The Magic Tangrams

One day Stanley, my Mom, Dad, little sister Emily and I went to Cape Breton to see my Nanny. On the way up, I fell asleep. The trip went by very quickly. 

When we got to Nanny’s house, I saw a CD case on her floor. I went to get my coat off. Then I went to pick it up. “Crack”

“Oh, Oh,” I said. When I looked at the broken case, I saw there were 7 pieces. They were two big triangles, two small triangles, a medium triangle, a parallelogram and a square. 

All of a sudden the 7 pieces jumped up into the shape of a rabbit.

“Am I seeing things?” I asked.

The rabbit said, “Nope.”

“A talking rabbit! I must be going crazy!” I said. “I was up till 1:00 am last night. Speaking of bedtime, it’s almost past my bedtime. Come on, Hippity.”

“HIPPITY!” said the rabbit.

“Yup.” I said.

“What kind of girl name is that?” the rabbit asked.

“How about Hoppity,” said the rabbit.

“OK,” I said frightened. “Too much sugar for you!”

“What is sugar?” asked the rabbit.

“I’ll tell you in the morning, Hoppity. Goodnight!”

* * * * The next morning.

“Wake up sleepyhead!” I shouted to the rabbit.

“WHAT?”, the rabbit shouted back. “First Hippity, then Hoppity, then Sleepyhead? I take back what I said. You are going crazy.”

“I am going to the store, Hoppity,” I said.

“What did you just say?” asked the rabbit. “First Hippity, then Hoppity, then Sleepyhead, now Hoppity again?”

“Goodbye,” I said.

When I got to the store, I saw a set of Tangrams for only $1.00 so I decided to get four sets.

“Sleepyhead, I’m home,” I called.

“OK, that’s it! First Hippity, then Hoppity, then Sleepyhead, then Hoppity, and then Sleepyhead again?”

“I’m going to get my Tangrams out now,” I said. “And I am sorry for what I said, OK  Hoppity?”

“OK.” Said Hoppity.

So I took all my Tangrams out but then I remembered I had to go to my friend’s house.

* * * *One hour later.

“Hoppity, I have to go upstairs,” I said. When I got into the room I could not believe my eyes. There was a fish in a bowl, a horse eating hay, a goat eating grass and a swan in a pond. All in the bedroom! 

I looked around, trying to figure out what had happened here. I saw my four packages of Tangrams that I had bought, sitting opened on the table. “Is it possible?” I asked myself.

“Hoppity! Come see this,” I called.

“My friends!” said Hoppity

“They are your friends?” I asked.

“Yup.” Said Hoppity.

“I have got to go tell my friends,” I said.

When I got back I saw there was 2 of each animal. There were 2 horses, 2 goats, 2 swans, 2 goldfish and 2 rabbits.

“What happened?” I asked Hoppity.

“Each year, every animal picks a warm place to have babies,” said Hoppity.

“I guess I am a lucky duck,” I said.

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The Frog and The Kicker

A boy was walking down a path one day. He had a set of tangrams in his pocket. As he skipped down the path, the tangrams fell out of his pocket onto the path. He did not even know. 

When the pieces fell they landed on the ground in the shape of a boy kicking. A frog came hopping down the path and bumped into the kicker. The the kicker fell apart into seven pieces. There were 2 large triangles, 2 small triangles, a medium sized triangle, a parallelogram and a square. 

The frog realized that the kicker was a tangram. He tried to make the kicker back again but he could not. So he tried to make a square with it. It was too hard for the frog to make the square.

The next time he tried to make a square and he did it. After he made the square he made a dog. He messed up the dog and made a pig. He did not want the pig because it snorted too much. So he made the dog again. 

He liked the dog because it did not bark too much and it was not annoying. He decided to keep it. The dog was friendly and he would make a good pet for the frog. He could watch out for the frog so the frog wouldn’t get hurt. The frog could ride on his back for fun.

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The Tangram

Once upon a time a little boy wanted to go to the park but his mother said “ No, you cannot go until you eat your dinner.” So he went upstairs to his room.

His mother said,” Wally, come and eat your dinner.”

“But mom, I don’t like peas,” said Wally.

So he opened his window and jumped out. Wally wanted to go to the park but instead he went to the basketball court. There was glass on the basketball court. By accident he stepped on the glass and it broke into 7 pieces.  

