Short!: A Book of Very Short Stories

by Kevin Crossley-Holland

A wonderful mix of the best short stories. Some are old, some are new, some are scary, some are funny, but all the stories in this book will make you think. None are longer than two pages.
There are stories about ghosts, supermarkets, animals, adventures, and more. Children will discover fun, quick reads in this enjoyable collection.

Genres: Short Stories, Childrens

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Kevin Crossley-Holland is an English poet and prize-winning author for children. His books include Waterslain Angels, a detective story set in north Norfolk in 1955, and Moored Man: A Cycle of North Norfolk Poems; Gatty's Tale, a medieval pilgrimage novel; and the Arthur trilogy (The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing-Places and King of the Middle March), which combines historical fiction with the retelling of Arthurian legend.

The Seeing Stone won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the Smarties Prize Bronze Medal. The Arthur trilogy has won worldwide critical acclaim and has been translated into 21 languages.

Crossley-Holland has translated Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon, and his retellings of traditional tales include The Penguin Book of Norse Myths and British Folk Tales (reissued as The Magic Lands). His collaborations with composers include two operas with Nicola Lefanu ("The Green Children" and "The Wildman") and one with Rupert Bawden, "The Sailor’s Tale"; song cycles with Sir Arthur Bliss and William Mathias; and a carol with Stephen Paulus for King’s College, Cambridge. His play, The Wuffings, (co-authored with Ivan Cutting) was produced by Eastern Angles in 1997.

He often lectures abroad on behalf of the British Council, regularly leads sessions for teachers and librarians, and visits primary and secondary schools. He offers poetry and prose workshops and talks on the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, King Arthur, heroines and heroes, and myth, legend and folk-tale.

After seven years teaching in Minnesota, where he held an Endowed Chair in the Humanities, Kevin Crossley-Holland returned to the north Norfolk coast in East Anglia, where he now lives.

He has a Minnesotan wife, Linda, two sons (Kieran and Dominic) and two daughters (Oenone and Eleanor). He is an Honorary Fellow of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, a patron of the Society of Storytelling and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[RhiannaH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant collection of short stories.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is what it says on the cover: short.

A collection of some good and some...strange stories that are over in a blink of an eye. It was definitely the most confusing collection of short stories I've ever read; there wasn't really a theme to the stories so each story was its own section of the book.

However it was fun to read and felt good about myself for finishing a book in 30 minutes!

[Mehreen Akhtar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of funny, strange, spooky short stories: I read this book when I wanted to read without needing to invest too much brainpower.
Rated this book a 3 because some stories were just a couple of lions of wordplay. Som stories didn’t really go anywhere so not sure what their purpose was. Would still recommend though.

[Jane Scholey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my 'go to' books in school. I love a short story, as do the children. These are fun, scary, interesting, weird. They can be read in minutes and are great read alouds. They are also great to show structure, tension etc if you want to use them for teaching.

[Laura Talboys · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are 44 short stories in this book although there were only about 5 I liked. Many didn’t seem to make sense and there were a lot that included ghosts or death. However, this book has made me want to read more short story books!

[Alexandra Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are super short and quite bizarre in some cases, literally a few lines in some cases and never more than 2 pages. I've read the whole book to Year 6 and they love them. Great for when you don't want to start a new novel.

[Gisela Gibbon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun. I tend to dip into books, and this is perfect for the odd minutes here and there, literally seconds sometimes, and you're changed for those moments, brilliant. Just some stories I didn't quite take to, so it's a 4/5, but overall I could surround myself with books like this.

[Merri Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used as a basis for writing a short horror story during SBT2 in English.

[Emily Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year six class I was in loved this book and creating their own short stories from it.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very weird and somewhat spooky collection of short stories

[Aszerina]

This book fulfills what it says on the cover, it is a collection of short stories. I really feel that this book will appeal to children in ks2, especially boys or children not really keen on reading. The stories are funny, weird, creative and even scary. I would recommended this book for a child to read on their own but I may choose some stories from it to read with the class, purely for entertainment. Overall it is an okay book.

[Sushan Konar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains incredibly short stories.
The shortest is JUST ONE SENTENCE LONG!!
It has 44 stories. It is very nice. I like it. I have
read it before. There are some spooky stories
too. There are more versions of this book.

Review by,
Ushasi Roy Choudhury, Std.IV,
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ganeshkhind, Pune

[Gemma Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Really dull collection of short stories that were supposed to be sharp. Not recommended

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great little stories let down by some confusing or pointless ones.