Books for kids

THE WONDERFUL GRAPEFRUIT

The princess liked sweet oranges more than anything in the world. Once she ate a whole mountain of these fruits. Afterwards her temperature rose, and a rash covered her whole body. The worried king forbade the princess from eating oranges, and the queen prayed that her daughter would get well, but each day she got worse. Citrus the Great summoned a council of wise men. For three days and three nights they read ancient books about citrus fruits and reached a conclusion: “The princess has – a citrus allergy. A wholesome fruit is described in the ancient books that simultaneously combines the qualities of the lemon and the orange. It will save the princess.”

The royal couriers travelled all over the kingdom in search of the wonderful fruit, but no one could say where it was growing. The news of the princess's illness finally reached a young orchard keeper who lived in a small mountain hamlet near the border of Tangerinia. This unusual fruit was in fact growing on a grapefruit tree in his orchard. A grapefruit! You might think it was a fruit that was growing in a vineyard. They called it this because the fruit grew on it in clusters and reminded one of a bunch of grapes. Without waiting for the king's messengers, the young orchard keeper cut off the largest cluster of fruit and galloped on his rapid steed to save the princess. For an entire week he did not climb out of the saddle, and he finally arrived at the palace.

“Your Majesty, here is the fruit that will cure the princess,” he said as he handed his yellow grapefruit highlighted with red to the king.

With his silver knife the king cut up a heavy grapefruit, and the aromatic juice from its pink flesh spurted all over. The princess ate several pieces and exclaimed enthusiastically, “What exquisite fruit this is: it has a sharp tang to it, but it's sweet and succulent!”

Soon the allergy was gone. The princess ordered her rescuer to be brought to her, and she asked him, “My dear young man, how were you able to grow such a miraculous fruit?”

The youth's light blue eyes began to shine, and he answered,

“Once a haggard wanderer turned up in our village. I took him to my cottage and fed him fruit and vegetables for a whole month. As he was leaving, the wanderer gave me a little seed. ‘From this seed I want you to cultivate grapefruit. They will bring you happiness,' he told me as he said farewell.” <0}

“When my grapefruit trees matured, I realized that their fruit was a real blessing for mankind. If you eat a grapefruit in the morning, you will feel invigorated all day; if you eat one during the day before dinner, it helps your digestion, and if you eat another one at bedtime, you will have a good sleep and you will wake up in the morning with a clear head. Isn't this a miracle?! They keep for more than six months and they don't lose their taste.”

“You have simply fallen in love with your grapefruits,” laughed the princess.

“You will also come to love them soon,” the youth continued passionately. “They aren't just fruit, they're nature's doctors. Of course their skin tastes bitter, but if you soak it in water, you get a terrific drink with lots of vitamin B10. I have restored the teeth and gums of all the old people in our village with this drink. Old people have a multitude of health problems: including high blood pressure and heart palpitations. But they quickly realized that grapefruits would help them to cope with these problems.”

“You have convinced me that there is no fruit on earth better than a grapefruit. Stay here for another day or so. I want to write down what you have told me,” the princess begged.

The young man was delighted to agree. A day went by, then another. The time flew imperceptibly. The orchard keeper and the princess were inseparable. Then the wise king summoned them to his presence and said,

“Dear children, if you enjoy being with one another, shouldn't we think about holding a wedding?”

All the earls of the citrus kingdom were invited to the wedding. The king presented each of them with a basket of grapefruit and said,

...

There were the fragments from the book "The World of Fruits".

Read the complete storries about VITAMIN C & CITRUS FRUITS
in the book
'The World of Fruits"

The World of Fruits:
purchase online

This was fragment from the story about BANANA from the book on Healthy Food for kids: 'The World of Fruits', part I >>

For the Book II 'The World of Vegetables' visit project Talking Veggies: Vegetables-for-kids.com

For anyone interested in their child's well-being, “The Storyteller's Guide to Health” series is sure to be of value. Following each selection of delightful stories, games and activities you'll also find recipes for the vitamin-conscious kitchen. The recipes are simple, allowing children to prepare dishes themselves with only minimal supervision, and are also designed to preserve the largest possible share of vitamins and other nutrients in the final serving. Read fragments from our stories: fruits for children

© Maria Skrebtsova,
© Alexandra Lopatina,
Illustration s by Svetlana Jijina.