He picked up the 7 pieces and took them home. He put them on his dresser. All night he played with the glass pieces. He noticed that the pieces were shaped just like the pieces in a set of Tangrams. There were 2 large triangles, 2 small triangles, 1 medium sized triangle, a parallelogram and a square.

  Wally’s  brother, Robert was going to sleep over at his friend’s house. But he was scared of the scary games that his friend played. So he went back home and went upstairs to Wally’s bedroom which was also his bedroom. When he opened the door of the bedroom he saw Wally putting pieces of glass together.

“Can you keep a secret?” Wally asked.

“Yes,” answered Robert.

“I went outside when I wasn’t supposed to and stepped on glass and it broke into 7 pieces,” said Wally.

Robert was shocked. Then he picked up the phone that they had in the bedroom and he dialed his friend’s number and said, “Call my mom after I am done talking to you and tell her that Wally was outside at 10:00 at night when he didn’t eat his supper and get her to come upstairs.”

Wally heard somebody come upstairs so he pushed the glass pieces in the closet. When his mother came into his room she said, “Goodnight boys.”

After she left the room, Wally took the glass pieces out of the closet.

But Wally’s mom was standing just outside the room. She looked in the room and saw the seven pieces of glass and came back in the room and said, “I see what’s going on here. You guys tried to trick me but it didn’t work. You are going to be grounded for a very long time!”

Then she left.

Wally did not want to be grounded – not even for a day. He played with his glass pieces into the night. While he played he noticed the pieces came together into the shape of a bat. The bat transformed into a living bat and Wally climbed onto his back and flew out the window with him.

The next morning Wally woke up in his bed. He was surprised because he thought he had escaped his grounding by flying out the window on a bat. But he had been dreaming the whole thing. Now he would have to have his grounding.

“Oh well,” thought Wally at least I have my glass tangram to play with.

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 Tangrams On Ice

Susie and Sarah went to the skating rink but the ice was broken in seven pieces. The seven pieces were shaped like tangram pieces. There was 2 large triangles, 2 small triangles, 1medium sized triangle, a square and a parallelogram.  

They tried gluing the seven pieces back together. But it didn’t work. Now the pieces looked like a dog and they still weren’t stuck together. So they went back home so they could get some tape.

They went back to the rink and tried to tape the seven pieces together again. That didn’t work either. But now the pieces looked like a cat.

They tried to put glue and tape at the same time but that didn’t work either and they ended up with the shape of a snake..

They went home and got some bubble gum and the glue and the tape. This time it worked. But a few minutes later the ice broke into 7 pieces again. So they didn’t go skating.

The next day they went to the same skating rink. It was still broken. They tried again and again and again to mend the ice. But it wouldn’t stay taped and glued and bubble-gummed at all. 

The problem got bigger and bigger. But then it got smaller and smaller because all the items got stickier and stickier and finally it stuck together. 

Now they could go skating – on a robin.

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The Picture That Became A Tangram

When I was gone to school my sissy took my picture and cut it with scissors into seven pieces. I had to put it back in a square. It is very hard but I had to do it. It was a picture of my mom, my dad, my sister and me. 

The seven pieces had different shapes. There were 2 big triangles, 2 small triangles, 1 medium triangle, a square and a parallelogram. It was too hard. My friend came over. His name was Delton. He helped me with the picture. But we still could not get it back together. 

After a while my dad said “Your friend has to go home.” I felt sad. He was cool.

My sister came in and I said “Don’t touch my picture!” And I went to bed.

The next morning I went to school and it was recess time. I wanted to stay in school at recess and work on my picture. I was still trying to put it back together. My teacher is Mrs. West and she said, “Do you want me to help you?”

I said, “Yes I do.”

So she sat down and helped me with the picture. We moved the pieces every way and finally we got the square! Now my picture was back together.

Then my teacher went to her desk and got some tape.

“We will tape it,” she said “And then it will not come apart again.”

I was very happy. Now I had my picture back of my mom, my dad, my sister and me.

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The Tangram Present

There was boy called Stanley. His mother’s name was Roxanne and his father’s name was Henry. 

It was Christmas and Stanley needed to find a present for his mom and dad. He went to the store and he saw sets of  Tangrams. He bought 2 sets – one for his mom and dad and one set for him because he thought they looked cool.

