Find Your Familiar Story Here

Find Your School's Familiar Story Here.

Students from all over the country have been creating their very own stories about familiars. We're posting them here.


Create Your Own Familiar Writing Game - Template

Make Your Own Familiar Writing Game - Template

1. What kind of animal is your familiar?

2. Is your familiar a boy or a girl?

3. How old is your familiar?

4. What’s your familiar’s magical talent?

5. What’s your familiar’s name?

6. Where does your familiar live?

7. What other kinds of animals might live there, too?

8. Is your familiar friends or enemies with that other animal?

9. What makes your familiar sad? What makes your familiar happy?

10. What is the title of your story?

Things to keep in mind after answering these questions and writing your story:

Every familiar should want something. Whether it’s to save their wizards, find food or shelter, or escape their enemy, they need to have a goal.

After you have established the hero’s goal, you need to have an antagonist, or obstacle, keeping that hero from achieving his or her goal. It could be a person, an element – like a violent storm – or an emotion, like fear.

Another thing you should consider while writing this story is how your familiar’s magical talent might be able to help them achieve their goal and overcome the antagonist or obstacle keeping them from achieving it.

Here’s an example:

1. What kind of animal is your familiar? An elephant

2. Is your familiar a boy or a girl? A girl

3. How old is your familiar? 12 years old

4. What’s your familiar’s magical talent? Time travel

5. What’s your familiar’s name? Black Hawk

6. Where does your familiar live? China

7. What other kinds of animals might live there, too? Pandas

8. Is your familiar friends or enemies with that other animal? Enemies

9. What makes your familiar sad? What makes your familiar happy? It makes our familiar sad when she doesn’t have enough peanuts to eat.

10. What is the title of your story? Panda Strikes Back

Now that you’ve answered these questions, you need to write your story! Remember that your familiar needs a goal, an obstacle to achieving that goal, and a magical talent that will help them overcome that obstacle.

“Panda Strikes Back”

For Black Hawk, an elephant in China, life could be difficult - even when you have the magical power to travel through time. First, China is practically covered with panda bears, and as we all know panda bears and time traveling elephants do not get along. Especially when one of those panda bears eats the last of Black Hawk’s peanuts. And you never want to make an elephant hungry. But this was a clever elephant, one that knew how to use her magical talent the way any good familiar should. So she decided to travel through time to a baseball game where she knew there would be stands and vendors filled with peanuts, and she would never go hungry again.

What is Black Hawk’s goal? To find peanuts so she wouldn’t be hungry.

What’s the obstacle to achieving that goal? Her enemy, the panda bear, ate them all.

What talent does she use to overcome that obstacle? She travels through time to a baseball game!

Now you try. And be sure to send your stories to thefamiliarsbook@gmail.com.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Pegasus School



The Pegasus School
Learn More about Pegasus here!

"Bo's Big Adventure Against Justin Bieber"

Bo, the 2 year old flying pig, lived in a barn in Minnesota. All he wanted more than anything in the whole world was to eat yogurt and jellyfish. But he had a mortal enemy, Justin Bieber, who lived in that barn, too. Bieber hated Bo. He tortured him by singing all day long. And even worse - well, maybe not worse - he made sure Bo never could his yogurt and jellyfish. Bo was still a baby pig, and had yet to master his familiar talent: using his wings to fly. But so desperate he became, that he flapped his little pig wings and sailed right out the barn window. Bieber could only watch as Bo flew away to a place where he could eat all the yogurt and jellyfish he wanted and never have to listen to Justin Bieber sing again!

Bonita Canyon Elementary School

Bonita Canyon Elementary School
Learn More About Bonita Canyon here!

"Attack of the Fire Squirrels"

Early in the morning, in the most magical place on earth, Disneyland, Carl the Camel slept on his half of the room he shared with Buzz Lightyear.





