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Uncle James, or The Purple Stranger

From The Book of Dragons, by E. Nesbit

E. Nesbit was an English writer who loved to tell magical stories for children. This tale comes from her collection The Book of Dragons, first published in 1900. In the story, animals are the wrong sizes on a special island—elephants are tiny and guinea pigs are huge! When a wicked magician tries to give the Princess to a dragon, a clever boy and a wise little elephant save the day. The story shows that kindness and cleverness are stronger than wickedness, and that even the smallest friend can be the bravest helper. This text reflects its era.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 338 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

The Book of Dragons, E. Nesbit

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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