The Holey Hazelnuts in the Granary
It's hazelnut harvest time on the hillsides of Giresun. For four mornings in a row, empty shells with the nuts eaten out have turned up in Granny Hattie's granary on its tall wooden stilts. Uncle Joe says, "It's a rat." Granny Hattie suspects the neighbor children. But Evan takes a closer look at the shells. Before Saturday comes, he wants to find the real culprit without blaming anyone unfairly.
Free story — no account needed to read it.
8 Minutes
4 Endings
7-8
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About This Story
“The Holey Hazelnuts in the Granary” is an interactive nature story for children aged 7-8, about 8 minutes long. The reader decides how it goes at 5 choice points, and there are 4 different endings. It is free to read on Kitapz, with no account needed.
- Age range
- 7-8 years
- Reading time
- about 8 minutes
- Genre
- Nature
- Format
- Interactive · 5 choice points · 4 endings
- Language
- English, Turkish
- Access
- Free, no account needed
- Characters
- Evan, Uncle Joe, Ellie, Granny Hattie
- Values
- Fairness, Friendship, Curiosity
- Collections
- Nature stories, Stories for ages 7-8
- Reading support
- dyslexia-friendly font, bionic reading, color-blindness filters
An Excerpt from the Story
The drying yard was covered with hazelnuts from end to end. Evan and his uncle, Uncle Joe, were pulling wooden rakes to spread the nuts out nice and even.
Evan's grandma, Granny Hattie, came down from the granary on its tall wooden stilts and set a blue bowl on the stone table in the courtyard. Once again the bowl was full of empty shells with the nuts eaten out. It had happened four mornings in a row.
Granny Hattie:
“They've eaten them again. The sacks get a little lighter every night.”
Uncle Joe yawned and leaned on his rake.
Uncle Joe:
“A rat's got in, what else could it be? When I go into town on Saturday, I'll buy some poison and that'll be the end of it.”
Evan put down his rake and leaned over the bowl. Today was Thursday. Tomorrow was Friday, and then came Saturday.
Evan (thinking):
Who's eating the hazelnuts? I have to find out before the poison comes.
“The Holey Hazelnuts in the Granary” · Ages 7-8 · kitapz.com
school For Parents and Teachers
In this story, children work like detectives with Evan during Giresun's hazelnut harvest, studying nibbled shells up close and comparing them with the suspects' shells. It shows how unfair it is to blame someone without proof, and why it pays to look carefully before rushing into a decision. Readers' choices decide which clue Evan follows.
What will children learn from this story?
- Learns that the shape of the hole and the tooth marks on a nibbled hazelnut shell can show which animal ate it.
- Practices testing a guess by putting samples side by side, comparing them and looking for tracks.
- Learns how the round, flat boards on the legs of a granary on stilts stop mice from climbing up.
- Thinks about why blaming someone without proof is unfair, and why it is worth finding the real cause before rushing into a decision.
Curriculum links: Science, Life skills, Environmental education
Fact Box
Can you tell which animal ate a hazelnut by looking at the shell?
Often, yes. Squirrels split or crack the shell, birds leave beak marks or break it into pieces, and small rodents gnaw a neat round hole. The tooth marks around the hole and on the shell's surface help tell one kind of rodent from another.
Source: BBC Wildlife (Discover Wildlife)
What are the round boards on a serender's legs for?
A serender is a traditional wooden storehouse from Turkey's Eastern Black Sea region, raised on four poles and used to store food and hay. The poles carry a round base that keeps rodents from climbing up to what is stored inside.
Source: Hürriyet Daily News
How are hazelnuts dried after the harvest?
Once the green husks are removed, the nuts are spread 2 to 4 cm deep on cloth or concrete in a drying yard and, in sunny weather, turned with a rake two or three times a day for three to four days. Counting the earlier drying while still in the husk, the whole process can take 15 to 20 days depending on the weather.
Source: Hazelnut Research Institute, Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Reading Comprehension Questions (5W1H)
The questions cover the opening that every reader sees, whatever they choose. Tap a question to see the answer.
-
Who? Who says a rat has been eating the hazelnuts?
Answer: Evan's uncle, Uncle Joe.
-
What? What does Evan notice when he looks closely at the shells on the stone table?
Answer: Each one has a single round hole with a smooth edge, and not one of them is cracked.
-
Where? Where are Evan and Uncle Joe working at the start of the story?
Answer: In the drying yard, raking the hazelnuts so they are spread out evenly.
-
When? When does Uncle Joe plan to buy the poison?
Answer: On Saturday, when he goes into town.
-
Why? Why does Granny Hattie suspect the neighbor children?
Answer: She found the ladder hung upside down with mud on its rungs, and she thinks the children love hazelnuts most.
-
How? How does Evan plan to find out who ate the hazelnuts?
Answer: By finding the suspects' shells and putting them next to the holey ones to see the difference.
Questions to Talk About After Reading
- At the first choice, did you send Evan to see how Ellie cracks hazelnuts, or to search the barn for rat shells with Uncle Joe? Why did you pick that path?
- Granny Hattie suspected Ellie without any proof. Have you ever been blamed for something you didn't do? How did it feel, and what did you do?
- Instead of just saying "Ellie wouldn't do that!", Evan went looking for proof. If you thought a friend was being treated unfairly, what would you do?
- Uncle Joe wanted to solve the problem with poison. When we fix a problem, how can we make sure we don't hurt a person or an animal that did nothing wrong?
Word List
- granary
- A building for storing grain or crops; Granny Hattie keeps her sacks of hazelnuts in one.
- stilts
- Tall posts that hold a building up off the ground.
- rung
- One of the bars on a ladder that you step on as you climb.
- sieve
- A tool with a fine mesh that you shake flour through so it falls smooth and even.
- husk
- The tough outer covering of some nuts and seeds; chestnut husks are prickly.
- stump
- The short part of a branch or tree that is left after the rest has been cut off.
Activity Idea
Sift a thin, even layer of flour onto a baking tray, then take turns walking toy animals, a fork or your fingertips across it to leave tracks. Swap trays, guess who or what made each set of tracks, and explain which clues helped you decide.
Completion Rewards
What you'll earn when you finish this story: