Little LeafLibrary
Create a picture book ↗
LITTLE LEAF LIBRARY · A free, open bookshelf

A little leaf.
A world of stories.

From first sounds to first independent reads.
Find a story to share, then print it and bring it home.

Discover a story ↗
✓ Chinese & English stories✓ Free to read✓ Download & print
✳
Featured story illustration
Start with a little story today.
Let’s read ↗❧
AI picture-book studio

Love a good story? Create your own.

Bring your imagination to our picture-book creation platform.

Visit the story studio ↗Opens in a new tab
GROW WITH STORIES

Stories for every stage of growing up

Choose by age and reading confidence.

Ages are our editorial suggestions, not publisher ratings. Reading abilities vary.

A STORY FOR EVERY LITTLE READER

Find your next favorite book

Loading stories…
FROM SCREEN TO LITTLE HANDS

Make stories part of life.
Take them home, too.

Explore together on screen, or turn a few sheets of paper into a storybook of your own.

01

Find a story your child loves

Age is a starting point; interest matters most. Let children pick an illustration and describe what they see.

02

Read together, then talk

Turn pages online and switch between Chinese and English. Every book includes a conversation prompt.

03

Print the whole story with credits

Choose “Print book” in the reader. Use A4 landscape, fit to page, and disable headers and footers. You can also print the original PDF.

OPEN BOOKS, CLEAR CREDITS

Free stories. Credit where it belongs.

Each reading page records its creators, source and applicable license or public-domain declaration. Most books use CC BY; one catalogue entry carries a publisher Public Domain Mark declaration. Check the individual edition before sharing, adapting or reusing it. Site layouts and synthetic narration are described separately.

Books come from Book Dash, African Storybook / Storybooks Canada and Pratham Books. Source and language details vary by edition. Age, theme and reading prompts are editorial suggestions. Little Leaf is independent of these organizations.

Chinese story collection ↗About CC BY 3.0 ↗About CC BY 4.0 ↗
YOUR READING MOMENTS

Reader feedback

← Back to the bookshelfDownload printable edition

Grandpa Farouk’s Garden

Amir loves Grandpa Farouk’s garden. But it’s dying. What can Amir do to help?

Suggested age: 4–6岁 · Reading level L2 · 14 illustrated pages

Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 1, English text included

Read and listen

This book can be read page by page, heard with synthetic Voice 7 narration, downloaded and printed. Enable JavaScript for the interactive reader, or open the story pages below.

Amir loves Grandpa Farouk’s garden. But it’s dying. What can Amir do to help?

Read all 14 story pages
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 1, English text included
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 2, English text included
Deep in the city, surrounded by houses and bricks and tar, you'll find Grandpa Farouk's garden.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 3, English text included
Amir visits Grandpa once a week. He loves the leaves and flowers and trees.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 4, English text included
Amir helps to water the plants. He helps with the compost, and works with his Grandpa all day.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 5, English text included
When they finish, they feast on a harvest of fruit. One day, Grandpa didn't eat his pear. "What's wrong?" asked Amir.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 6, English text included
"My garden is dying," replied Grandpa. "Why?" asked Amir. "Look closely," said Grandpa. "Some pests are eating the plants."
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 7, English text included
"We need ladybirds!" said Grandpa. "They are the bugs that eat the pests that kill the plants. Without ladybirds, the garden will die." "I'll bring you a bug or two," said Amir.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 8, English text included
For a whole week, Amir looked and searched and collected. He found one ladybird on the sports field.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 9, English text included
Two more at the shop. Three at the park.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 10, English text included
And four behind the TV. Next week, Amir went to visit Grandpa Farouk, and showed him his jar of ten bugs. "You've done well, oh my boy, you've done well," Grandpa said, with a tear in his eye.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 11, English text included
Grandpa was very happy. The ladybirds were very hungry!
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 12, English text included
The ladybirds ate the pests, and the garden blossomed.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 13, English text included
From that day on, Grandpa Farouk's garden did what gardens should do. It grew and grew and grew.
Grandpa Farouk’s Garden — original illustrated page 14, English text included

Creators and open license

Written by
Matthew Kalil
Illustrated by
Sam van Riet
Created by
Sam van Riet (Illustrator); Nina Lewis (Designer); Matthew Kalil (Writer); Ingrid Nye (Editor)

Source: Book Dash
Original: Grandpa Farouk’s Garden from Book Dash
License: CC BY 4.0

Original illustrated spreads and embedded English story text preserved; website layout and printable PDF assembled by Little Leaf. Age, level, theme and recommendation are editorial suggestions. Web and printable layout adapted by Little Leaf. Age and reading-level suggestions are editorial. Original stories and artwork belong to their credited creators. Website narration uses the selected synthetic Voice 7.