I’ve written short stories all my life and I’ve published short fiction for all ages. Usually I write stories for adults — see My Stories — but sometimes I write a short piece for children. Below you’ll find descriptions and a few links to some of those. I hope to add audio versions and more stories soon.
“Duck Toast” (Counting, birding, and getting rid of your crusts. A story for the very young. But please don’t feed bread to waterfowl–it’s not good for them.)
Damon sat down to eat his toast. “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!” he heard. Four ducks flew over his house….
Featured on Alloprof (2024) Read online.
“The Royal Fitness Test” (Three daughters, one dragon, and a father in need of vacation.)
Once there was a king who lived in a stuffy old castle in a dark cold country….
Featured on Alloprof (2023) Read online.
“My Parents won the Science Fair” (Overzealous parents get their comeuppance.)
Riley’s school was holding a science fair, and every student had to think of a project to display.…
Performed at MASC’s Young Authors and Illustrators Festival (2023)
“Balloon Party” (A retelling of “Stone Soup” for the modern child.)
“You can’t make a party with one balloon,” Mom said.…
Written for Blue Met’s “Numbers Spelled Out” (2023) Read and listen online.
“Winter Blues” (Canadian winters can be hard to take.)
In winter, Oscar’s mother stayed inside all day. When she looked outside, she shuddered….
Written for Blue Met’s “Artists as Gifts” (2020) Read online.
“The Sacrifice” (The first of many scary stories by fictional characters from Cabin Tales)
The lake glistened in the sunshine.….
Aired on “Cabin Tales for Young Writers” (2020) Listen online.
If you like scary stories, listen to my old podcast, Cabin Tales for Young Writers. (Each main episode features one scary story written by a fictional child character, and the special Halloween episodes feature many scary stories written by real children and teens.)
If you are a young writer, check out my page of Young Writers’ Markets and get your story out into the world so we can all read it.
The featured image on this page is my own photo (of my kids when they were kids). The thumbnail images were AI-generated, but I hope to replace them with my own pics as soon as I find a photogenic dragon.
Catherine Austen 