A delightful and little-known Chinese folktale, retold for English learners.

Long ago, the phoenix was a plain brown bird, overlooked by the dazzling forest birds. While the forest birds preened and sang, the phoenix quietly collected a store of food. When drought struck, the phoenix was able to come to the rescue. With fun activities after the story, and online audio in both British English and American English. CEFR level: low A1. 300 headwords, 504 words.