Buzz was a terrible roommate. He was bossy, and he always wore Carl's clothing, in particular Carl's favorite purple sweaters. One day, when Carl went to his room to gather his purple sweaters so Buzz could never wear them again, Buzz blocked his way, preventing him from using the steps. So Carl relied on his magical familiar talent -- levitation -- to soar above the ground and into the air, floating over Buzz's head. He retrieved his sweaters and was reassigned to a different part of Disneyland, where he lived with Goofy, who had plenty of sweaters of his own.

Newport Coast Elementary School

Newport Coast Elementary School
Learn more about Newport Coast here!

"Mango"



It was a bright sunny day, but all Mango, the 100 year old coyote, could see was darkness. That's because Mango lived in the windowless dungeon of a magic castle, where an evil wizard kept her prisoner. All she wanted was to escape that dungeon and find a place she could call her own: a cave, filled with her namesake, mangos.



She would have tried to escape sooner, but her old age forced her to hobble with the aid of a walking stick. Mango was a familiar, though, and that meant she had a magical talent. She could read minds. This enabled her to determine when the evil wizard would be using the bathroom. After a night of tacos, he disappeared, and Mango took her opportunity to make a run for it... well, a walk for it. She limped away and was never seen by the wizard again.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Indian Riffle Elementary School

Indian Riffle Elementary School
Learn More About Indian Riffle Here!

“The Mystery of Lucky”



It was a cold winter night, and Lucky, the 5 year old female bunny rabbit, was especially hungry. She had been living far below the ground in a hole in a tree stump with a fox named Foxy who ate all of her carrots.



All she wanted, more than anything in the whole world, was a home, with a little girl to care for her, and give her carrots. Soft, orange, delicious carrots. But Foxy wouldn’t let Lucky go. Then one night, she realized her innate, magical talent – like all familiars, she was special – and Lucky made herself invisible! She disappeared from the hole and escaped to the ground above, where a little girl rescued her and took her home. There, Lucky was given all the carrots she ever could have dreamed of.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Beebe Elementary School

Beebe Elementary School
Learn More About Beebe Here!

"The Horrible Happenings of Hippy the Hippo"



Deep in the forests, trapped in a cage, lived Hippy the Hippo. It had been a lonely and miserable life for Hippy, who had lived the last 300 years of her life there. The cage had a dispeller curse put on it that prevented Hippy from using her magic familiar talent of shape-shifting. And worse still, she was stuck in the cage with her mortal enemy, a big fat snake! All Hippy wanted was freedom from this prison, so she go out and find a tutu and pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina.



Left with little choice, Hippy teamed up with her enemy, the snake, who was able to slither out through the bars of the cage and release her. Free at last, Hippy was able to get that tutu and start taking ballet lessons. In the end, things weren't so horrible after all.

May Watts Elementary School

May Watts Elementary School
Learn More About May Watts Here!

"Egnor's Big Break for Magic Tacos"



Egnor, a 16 year old chicken who lived in a barn in Wisconsin, wanted nothing more in life than to eat a magic taco. But magic tacos were not easy to come by in this barn. And to make matters worse, Gori the Gorilla lived in the barn (along with Andrew's family). Gori made it a habit of eating every magic taco -- or burrito -- he could get his hands on.



Yet Egnor had a plan. Using her magical ability of creating weather disturbances (tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes), she caused a massive windstorm that ripped the barn right up out of the ground. Gori was blown away in a violent swirl of wind and thrown far away, allowing Egnor to take a trip to Mexico - or New Mexico - to finally have that magic taco she always dreamed of.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Eagle Pointe Elementary School

Eagle Pointe Elementary School
Learn More About Eagle Pointe Here!


"Templeton the Freezing Rat"



Templeton lived a chilly life, not just because he had the magical talent of being able to freeze people, but because he lived under a refrigerator. He was 100 years old. And for the last few of those years, what he wanted most was the soft furry warmth of a teddy bear. But beneath that fridge there lived another, who desired that teddy bear almost as much. Templeton's mortal enemy, a cockroach named Uncle Stiltzkin.



All Templeton needed to do was race upstairs to the little girl's bedroom to retrieve that teddy bear. Unfortunately Stiltzkin was too fast and Templeton could never outrun him. Unless... unless he used his magic power to freeze him! And that's just what Templeton did. He got the teddy bear and made a new home for himself in the warm closet with all the other stuffed animals.

