The Mice<img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/1_xvfat_v8xumqnkx7-3jcka.png_image_1638189285226.png" width="350">In an earthquake-hit village abandoned by humans, a colony of mice lived. Near the village was a lake, which was used by a herd of elephants.The elephants would have to cross the village to go to the lake. Thus, one day, as they walked through, they trampled a lot of mice.The leader of the mice met with the elephants and requested them to take a different route to the lake. He promised them that their favour would be returned in the time of their need.The elephants laughed. How could such small mice help these large elephants in any way? But then, they agreed to take a different route.Not so long after, the mice heard that hunters had caught the herd of elephants and were tied in nets.Immediately, they rush to rescue the elephants. They gnawed through the nets and ropes with their sharp teeth.The leader of the elephants repeatedly thanked the mice for their help!Moral of the story: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Make sure you help your friends out whenever they need it. They should always be able to count on you. That’s all folks!We hope children like these short yet interesting stories with morals that we have read growing up!There are more and more stories with morals on <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/s/moral-stories" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bee Stories</a>.

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

07 Must Read Short Moral Stories For Children

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

Shina Utavani

Once in a dense forest, there lived a group of crows on a tree. The crows were self-obsessed and did not like outsiders. They were all busy on their own and did not like anyone else. They were very rude to other birds and animals.A little bird, while flying in the forest, lost her way. It started getting dark so she decided to stop over a tree. She saw a tree where the group of crows lived. She decided to rest there. But they all were very arrogant. One of the crows shouted, “Go away from here.” The little bird requested them to allow her to stay for a while as it might rain but the crows did not listen to her. The bird pleaded them but they did not agree. Finally, the little bird decided to fly to another tree.The bird went to another tree and there she found a nice hole to rest in comfortably. After some time, it started raining. It rained heavily with hailstones falling. The crows sitting on that tree faced difficulties. Many of them were hurt and some of them even died. On the other hand, the little bird took rest for the whole night.The next day, the little bird came out and decided to fly towards her home. One of the crows saw her and asked, “How come you are not hurt?”. The little bird said, “God helps humble creatures and lets arrogant ones like you suffer.” The crows realized that they were punished for their selfish nature. Moral:One should never be arrogant because God punishes those who are arrogant.

This is a story of crow, forest and tree.Moral(s) of the story: arrogance and selfishness`

The vain Crows

There was once a huge tree with many green leaves on it. The tree had many leaves and, on the leaves, there lived alphabets. Many alphabets lived on the tree. The tree was even called, “Alphabet Tree.” The alphabets enjoyed living on the tree. Each alphabet had its favourite leaf. The alphabets would hop around the tree and would have fun.One day, suddenly strong wind started blowing and everything started moving due to the wind. The letters were also suffering due to the wind. Some of them were blown away and others were scared. They slowly decided to go down the tree. They started moving towards the lower branches.A bug was passing by and saw the letters. The bug was red and black with yellow stripes on its back. The bug asked, “What are you doing?” The letters said, “We are saving ourselves from the wind.” One of the letters asked, “Who are you?” The bug said, “I am a bug, a ‘Word Bug’. I teach words.” He then said, “Why don’t you all stand together in a group of three or four letters. That way the wind cannot affect you.”The letters agreed and the bug taught the letters to join together. He made words out of letters. He made easy and short words like ‘Cat, Dog, Fan, Man, Boy, Ball, etc’. He made some difficult words like ‘Leaf, Earth, Round, Jump, Bowl, Spoon, etc’. Then they went to the highest leaves in groups and stood still on the leaves. They were not affected by the wind. They were grateful to the ‘Word Bug’.On a summer morning, a caterpillar was passing by the tree. The caterpillar was purple and huge in size. He looked at the letters and said, “It is so much of confusion. I cannot understand from your words, ‘The Bug is small’, ‘Wind is bad’. What is all these!!! The caterpillar then said, “You all are scattered. Why don’t you get together and become a sentence and mean something?” The letters never thought of this.The letters were happy to hear that and thought they could write and say things. The caterpillar told them to say meaningful things. The letters started thinking about something meaningful. They finally decided the sentence and told the caterpillar. They said, “Peace on earth and goodwill towards all men.” The caterpillar was impressed and said them to sit on its back. The letters went one by one and sat on its back. They asked where the caterpillar was taking them. The caterpillar said, “To the president.” And they went with the caterpillar happily. Note:Explain your kid(s) the meanings of ‘letters’, ‘words’, and ‘sentences’.

This is a story of bed bug, caterpillar and tree.

