Sooper Books The Bundle Of Sticks Bedtime Story Animated Cover
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The Bundle Of Sticks Short Story & Audiobook

A father has three sons who simply won’t stop fighting, so he comes up with a cunning lesson. And that lesson involves a bundle of sticks.

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The Bundle Of Sticks

Once upon a time there was a dad who had a family that was just three sons and not one single daughter. Those sons were really irritating and noisy, too.

They never stopped quarrelling and fighting and arguing amongst themselves and it gave the poor old dad a real headache. 

Nothing he could say or do would make them stop, so he thought and thought about some kind of lesson that he might be able to teach them.

Three boys fighting.

One day the quarrelling and fighting and arguing had got to the point where all the noise gave the poor old dad his worst headache ever. 

He had had enough. So, he got one of the sons to bring him a bundle of sticks. The dad pulled out a few little sticks and handed one to each of the sons. “Okay”, he said, “see if you can break it”.

“Easy”, said one son and snapped the twig in half.

“Piece of cake”, said the next son as he snapped his twig in half.

“Piece of twig, er, cake!” said the last son, as he snapped his twig in half.

Then the dad handed the bundle of twigs to each of his sons one after the other and told them to try to break it. They tried everything they could and bashed the bundle over their knees, tried to snap the bundle in half with all their strength and even jammed the bundle in the door and pulled and pulled but it still didn’t break.

three boys pulling at a bundle of sticks.

"See, boys", said the dad, smiling "now you can see that if you all agree with each other and help each other, you will be strong as a family. 

But if you are always fighting and arguing you won’t be any stronger than a single stick in that bundle."

And the moral of that story is that together we are stronger.

The End

Three boys arm in arm holding up a bundle of sticks.

Can you read The Bundle Of Sticks story for free?

Yes! You can read The Bundle Of Sticks story for free. Our story retellings closely follow the original storylines and add modern twists in the illustrations.

Is there a version of The Bundle Of Sticks read aloud?

You can choose to experience this story read aloud or you can read it yourself.

Is this a bedtime story?

This is a great example of a bedtime story. It’s nostalgic for parents and has a happy ending for kids. That’s if they make it to the end of the story before falling asleep!

Why do we write bedtime stories for kids?

When we first decided to create a bedtime story for kids, we knew we wanted it to be fun, engaging and high quality.

We wanted Sooper Books to bring children's publishing into the 21st century. We strongly believe that nighttime stories for kids need to fit seamlessly into modern family lives which is why our free stories are all online.

It began when we started writing stories for our own family. Then our friends and wider families asked for copies and we started to share Sooper Books with other children.

At Sooper Books we write, curate and narrate stories for kids so they can enjoy the best quality content, enchanting stories and magical adventures. With our stories we work towards promoting a positive attitude to reading and instill a love of books in children from an early age.

About Sooper Books

Our 5-10 minute online kids bedtime stories, fairy tales, funny rhymes and fables all come with award-winning audio.

From short stories for kids to multiple story episodes in our original series collections, our content is sure to make your little ones’ eyes sparkle with delight.

At Sooper Books, children can explore the magical world of fairies and witches, brave knights, talking animals and more. Our stories for kids feature an array of characters such as lovable princesses, funny frogs, gentle giants and wise wizards.

So whether you're specifically looking for a fairy tale or a rhyme, or maybe you just need some short bedtime stories for kids. Take the stress out of bedtime by reading one of our kids stories today!