Stanley took the Tangram sets home.  He opened the set he bought for himself. At first he thought he had broken something. He did not know that tangrams came in 7 pieces. There were 2 large triangles, 2 small triangle, 1 medium triangle, a square and a parallelogram.  When he looked closer at the package, he saw there was supposed to be pieces so he was glad that he had not broken them.

Stanley thought the tangrams really were cool so he went back to the store where he had bought them and he bought three more sets of tangrams.

He tried to make a dog and a cat and a rabbit out of the tangrams. Then he tried to make a turtle.

That night, Stanley’s mom and dad came to Stanley’s room to say goodnight. Stanley heard footsteps and he very carefully put his tangrams under the bed. Stanley jumped in his bed.

The next morning Stanley woke up. “Aaaa!” said Stanley. A tangram dog was eating his project.

“Stop!” said Stanley. “Give that to me.” 

A cat was drooling on his homework!

A rabbit was eating his crayons!

A turtle was swimming in his bathtub!

Stanley thought this was all unbelievable!

Stanley ran downstairs. His mom and dad were not there. There was a note at the door. It said:  

Stanley ran upstairs. He said, “Go! Get out! My mom and dad are coming soon. They’ll kill me!”

“Stanley!” said his mom and dad.

“Wait a minute, I don’t think he is awake,” said his mom.

Stanley opened his door. “Mom,” said Stanley.

“Let me come give you a hug,” said his mom.

“No!” said Stanley. “I am naked!”

“Why?” asked his mom.

“I am going to get in the bathtub,” said Stanley.

“OK you guys, let’s get out of here!” said Stanley. “We’ll go out for a walk.”

Stanley took the tangram animals for a walk. They didn’t know it but Stanley was headed for the store where he had bought them. 

When he got there, he took the tangrams into the store and told the man in the store that he needed to return his tangrams.

Stanley left the store.

“Whew!” he said to himself. He wondered what his parents would do with their tangrams when they opened their gift.

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The Big Trip

One day Emmitt Cavanaugh went to California to visit his grandparents. He was going with his sister, Ashley. They were 14 year old twins. They did everything together. Ashley and Emmitt’s mother’s name was Donna and their father’s name was Paul.

Once Ashley went to the park with her friend who lived in California, Amanda. Emmitt wanted to come but Ashley said no and dropped one of his blocks. It broke into 7 pieces.

He said, “Why did you do that?”

Ashley said, “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“I am telling mom,” said Emmitt and he ran off.

“Oh no,” said Ashley. “Let’s go before we get into trouble.”

When they got to the park, they saw a bush move. A skunk came out. They jumped away. They were scared. It wasn’t just any skunk. It was black like the block that she had broken into 7 pieces. It looked like a tangram.

“Oh, no!” said the girls. “It is alive!” They ran away.

They stopped running when they thought they were safe. As they were walking along, a bear climbed down out of a tree. They tried to run home when they saw the bear but they had forgotten the way home. So the bear ate up Amanda. Ashley was frozen from fear.

The bear was full now, and he walked away. Ashley was horrified and wanted to go home. She began walking down the path and came upon a dog. He seemed quite friendly. She petted him and he liked it so she said, “Come with me.” But the dog stayed there.

Ashley continued on. All of a sudden she was up in the air. She didn’t know how she got there until she saw an eagle above her with his large claws hanging on to her clothes. He flew for a while and then dumped her in a tree. She landed in a bird’s nest way up high in the tree. She looked around and she knew she couldn’t get out of the tree so she fell asleep.

In the morning she found herself in her own bed at her grandparents house. She thought it had all been a dream. Those horrible animals must have been her dreaming about the tangram pieces she saw when she broke her brother’s block. So she ate breakfast and went to call on her friend Amanda. Her parents answered the door.

“Can I see Amanda?” asked Ashley.

Amanda’s parents said, “I thought she was with you for a sleepover.”

“Oh,” said Ashley and she went away.

Ashley went home to her grandparents house. When she went to her room, she found Amanda on her brother’s bed. So they gave Emmitt enough money to buy a new block like the one she had broken. They went with him to the mall and they bought the best block they could find. Emmitt was very happy.

The next day Emmitt and Ashley were going home to Winnipeg. So they said their goodbyes and went to the airport. They said goodbye to their grandparents and went upstairs to catch their plane.