The Alphabet Tree

In a huge forest, once there was a lovely pond. The pond was situated in the middle of the forest. The pond was surrounded by beautiful grass and flowering plants. There were also many trees around the pond.Many frogs used to live in the pond. The frogs lived happily in the pond. The frogs argued over one thing. They could not decide their chief. Due to this, they use to fight and argue a lot. They never came to a decision.One frog would say, “I will become the chief.” Another would say, “No, I will become the chief.” Such arguments continued every day and they never came to any conclusion. They fought every day. One day, a crane come to the pond. The crane was very hungry. All frogs were fighting and arguing and this caught the crane’s attention.All the frogs were arguing and crane saw one of the frogs who said that he wanted to become the chief. The frog shouted and jumped saying, “I will become the chief.” At that exact moment, the crane caught the frog in its beak. The frog could not move or escape.The crane was about to eat the frog but at that very moment, the crane felt a slimy thing in its leg. The crane sighed and the frog jumped out of his mouth. The crane felt very bad. The crane decided to catch the frog the next day.Next day when the crane went near the pond. He still heard the noise in the pond. Everyone was arguing but the frog that was caught yesterday remained silent. This time again a frog that was shouting was caught by the crane. This time too when the crane was about to eat the frog, something happened and the frog escaped from his mouth,In the evening, again the crane came. This time, the two frogs that were caught by the crane were silent. The frogs were arguing and one among them shouted, “I am the chief.” This caught the crane’s attention and this time he easily grabbed the frog and ate him. Moral:It is not wise to boast loudly.

This is a story of crane, frog, pond and tree.Moral(s) of the story: boasting

The Frogs and the Crane

Ravina Sewani

One day, a man climbed up a tree. While climbing up, he did not realise how tall the tree actually was and kept climbing up. On reaching the top, when the man looked down, he realised that climbing down from the tree would not be as easy as climbing up. He could not think of any way of getting down without injuring himself seriously.He asked the people who were passing by to help him. But nobody could think of a way of bringing him down safely. Soon, quite a few people gathered around the tree and tried to help the man, but no one knew what to do. The man remained stuck on top of the tree.Just then, Nasiruddin, who was walking by, saw this scene and wondered what was going on. The people standing around the tree told Nasiruddin about the situation. “Oh!” Nasiruddin said, “I’ll get him down in no time.” He took a long rope and threw one end of it up to the man telling him to tie the rope around his waist.Everyone wondered what Nasiruddin’s plan was. When one of them asked him, Nasiruddin replied, “Just leave it to me. It’s a foolproof plan.”When the man on the tree had tied the rope tightly around his waist, Nasiruddin pulled the rope with all his force. As soon as Nasiruddin did this, the man fell down from the tree and hurt himself badly. The bystanders were shocked at this. They turned to Nasiruddin and asked, “What were you thinking? What kind of a silly plan was that?”Nasiruddin replied, “Well, once I did exactly the same thing and saved someone’s life.”One man asked him, “Is that true?”“Absolutely!” replied Nasiruddin, “The only thing I cannot remember is whether I saved him from a tree or from a well.” Moral:To act without putting much thought often ends up causing more damage than good.

This is a story of men, tree and Mulla Nasruddin.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The man on the tree

Once, a little boy was walking in a beautiful park. He saw a tree in the middle of the park. The tree had a sign on it which said, “I am a magic tree. Say the magic words and you will see the magic.”The boy tried to guess the magic words. He began with “abracadabra”, but it did not work. He tried saying other magic words but none of them worked.He was tired of trying the magic words. He was exhausted so he requested the tree saying, “Please, dear tree, show me the magic.” Suddenly, a big door opened in the trunk. Everything was dark inside the door except a sign which said, “Carry on with your magic.” The boy was happy and excited to see the magic. He said, “Thank you dear tree”! and went inside the door. The inside of the tree lit up brightly and revealed a pathway leading to a great big pile of toys and chocolates.The little boy invited all his friends to the magic tree. They played different games and had the best time together.Because the little boy was polite and grateful, the tree showed its magic to him and his friends. Moral:These small magic words can create a huge impact. Always use these magic words in your speech.

This is a story of child, goblin, magic, pixies, tree and troll.Moral(s) of the story: kindness

The Magic Tree

Many years ago, the Bodhisattva was born as a parrot. The parrot used to live on a fig tree ever since he was born. Many other parrots also stayed on the fig tree. The little parrot enjoyed staying with them.On the fig tree, the parrot made his home and lived there since birth. When the parrot was growing up, the tree was still young and strong. Many delicious and sweet fruits grew on the tree. The parrot used to enjoy eating those fruits. The branches of the fig tree were also thick with many leaves. The leaves provided good shelter during the harsh weather. The tree provided many things to the parrot. The tree also loved the company of the parrot who had made its home in it.The parrot stayed with that tree for a long time. But as time passed, the fig tree grew old. The tree stopped growing fruits and the leaves fell off the tree. The tree was only left with the wood. There was nothing else on the tree. But even then, the parrot never left the tree. The parrot stayed in the old fig tree. While all the other parrots left the tree, this parrot decided to stay there with the tree.After seeing everyone leave for a better life, the tree asked the parrot, “Why have you not left for a better life as everyone did?” The parrot said, “You were with me since I was born. You fed me for many years and you have provided shelter to me for years. Why would I leave you?” The parrot did not know that the questions were being asked by Sakka, the God Indra.After hearing the parrot’s answer, the Sakka was impressed by the answer. Sakka said, “Your answer has impressed me and I will grant you a wish. Tell me what do you want?” The parrot wanted the fig tree, to have its leaves and fruits back. The parrot said, “Bless him with the ability to grow fruit all year long.” The Sakka was even more impressed and fulfilled the parrot’s wish at once. Moral:True friends never leave your side, even when the going gets tough.

