Stella the Centipede and the Lost Shoes

Under a big green leaf lived a little centipede named Stella. She had lots and lots of tiny feet, and on every foot she wore a little colorful shoe.

Whenever Stella walked through the forest, it sounded like this: tap, tap, tippity-tap. Tap, tap, tippity-tap.

Stella happily walks along a sunny forest path wearing many colorful shoes.

One morning, the sun peeked out from behind the trees. "I think I’ll go for a walk today," said Stella.

She put on all her shoes and set off along the forest path: tap, tap, tippity-tap.

Stella jumps across a forest stream while tiny blue shoes fall between the stones.

First, Stella came to a little stream. The water bubbled, "Splish, splash, splish."

"I’ll jump to the other side!" said Stella. She ran and jumped. Hop! A few blue shoes slipped off her feet and landed between the stones. Plop, plop, plop. Stella did not notice. She kept walking: tap, tap, tippity-tap.

Stella reaches for a big strawberry while red shoes get caught on twigs.

Soon, she found a bush full of red strawberries. "Mmm, a strawberry!"

Stella crawled under the little branches and picked the biggest one. But as she crawled back out, a few red shoes got caught on the twigs. Stella did not notice. She kept going: tap, tap, tippity…

Stella twirls after a yellow butterfly and her yellow shoes fly into the meadow grass.

In the meadow, Stella met a yellow butterfly. "Wait for me!" she called.

The butterfly flew up, and Stella stretched up. The butterfly flew down, and Stella bent down. Then the butterfly spun around, and Stella spun around too.

She twirled and twirled until her yellow shoes flew off into the grass. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Stella notices many bare feet after stepping on a prickly pinecone.

Stella took a few more steps, but now she could no longer hear the cheerful sound: tap, tap, tippity-tap.

The soft moss felt cold beneath her bare feet. "Brrr," shivered Stella. Then she stepped on a little pinecone. "Ouch! That’s prickly!"

Stella looked down. One foot was bare. Another foot was bare. And another one too. "My shoes are gone!"

For a moment, Stella felt sad. Then she lifted her head. "I remember where I went. I can find them."

Joey the hedgehog, Vicky the squirrel, and Zoe the frog offer to help Stella.

Nearby, she met Joey the hedgehog, Vicky the squirrel, and Zoe the frog.

"Will you help me?" asked Stella. "I’ll show you the way." "Yes!" said her friends.

Stella and her friends find yellow shoes among daisies and tall meadow grass.

"First, I was chasing a butterfly," Stella remembered. She led everyone back to the meadow.

Joey looked under the daisies, Vicky pushed aside the tall grass, and Stella searched beside the dandelions. Then they spotted the yellow shoes.

"There they are!" Stella put them back on. Tap, tap…

The friends find Stella's red shoes hanging from strawberry bush branches.

"Before that, I ate a strawberry," said Stella.

They all hurried to the strawberry bush. One red shoe was hanging from a twig, another was caught on a branch, and one more was hiding beneath a leaf.

"We found them!" Stella put them back on. Tap, tap, tap…

Zoe the frog retrieves Stella's blue shoes from between stones in the stream.

"And at the very beginning, I jumped across the stream," Stella remembered.

At the stream, Zoe the frog leaped into the water. Splash! She found the blue shoes between the stones and passed them to Stella.

"These are the last ones!" Stella put them back on. Tap, tap, tippity-tap!

Stella's friends tie tiny grass laces onto all her colorful shoes.

All the shoes were back where they belonged.

"We need to make sure they don’t fall off again," said Stella. Joey brought soft blades of grass, Vicky twisted them into tiny laces, and Zoe tied them tightly.

Stella walked across the moss, jumped over a pinecone, and twirled after a butterfly. Not a single shoe fell off.