Story for children about bananas |
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Banana Lunch
Once, a baby boy was born into a poor peasant family. He was the family's tenth child, and the parents struggled to feed their offspring. The father called for his eldest son.
“You will have to find your own food. Take three of these rolls and go out to search for something to eat.”
The boy made himself a hunting bow and went out into the forest. Suddenly, he heard the sound of crying. As he peered through the bushes, he saw a young bear whose paw was trapped under a fallen tree. The boy felt sorry for the bear cub and lifted the tree out of the way. The animal also looked hungry, so the boy gave it one of his bread rolls.
The boy then made his way into the mountains, where he came across an injured fawn lying on the ground. It had tripped over a rock. He felt sorry for the poor fawn, and helped repair its injured leg, putting it back in place and binding it with medicinal leaves. He gave the fawn his second bread roll, as it too looked very hungry.
 The boy went down to the river to drink, and came across a young eagle which had fallen from its nest further up the cliff. The boy picked up the baby bird and placed the eagle back in its nest, he noticed that the young bird was suffering from severe hunger. He gave his third and final bread roll to the bird. He climbed back down and took a long drink from the stream, then fell asleep on the grass. When he awoke, he saw a bear, a deer and an eagle standing next to him. He felt rather frightened and surprised.
“You saved our children,” said the creatures. “We will grant you a wish.”
“I would like something to eat please,” replied the boy.
After a short discussion, the bear, the eagle and the deer came to a decision.
“We will take you to a place where you will find food.”
The three animals took the boy on a long journey, eventually arriving at a strange palm grove. The odd-looking palms bore enormous bunches of long, yellow fruits.
“Are these magic trees?” asked the boy in astonishment.
“We are banana plants,” answered the palms with a rustle of their enormous leaves. “Our old leaves bind together to form a false stem, and we look like trees, but in reality, we are a type of grass.”
“I have never seen a grass which grows so tall before,” replied the boy, an air of curiosity in his voice. “Are these large yellow clusters your seeds?”
“They are not seeds, but berries containing a sweet, fleshy pulp. You should eat one,” added the eagle, offering the boy a large banana.
 “I feel as if I have eaten an entire meal!” exclaimed the boy after eating.
“Our bananas contain large quantities of sugar, starch and protein,” explained the banana trees. “They are a quick source of energy and strength.”
“Where did you come from, young man?” came a voice from behind the boy. A group of people had come to the grove to collect bananas. The boy described his long journey to them, and asked their permission to take some of the bananas to plant at home.
“Do you ever go hungry with all these bananas?” asked the boy.
“No, we do not,” replied the people. “With these bananas, we have no need for bread, potatoes or meat. We dry them and then bake or fry the dried fruit. When he was a young man, our village chief brought them back from southern Asia – the banana's native land. At first, we laughed at him, but when the bananas cured our children from stomach aches and gave strength to the old and weak, the laughter soon stopped.”
The journey back passed quickly and, after thanking the bear, the deer and the eagle for their help, the boy took his basket of bananas and ran home in excitement.
“Why have you returned?” asked his father sternly. “We cannot feed you.”
“Try one of these, dad,” replied the boy, offering his father a large banana.
With an air of ...
Read the whole story about BANANA
in the book
'The World of Fruits"
The World of Fruits:
purchase online
 This was fragment from the story about BANANA from the book on Healthy Food for kids: 'The World of Fruits', part I >>
For the Book II 'The World of Vegetables' visit project Talking Veggies: Vegetables-for-kids.com
For anyone interested in their child's well-being, “The Storyteller's Guide to Health” series is sure to be of value. Following each selection of delightful stories, games and activities you'll also find recipes for the vitamin-conscious kitchen. The recipes are simple, allowing children to prepare dishes themselves with only minimal supervision, and are also designed to preserve the largest possible share of vitamins and other nutrients in the final serving. Read fragments from our stories: fruits for children
© Maria Skrebtsova,
© Alexandra Lopatina,
Illustration s by Svetlana Jijina.
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