Lars and Nina

Lars and Nina lived in France. Their father and mother lived in a small cottage. Lars loved to hunt in the woods with his father. Nina liked to cook bread with her mother in the kitchen. They were happy.

One day Nina’s and Lars’ mother got very sick. She died, and Lars’ father married another wife. She did not like Lars and Nina at all. The new wife was mean to them. She made them eat hard rolls. She made them sleep in the barn.

One day she told the father to take them out to the woods.

“Do not bring them back. I want the house for just the two of us!”

The father was sad. He took them to the woods. Lars and Nina did not know their father would leave them in the woods. Their father said he would not be back, and they cried.

Nina and Lars then went to look for another place to live. They found a small house in the woods. It had candy on the windows. Gum was on the doors. The walls were made of chocolate. It looked very good.

They knocked at the door. A kind lady answered the door. She fed them supper. Her name was Tanja. Her husband had died. They stayed with Tanja. She sent them to school. She taught them to read and write. Nina, Lars, and Tanja were happy forever.