Illustration of noble sloths wondering how to get castle back from ogre
Art by Hannah McCaffery
Fiction,

The Sloth Princess

By Molly Bradley
From the September 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will learn the features of a fairy tale and determine if this story is a fairy tale.

Lexile® measure: 480L
Featured Skill: Key Details, Main Idea,
Vocabulary: royal, refused, journey, furious, drowsy, sluggish
Topic: English Language Arts,
Common Core Standards
  • Skill Focus
    Fairy tales
  • Common Core Standards
    RL.2.1 Key details RL.2.3 Describe how characters respond to events RL.2.5 Story structure RL.2.7 Use information from illustrations to understand characters, setting, and plot RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RL.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate stories SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts L.2.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to a word’s meaning
TEKS Standards
  • English Language Arts
    (9) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts—genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts. The student is expected to: (A) demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children’s literature such as folktales, fables, and fairy tales

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Think and Read

As you read, think about what makes this story a fairy tale.

Once upon a time, there was a sloth princess. Her mother and father were the sloth queen and king. The royal sloth family lived in a castle. They ruled their kingdom with kindness.

One summer, they went on vacation. Sloths are very slow and sleepy. It took them a long time to get there. It took them just as long to get back.

They came home to a terrible surprise. An ogre had moved into their castle!

The ogre was huge and scary. He stomped around. 

He broke everything in the castle. He threw garbage in the royal gardens. Worst of all, he would not leave the castle. He refused to move out!

The royal sloth family moved into a sloth hotel. The sloth princess was sad. She missed her room in the castle.

“What will we do?” said the sloth queen.

“We need some help,” said the sloth king.

PAUSE AND THINK: Why is the sloth princess sad?

The Three Volunteers

The king sent a message to all the sloths in the kingdom. He wanted a brave sloth to help get their castle back.

The next day, a sloth came to see them.

“I will take back the castle,” he said.

The sloth princess peeked out from behind her parents. This sloth was big and strong. Maybe he could get the castle back.

The sloth set off toward the castle. He moved very, very slowly. He fell asleep after just a few steps.

The sloth queen sighed. “Let’s hope someone else will come,” she said.

The next day, another sloth arrived. This one was bigger and stronger than the first sloth.

“I will take back the castle,” said the sloth.

He walked slowly down the road. The royal family watched until they couldn’t see him anymore. Maybe he would get to the castle!

Then they got a message from a friend. The second sloth had also fallen asleep!

The next day, a third sloth showed up. He was even bigger and stronger than the second sloth. “I will take back the castle,” he said.

“You can try,” said the queen.

All day, they heard about the third sloth’s journey. He made it past the wide river. He made it through the great hills.

Then they heard some news. The third sloth was at the castle! But he had fallen asleep on its front steps. 

No one could wake him up.

“I give up,” said the sloth king. “We’ll just have to find a new home.”

Now the sloth princess was mad. She was furious! The ogre couldn’t keep their castle! There was only one thing to do. She would try to get the castle back herself.

PAUSE AND THINK: Why don’t the three sloths get to the castle?

The Princess’s Plan

The sloth princess went to see her fairy slothmother.

“Fairy slothmother,” she said, “I want to help my family. 

I want to get our home back. But how will I stay awake on the way there?”

The fairy slothmother smiled. “I know just the spell,” she said. “Whenever you feel sleepy or drowsy, say this:

Bippity, boppity, 
boopity-yay, 
Let someone else 
fall asleep today!

When you say that, someone nearby will fall asleep instead of you.”

The sloth princess thanked her fairy slothmother. She went to bed.

The next morning, the sloth princess snuck out of the hotel. She began her long journey to the castle.

She made it to the wide river. Then she began to feel sleepy. So she said the words her fairy slothmother taught her:

“Bippity, boppity, 
boopity-yay, 
Let someone else 
fall asleep today!”

She heard a soft thump behind her. A bird had fallen out of a tree. It was asleep! But the sloth princess suddenly felt awake again.

“Sweet dreams!” said the sloth princess. She continued on her way.

She made it to the great hills. Then she got sleepy again. So she said the magic words:

“Bippity, boppity, 
boopity-yay, 
Let someone else 
fall asleep today!”

A nearby squirrel suddenly dropped to the ground. It had fallen asleep too. But the sloth princess was full of energy!

At last, she made it to the castle. She was getting very sleepy again. She felt sluggish. But she was almost there.

She pushed open the big castle doors.

PAUSE AND THINK: How does the sloth princess stay awake?

The Ogre’s Mistake

There was the ogre. He was sitting on the sloth king’s throne.

“What do you want?” growled the ogre.

“I’m here for the castle,” said the sloth princess. “It’s my family’s home. Would you please give it back?”

“Hmm,” said the ogre. He thought about it.

Then he said, “No. And now I will throw you in the dungeon. Any last words?”

The sloth princess was scared. She was also so, so sleepy. She was about to pass out! But she managed to get out the magic words:

“Bippity, boppity, 
boopity-yay, 
Let someone else 
fall asleep today!”

“What . . .” the ogre said. Then his eyes closed. His head dropped to his chest. He began to snore. He was asleep!

His snore rang out through the sloth kingdom. All the sloths came to the castle to celebrate. They carried the ogre out and dumped him in a swamp.

The sloth king and queen hugged the sloth princess. They had their castle back! And after a long nap, they lived happily ever after.

video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (6)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (6) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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Implementation

  • Small group; whole group; independent reading

1. Use the Before-Reading Resources

  • Read “What Is a Fairy Tale?” (30 minutes)
    Read the background builder “What Is a Fairy Tale?” on page 12. Discuss the elements you will find in fairy tales. 
  • Watch our Fairy Tale Video (5 minutes)
    You can also play our video What Is a Fairy Tale? to reinforce the elements of this genre. 
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow (5 minutes)
    Help students become familiar with the vocabulary words they will see in the story.

2. Read the Story

Reading Focus: Comprehension, elements of a fairy tale (30 minutes)

  • Use the Pause and Think questions for a basic comprehension check.
  • As you read, ask students to pay attention to the elements of the story that are in fairy tales, such as royal characters, talking animals, and magic. Students can underline these parts in the story.

3. After-Reading Skills Practice

(All pages below can be printed from our website.)

  • Fairy Tale Checklist: (15 minutes) 
    Is “The Sloth Princess” a fairy tale? Students can refer to the fairy tale elements from the “What Is a Fairy Tale?” background builder. Then they can complete this skills sheet to help them decide.

You can use these skills pages to practice other skills. (15 minutes each)

  • Quiz: Comprehension check (We also offer a lower-level quiz.)
  • Fiction and Nonfiction: Compare and contrast “The Sloth Princess” with “Real Sloths.”
  • What Is the Setting? Students write about where the story takes place and draw a picture of it. 
  • Story Map: Students write the names of the characters, what the setting is, and four key events in the plot.
  • Amazing Animals Chart: Compare the animal tale-themed texts in the issue.

Text-to-Speech