This is a story of parrot and tree.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

Parrot and the Tree

In a beautiful forest once, there lived two trees. The trees’ names were Chintu and Pintu. They were brothers. On the trees, there lived a troop of monkeys, a family of bird, the Bunky bear, and the wise wolf. They all lived like a big family. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company.One morning, when everyone was busy talking, Pintu saw a woodcutter coming towards the forest. Chintu advised all of them to run away. But no one left the place. Pintu again requested them to go away but none of them agreed. They all said, “You give us food to eat, shelter to live and fresh air to breathe. We cannot leave you in danger.” Chintu and Pintu were overwhelmed and their eyes rolled the tears of happiness. They all made a quick plan to protect everyone from the woodcutter. Both the trees advised all the animals and birds to hide behind the leaves.There were many trees in the forest so the woodcutter could not decide which tree to cut. He saw Chintu and Pintu, the big trees. He decided to cut them. The wise wolf already told the plan to all of them. So, when the woodcutter came near to cut the tress, all of them started jumping around him. The monkeys started jumping on him and the birds started flying above him. When all were busy around the woodcutter, the wise wolf ran to the king Lion and told him everything. The Lion King roared and reached there quickly. Hearing Lion’s roar, the woodcutter was scared. So, he ran away from there. All were happy that they could save Chintu and Pintu. All birds and animals were grateful to the king as well as the Wolf for his cleverness.Later, the woodcutter realized the importance of trees. He thought trees are important for us as well as animals and birds. They give food, shelter, shade, and flowers to us. He realized his mistake and promised to never cut trees again in his life. He opened a nursery and planted many new plants in his village. Moral:Save trees, plant more trees and save our nature.

This is a story of forest, lion, monkey, tree, wolf and woodcutter.

The Trees and The Woodcutter

In a forest, there was a crooked tree. Its trunk and branches were odd-shaped. All the other trees around were straight and shapely. The crooked tree looked at them and thought, "How fine and straight they are!"Then it added in a sad voice, "How unlucky I am! Why should I alone be crooked and ugly?" One day a woodcutter came to the forest. He looked at the crooked tree and said, 'This tree is absolutely useless for me." He selected all the fine and straight trees and cut them down.Thereafter the crooked tree never felt sad for its ugliness. In fact, its ugliness had saved it from the axe of the woodcutter. Moral:Be happy with what you are.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of tree.Moral(s) of the story: self love

THE CROOKED TREE

This story dates back to the time when king Brahmadutta ruled the city of Banaras. He had four young princes. They young princes had grown up hearing many wonderful stories about a beautiful tree known as the Red Bud Tree. They had never seen the Red Bud tree and wished to be the first one to see it.One day, driven by his curiosity to see the tree at the earliest, the eldest prince asked the king’s charioteer to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew. It was still early spring and the tree was standing as a bare stump of wood in the forest, devoid of any leaves or buds. The prince failed to understand why it was known as the Red-Bud tree and returned back to the palace.Sometime later in spring, the next son requested the king’s charioteer to take him to the Red Bud Tree. At this time, the tree was covered with bright red buds and looked very beautiful.The third son went into the woods just after the spring time. Now tree did not have any red buds and was covered with lush green leaves. He also could see no reason for calling it a Red Bud tree.The youngest price also decided to go and have a look at the famous Red Bud tree. By this time, the tree was covered with little bean-pods. When he came back from the forest, he ran into the garden where his brothers were playing and told them with much excitement, "I saw the Red Bud tree!""So, what is special about it?" said the eldest prince. “It is nothing but a dead stump of wood,” He added."What makes you say that?" said the second son. "When I went in the woods, it was covered with hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is known as the Red Bud tree."The third prince said, "I have also seen the Red Bud tree. It is neither a dead stump of wood nor covered with red buds. It looks like an ordinary tree covered with green leaves."The youngest prince said with utmost confidence, "Brothers, all of you are mistaken! I have just a seen the tree and I can say for sure that it is now covered with little bean-pods."The princes wondered that maybe the Red Bud tree was indeed some mystical tree and appeared in different forms before different people. The king was overhearing their conversation. When they stopped talking, he came out and said, "My dear sons, all four of you have seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year." The princes understood what the matter was and laughed at their naivete. Moral: All is not what it seems. The four princes could not agree with each other because all of them had seen different stages of the tree. Sometimes, there’s more to a situation than what meets the eye.

This is a story of brother, forest, Jataka tales, prince, red and tree.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

tree stories

Kids moral stories help in improving their imagination & relate to real-world life. Here are age-specific bedtime stories for children by renowned storytellers.

The vain Crows

The Alphabet Tree

The Frogs and the Crane

The man on the tree

The Magic Tree

Parrot and the Tree

The Trees and The Woodcutter

THE CROOKED TREE

The Red Bud Tree

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