Story & Recall

Read a short story out loud or on your own, then answer a few simple questions about it. No timers, and no wrong way to play.

Story library

Traditional rhymes and short family vignettes, from very simple to a little longer.

Jack and Jill

Very simple

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.

3 questions

Humpty Dumpty

Very simple

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.

3 questions

Little Bo-Peep

Very simple

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep and doesn't know where to find them. Leave them alone, and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them.

3 questions

Sunday Pancakes

Gentle

Every Sunday morning, Grandpa made pancakes in the same blue pan. He let the children flip the first one, and it almost always landed on the floor. Nobody minded, because the dog was always waiting right there.

4 questions

The Red Bicycle

Gentle

Tom got a red bicycle for his eighth birthday. He rode it to the corner store every afternoon to buy a newspaper for his mother. The shopkeeper always gave him a peppermint for the ride home.

3 questions

The Garden Tomatoes

Gentle

Nana grew tomatoes along the back fence every summer. She said the secret was talking to them each morning while she watered. By August there were so many that she sent jars of sauce home with everyone who visited.

4 questions

The Lost Mitten

Very simple

Ellie lost one red mitten on the walk to school. Her teacher found it in the snow by the gate that afternoon.

3 questions

The Fishing Trip

A little longer

Before sunrise, Dad packed the tackle box and two thermoses of cocoa into the truck. They drove to the lake and sat in the little wooden boat until the mist lifted off the water. They caught only one small fish that morning, and they let it go. On the way home they agreed it had been a perfect day anyway.

4 questions

The Porch Swing

A little longer

The old porch swing creaked a little with every push, and nobody ever fixed it. On warm evenings the whole family crowded onto it to watch the fireflies come out over the yard. Aunt Ruth always claimed the left side, with a glass of lemonade balanced on the rail beside her.

4 questions

The Birthday Letter

A little longer

Every year on her birthday, Maria's brother mailed her a letter instead of a gift. He wrote about one memory he had of her from that year, always ending with the same line: remember this one. She kept every letter in a shoebox under the bed, tied with a ribbon.

4 questions