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The Prince, The Princess And The Tangram Zoo

Once upon a time there was a princess named Lorka and a prince named Matt. They lived in a castle for a very long time. They had adventures, going on trips and explorations but sometimes they wanted to do something different. 

One day, after breakfast they went to the zoo. This zoo was very different from any other zoo. This was a Tangram zoo. All the animals in this zoo were made out of tans, that is, tangram pieces. A set of tangrams has 7 pieces. There are 2 large triangles, 2 small triangles, one medium triuangle, one square and a parallelogram. Each animal was made from all seven pieces. 

When they got to the zoo they wanted to help the zookeeper. He was doing so fine he didn’t know they came.

“Do you need some help?” they asked.

The zookeeper said, “OK, Can you go to the giraffes and get some water for them so they can have a drink?”

“Yes we can,” said the prince and princess.

So Lorka and Matt went over to the giraffes to get them some water. They went into the zookeeper’s place and got some water from the sink.

After that, Lorla and Matt had lunch with the zookeeper.

After lunch the animals weren’t being nice to the prince. When the prince went tot he giraffes, they slapped him with their tails. Then when he went to the lions to give them some water they made him spill the bucket three times. He was finally able to give them water.

Then he went to see the monkeys but the monkeys got mad at him because he was eating some of their banana. They started jumping on him and the prince gave the monkeys their banana back. 

Prince Matt went over to the elephants cages. His sister, princess Lorka was there giving them more mud so they could have a mud bath. When princess Lorka was finished they went home.

The next day they went to the zoo before the animals were awake. The prince went to the monkeys and gave them bananas. When the monkeys were awake they saw the prince leaving so they knew the prince gave them the bananas. 

Then he went to the lions to give them bones for breakfast. Then when the lions woke up they saw him leaving so they knew it was him who gave them the bones. 

When the prince went to  the giraffes he gave them a bucket of water so they could have an early drink. After the giraffes were awake they saw the prince leaving so they knew it was him. Then the princess and the prince went home and the animals were very happy.

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The Magic Wand

Once upon a time Stanley had a magic wand. He had found it on the ground. It was a pink stick and it had a star on the top. 

He thought the stick might be magic so he decided to spin it and see what would happen. When Stanley spun the wand, some mysterious shapes appeared on the ground. There were 2  big triangles, 2 small triangles, 1 square, 1 medium triangle and one parallelogram. They were all mixed up.

Stanley spun the wand once more and a square appeared on the ground. Stanley thought this was cool. “This might be a lot of fun!” said Stanley.

His mom called him for dinner. They were going to MacDonalds for dinner and Stanley ordered a Chicken Nugget Happy Meal, His favorite! When Stanley got back from MacDonald’s he came back outside.

The wind had blown the shapes around and the square had turned into a chick. It was a baby yellow chick. It said, “Chirp, chirp!” He took the chick inside. He gave him dinner. He didn’t have any chick food  but he gave him some cereal. The chick loved it. Then Stanley gave him some dessert. They had ice cream. It was the first time the chick had ever had ice cream and he thought it was good.

They put on their PJ’s. Stanley went in his closet and found one of his baby shirts from when he was a baby for the chick to wear.  After that, they watched TV. They watched Sponge Bob Square Pants and then they went to bed. During the night, the chick fell out of bed and broke.

When Stanley woke up in the morning, he saw the chick broken on the floor beside the bed. He put him back together. They had pancakes for breakfast. Then Stanley went back to his room. It was a mess.

Stanley yelled, “What have you done? Let’s clean it up.”

It took 20 minutes to clean up the mess. The chick helped too. He picked up the mess in his beak and put it where it belonged.

That night the chick fell out of bed and broke again. When Stanley woke up he saw the broken pieces. “Oh no,” he said. “Not again.” 

He put the chick back together and then he got a pillow out of his closet and put it on the floor beside the bed. Now if the chick fell out of bed again, he would have a soft pillow to land on.

Stanley and the chick became very good friends.  And they lived happily ever after.

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The Bunny

  Once there was a bunny. Her name was Emma. She was on her way to school when she saw a bird. The bird was carrying a mirror in his beak.

Emma said, “Can I have your mirror?”

