Pinka's Shop

The original Pinka stories starred a quartet of owls named Pinka, Mavis, Brody, and Owen.

But it wasn’t long until we added Malcolm Owl and Rowan Owl, named after my grandchildren. Malcolm (the person) chose orange and red for the colors of Malcolm Owl. Rowan (the person) chose pink and purple for the colors of Rowan Owl. 

Then along came Julia and chose BLUE for Julia Owl.

Julia Owl will be featured in the illustrations below, but I actually made two different versions of this story. So if there is one little owl in YOUR family, read the Julia story. If there are two little owls in your family, read the story with Malcolm Owl and Rowan Owl.

Print the attached PDF! Follow the instructions here to fold two separate little books. Then tape them together!

One fine day, Pinka said

to Julia Owl,

“I think I would like to have a shop.

I make really marvelous cream pies. 

There should be a place

where I could sell them.”

“I will help you look for a shop,” said Julia Owl.

Pinka and Julia Owl looked at many buildings before they came to the right one.

“These shelves will be perfect for displaying my cream pies!” cried Pinka. 

Julia Owl agreed.

Julia Owl and Pinka went to the back of the shop.

“This oven will be PERFECT for baking cream pies!” cried Pinka.

Julia Owl agreed.

SHE had plans of her own. Julia Owl planned to make other treats for the shop. MANY other treats!.

The owls got right to work.

Pinka added a row of cream pies

on the first shelf.

Julia Owl made donuts. She arranged them in a colorful display.

Soon the shop was filled with wonderful treats.

Cream pies, cakes, cookies, donuts, croissants, bread, and pretzels.

“There is something else that we need,” said Julia Owl.

“We need a NAME for the shop!” 

So Julia Owl made a big sign.

The sign said, “Pinka’s Shop.”

“There is something else

that we need,” said Pinka. 

She left the shop.

Soon Pinka returned with a

cash register.

“Now we are ready to open our shop,” said Julia Owl.  

But then Julia Owl looked up 

at the sign. 

The big, pink, PINKA sign.

Pinka could see that Julia Owl was not very happy.

She looked up at the sign.

The big, pink, PINKA sign.

Pinka went to the back room. 

She had a big white board.

She had blue paint.

She had a good idea.

Pinka got her big white ladder.

She climbed up the ladder.

She took DOWN the sign

 that said “Shop.”

Then Pinka put up a NEW part.

Right after the “Pinka” part.

Then Pinka put back

the part that said “SHOP.”

Now the sign said,

“Pinka and Julia’s Shop.”

“I think this will make Julia Owl happy,” said Pinka with a smile.

When Julia Owl saw the new sign, she could hardly believe her eyes.

 She ran to Pinka and gave her a great big hug. 

But there was no time to talk about the new sign. 

Customers were ready to come into the shop and buy treats! 

What did they buy? 

THAT will be in the next story! 

THE END

Here is the same story, with THREE characters! It's in "minizine" format. If you do not know how to cut and fold a minizine, take a look at these instructions. Oh, and by the way, this is a longer story. Fold two little booklets and tape them together!

Hello! Grandma Van here. You may have noticed that there were quite a few props in this story. While I HOPE you will print and enjoy the PDF storybooks, I am also encouraging parents and grandparents to do storytelling with your children.

The very first "Pinka's shop" was made from a cardboard box. The counters were blocks. The food was made from bits of children's play dough.

If you have made your own Pinka (and maybe a friend or two for Pinka) don't worry about fancy props. Use whatever is available to act out the stories, or just let your child HOLD Pinka as you read the stories.

Once I knew that storytelling was going to be an important part of my life, I bought additional materials. Pinka's shop is from Target (Woodzies... or something like that), and it came with many miniature foods. I removed one wall so that I could take better photographs.

Pinka's ladder is from a very old Fisher Price "Little People" set. The food is LEGO, from either Brinklink.com or BrickOwl.com. We are always on the lookout for small props or bits of scenery for Pinka stories. More about THAT....later!