Hermes Elementary School

Hermes Elementary School
Learn More About Hermes Here!

"The Revenge of Enrico"

In the dark swampy forests there lived a 28 year old iguana named Enrico.



Enrico liked one thing more than any other: fast cars. If he had his dream, he would have owned a lamborghini that he could have driven through the marshlands.



But he wasn't the only one in the swampy forests with a love of expensive automobiles. His mortal enemy, an alligator who lived in the swamps with him, desired the same thing. Enrico had a trick up his sleeve. Like any good familiar, he had a magical talent. And his was bending time and traveling through it. So he leaped into the future where lamborghinis were as common as mud in a swamp. It was sweet revenge knowing that the alligator was stuck behind.

Don Callejon School

Don Callejon School
Learn More About Don Callejon Here!

“Shark vs. Turtle”



Sharks in Maui are given strange names, like Tiki-Takah, and even stranger magical talents, like turning people really, really old. When Tiki Takah was young and didn’t know how to control his powers, he accidentally tuned a turtle living in the same ocean that he did, really old. Not only did he turn the turtle old, but he turned himself 7 million years old! And being an old shark, well, Tiki Takah’s teeth weren’t so good. It made him sad to eat hard red apples, and that’s all he could eat, from the underwater apple trees. So he decided to escape to go looking for meat.

Graystone Elementary School

Graystone Elementary School
Learn More About Graystone Here!

“Peanut the Mouse and the Fire-Breathing Dragon”

Peanut, a mouse with the magical ability of turning herself invisible, was happy and liked living in a sand castle.



Sure, it was small, but the little mouse didn’t need much. And life would have stayed wonderful and quiet had it not been for the fire-breathing dragon that moved into the very same sand castle.



That made for some problems. None more so than when that darn dragon sneezed and burned half their house to a crisp. Fortunately for Peanut, she had a magical talent – like every familiar – and that was to turn herself invisible. So she disappeared and was never seen again in the sand castle village of the Sahara.

Penngrove Elementary School

Penngrove Elementary School
Learn More About Penngrove Here!

“Panda Strikes Back”



For Black Hawk, an elephant in China, life could be difficult - even when you have the magical power to travel through time. First, China is practically covered with panda bears, and as we all know panda bears and time traveling elephants do not get along. Especially when one of those panda bears eats the last of Black Hawk’s peanuts. And you never want to make an elephant hungry.



But this was a clever elephant, one that knew how to use her magical talent the way any good familiar should. So she decided to travel through time to a baseball game where she knew there would be stands and vendors filled with peanuts, and she would never go hungry again.

Liberty Elementary School

Liberty Elementary School
Learn More About Liberty Here!

“Riding the Waves”

Missy the Monkey, who had the magical ability to control the waves, lived a lonely existence in the Amazon.



The only companion that she had was a snake who wanted nothing more than to eat her. And with all of the vegetation of the Amazon, the one fruit it was missing was bananas – sweet, delicious bananas. It left Missy with little choice but to escape the Amazon and her mortal enemy the snake to search for bananas in a supermarket. She could make the waves carry her to store that carried bananas, but she knew there would be many dangerous obstacles along the journey. So she was forced to team up with the snake, for a familiar should never go on an adventure alone.

Grant Elementary School

Grant Elementary School
Learn more about Grant here!

“I Want to be Justin Bieber”

Once there was a mind-reading duck who lived in the ponds of Paris.



When animals would ask his name, he refused to state his real name. Instead, he wanted to only be referred to as Justin Bieber. Others thought he was ridiculous, none more so than his mortal enemy, a platypus that lived in the same pond. The duck wanted more than to just be called Justin Bieber. He wanted to be Justin Bieber.



But there was little chance for a duck in Paris to become a pop music sensation. So one day, he used his magical talent of readingt he mind of the platypus and discovered that the platypus had family in Hollywood, California. He decided his only hope of reaching his dream was to team up with his enemy and escape the ponds of Paris for Hollywood.