“Yes, you can,” said the bird. “Use it wisely.”

Emma did not like the mirror so she dropped it. It broke into 7 pieces. Emma didn’t care because she did not like the mirror anyway. So she left it there and hopped away.

As she walked along, she saw a dragon. The dragon was stomping a lot. He was breathing fire and thrashing his tail back and forth. Emma hopped as fast as she could until she got to school. She was safe from the dragon.

At recess the dragon was back. Emma tried to hide but the dragon found her. Then recess was over. She was safe again - until lunch. 

It started all over again when Emma got out for lunch. Then lunch was over. She was safe again – until it was time to go home. She hopped as fast as she could go. She got home. She was safe.

When it was time for bed, she looked out her window and did not see the dragon. She went to bed. The next morning when she got up – still no dragon. 

But when she left for school, on her doorstep were the seven pieces of broken mirror that she had left on the ground yesterday.

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The Three Little Wolves

Once upon a time a mother wolf was tiling her bathroom. She was having a bit of a hard time and she dropped three of her tiles on the floor. 

Each tile broke into 7 pieces. The seven pieces of each tile were 2 large triangles, 2 small triangles, one medium sized triangle, a small square and a parallelogram. 

The mother wolf cried and cried. As she cried she tried to put the shapes together to fix her tiles. She could not. 

But the shapes she made looked like herself, only smaller. “These shapes look like little wolves” said the mother wolf. 

No sooner had she said it than the pieces of tile came to life and became her three little wolves.

She named them Maxum, Sheumas and Delton Wolf. One day the three little wolves’ mother said, “Go and build your own house now.”

The first little wolf, Maxum built a straw house. Along came the huge evil pig. He was scarey. He was green, not like other pink pigs. He stood on two legs and his teeth were long and yellow and sharp. He was also very fat.

“Little wolf, little wolf, let me in!” oinked the pig.

“No, no, no, not by the hair of my furry paw!” said the little wolf, Maxum.

“Then I’ll oink and I’ll snort and I’ll kick your house down.”

“Help, help, help,” cried Maxum the wolf.

He ran to his brother wolf, Delton’s house. He had built a stick house. The huge evil pig followed Maxum to his brother’s house.

“Little wolf, little wolf, let me in!” oinked the pig.

“No, no, no, not by the hair of my furry paw!” said the little wolf, Delton.

“Then I’ll oink and I’ll snort and I’ll kick your house down.”

“Help, help, help,” cried the little wolves and they ran to the third brother wolf, Sheumas’ house. He had built his house of bricks.

Then they ran to their brother’s house. They knocked on the door. The third little wolf opened his door. The two little wolves ran in his house. The first little wolf pushed the third little wolf inside the house and locked the door. The huge evil pig followed close behind the little wolves.

“Little wolves, little wolves, let me in!” oinked the pig.

“No, no, no, not by the hair of our furry paws!” said the three little wolves.

“Then I’ll oink and I’ll snort and I’ll kick your house down.”

He tried to kick the house down but then he broke his leg on the bricks. Then he yelled, “OWWWWW!” and pulled himself by his hands to the hospital.

After a week or two, the huge evil pig climbed up the wall by throwing a gravelling hook. He climbed up the wall and climbed down the chimney. 

The third little wolf looked up the chimney and said, “Supper Time!”.

They made a pot  and used special brick glue between every piece. Then they put chains hooking the pot to the wall. They made a fire under the pot. 

Then the pig instead of climbing down the chimney, dropped down the chimney. He landed in boiling hot water. Then he shot up – right back up through the chimney and ran away, yelling OWWWWWW! He never came back.

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The Little Pig And The Cat

The little pig said was visiting his friend the cat. 

The little pig asked the cat, “Can I have some tangrams?” 

The cat said, “Yes.” And he shared his tangrams with the little pig. 

The little pig built a wall. The cat broke the wall and the little pig got mad. 

He told the cat’s mom and she said, “It’s just a toy.” 

So he told the cat’s father and he said, “tell him to say sorry.”

But the cat would not say he was sorry.

So the little pig took his pieces of tangrams and he built a cat just like the cat he was playing with. Then he messed the pieces all up. His friend the cat did not like that and he got mad.

So the little pig built a ship and then he had a good idea. He got into the ship that he had built and he sailed far away from the mad cat.

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