FREE INTERACTIVE STORY · AGES 10–11
The Weather Keepers: a free interactive story
In the Lost Sky Temple, four keepers look after the sun, the rain, the wind and the snow. After an argument, the Rain Keeper has locked herself away, and the land below is drying out. Your child makes two choices about how to restore the balance, and each ending reveals a different twist.
- Reading age 11
- 2 short chapters, 2 choices and 4 endings
- About 3 minutes
- Myth and folklore
Read the story
Choose your hero
Paint it your way
Chapter 1The dry season
Long ago, the old stories said, the weather was kept in a temple above the clouds, by four keepers who took turns at the great stone wheel.
Nia had always thought the stories were just stories, until a rope ladder appeared at the top of the hill one morning, swaying gently and leading straight up into the clouds.
At the top stood a temple of carved stone, floating on islands joined by narrow walkways. Waterfalls should have poured from its edges. Instead, they were dry.
Three keepers were waiting: the Sun Keeper, warm and impatient; the Wind Keeper, who could not keep still; and the Snow Keeper, quiet and pale. The fourth door, the Rain Keeper’s, was firmly shut.
“We quarrelled,” the Sun Keeper admitted, not meeting Nia’s eyes. “She said we never listen to her. Now she won’t come out, and the land below has had no rain for a month. Can you restore the balance?”
What happens next is up to your child
Who should Nia talk to first?
Questions for grown-ups to ask
Did you spot it?
- EasyHow many weather keepers were there?Answer: Four: the Sun, Rain, Wind and Snow Keepers.
- MediumWhy had there been no rain for a month?Answer: The Rain Keeper had locked herself away after a quarrel with the others.
- HarderWhat is the twist in “Three sides of the story”, and how does it change what you think of the keepers?Answer: The Snow Keeper started the quarrel by telling tales; the others had each been misled, so none of them was as unfair as it seemed.
Talk about it
- Myths often explain why something in nature happens. What does this story explain?
- Which ending showed the best way to fix a falling-out? Why?
Words to talk about
- quarrelled
- Had an angry argument.
- nuisance
- Something annoying or that gets in the way.
- restore
- To bring something back to how it should be.
- pedestal
- A stand that something is placed on.
Reading it together
The Weather Keepers is written in the style of a myth, at Litsee’s reading level for age 11. Like many real myths, it explains something in nature (why the seasons come round in order), and it does so through characters with mixed motives.
The second chapter on one path has a fair twist: the quiet Snow Keeper started the quarrel. Talk about how the clues pointed to it (her silence, looking away) and whether your child spotted them.
Children who enjoy it might write their own myth explaining something in nature: why the moon changes shape, or why rainbows appear after rain.
About this story
- Reading age
- 11 (ages 10–11). Written for Litsee’s reading level for age 11, where sentences are mostly 12–22 words long.
- Length
- 2 short chapters, 2 choices and 4 endings. Each way through is 342–362 words.
- Reading time
- About 3 minutes for a 11-year-old reading on their own, at Litsee’s pacing of 140 words a minute for that age. Reading aloud to your child is usually quicker.
- Book band
- Roughly Dark Red, if your child’s school uses book bands (schemes differ; see our book bands guide).
- Characters
- the Sun Keeper, the Rain Keeper, the Wind Keeper, the Snow Keeper
- Theme
- Myth and folklore