The Topsy-Turvy World Machine
Maya can't stand leaving anything unfinished. One day, in a mysterious room beneath the old water tower, she comes across a strange lever and pushes it all the way… and from that moment on, everything in her neighborhood begins to change. Rain falls up toward the sky, everyday things start behaving in the most unusual ways, and Maya discovers that putting everything back the way it was is much harder than she ever imagined. Along the way, together with her new friends, she learns that the world can sometimes work by entirely different rules. A story about curiosity, friendship, and the value of seeing things from different points of view, The Topsy-Turvy World Machine invites children on an unforgettable adventure hidden inside an ordinary neighborhood.
Free story — no account needed to read it.
25 Minutes
3 Endings
7-12
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About This Story
“The Topsy-Turvy World Machine” is an interactive fantasy story for children aged 7-12, about 25 minutes long. The reader decides how it goes at 6 choice points, and there are 3 different endings. It is free to read on Kitapz, with no account needed.
- Age range
- 7-12 years
- Reading time
- about 25 minutes
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Format
- Interactive · 6 choice points · 3 endings
- Language
- English, Turkish
- Access
- Free, no account needed
- Characters
- Toby, Maya, Peanut
- Values
- Responsibility, Curiosity, Friendship
- Reading support
- dyslexia-friendly font, bionic reading, color-blindness filters
An Excerpt from the Story
Maya carefully puts her red pencil back in its place, lined up by height.
Maya:
“There. Everything is exactly as it should be.”
She carefully picks up the last piece of the puzzle on her desk.
Maya:
“You belong right here, too.”
She fits the piece into place and takes a deep, peaceful breath.
Maya (thinking):
How lovely it is that everything has an ending, and that the ending comes.
Maya leaves the house, heads down to the neighborhood street, and starts walking slowly.
Maya (thinking):
Everything is so neat and tidy today, all in its proper place.
Suddenly, her eye catches the boiler room at the foot of the water tower.
Maya:
“But that door... Why is it standing half open like that?”
“The Topsy-Turvy World Machine” · Ages 7-12 · kitapz.com
school For Parents and Teachers
In this story, children join Maya, who likes everything finished and in its place, as she tries to fix a neighborhood that runs backward after one hasty move. Setting her love of order against very different ways of seeing things, it opens a conversation about perfectionism and flexibility. Choices decide whether Maya asks for help and which approach she trusts.
What will children learn from this story?
- Thinks about the difference between rushing to fix something and stopping first to watch what is happening.
- Practises solving a problem step by step by observing, counting and writing notes in a notebook.
- Notices that someone who thinks very differently can help solve a problem.
- Recognises the worry that comes when things don't go to plan, and thinks about ways to calm down, such as counting slowly.
Curriculum links: Life skills, Language arts, Science
Fact Box
Does rainwater ever really go back up to the sky?
Not as falling drops, but the water does return. Warmed by energy from the sun, water evaporates into the air as invisible water vapor; when the vapor condenses into tiny droplets it forms clouds, and the water eventually falls back to Earth as rain or snow. This loop is called the water cycle.
Source: NOAA
Which way do two gears turn when their teeth fit together?
In opposite directions: if one turns clockwise, the gear meshed with it turns counterclockwise. When a big gear drives a small one, the small gear spins faster.
Source: Wikipedia
Can pigeons really carry letters?
Yes. Homing pigeons fly back to their own home loft wherever they are released, so for centuries people used them to carry messages. A message is written on thin, light paper, rolled into a small tube and attached to the pigeon's leg. Because a pigeon only flies home, it carries messages one way, so the sender must already have the receiver's pigeons.
Source: Wikipedia
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 lines up her pencils by height and fits the last piece into her puzzle at the start of the story?
Answer: Maya, who likes everything to be exactly as it should be.
-
What? What does Maya see when she slips into the boiler room?
Answer: Dials covering the walls, giant gears locked together and a huge lever in the middle that hasn't been pushed all the way.
-
Where? Where is the half-open door that catches Maya's eye?
Answer: It is the door of the boiler room at the foot of the water tower.
-
When? When does Maya notice the half-open door?
Answer: After finishing her puzzle, while she is walking down the neighborhood street.
-
Why? Why does the half-open door bother Maya?
Answer: To her, a door left open is like a sentence left unfinished.
-
How? How does Maya put her red pencil away?
Answer: She carefully puts it back in its place, with her pencils lined up by height.
Questions to Talk About After Reading
- Standing in front of the half-pushed lever, Maya can't decide whether to finish the job at once or stop and watch first. Which did you choose at the first choice? Do you ever feel you have to fix or finish something straight away?
- Did you have Maya ask Toby for help, or try to figure out the machine on her own? Why did you pick that path? Is asking for help easy or hard for you?
- Maya wants everything finished and in its place, while Toby never finishes anything. Which of them are you more like? What is good about each of them?
- When things go wrong, Maya says, "Everything turned backward because of me," and works hard to put it right. What do you do when you make a mistake?
Word List
- boiler room
- A room where the big boilers and machines that run a building's heating or water system are kept.
- dial
- A round face on a clock or measuring tool, with a pointer that shows a number or amount.
- gear
- A wheel with teeth around its edge that fits into another wheel and passes turning movement along.
- brass
- A shiny yellow metal made by mixing copper and zinc; the little gear Maya finds is made of it.
- lever
- A bar or handle you push or pull to make a machine work.
- haywire
- If something goes haywire, it stops working properly and gets out of control.
Activity Idea
Try a small "rain going up" experiment: put a little water in a clear bowl, cover it tightly with cling film and leave it on a sunny windowsill for a few hours. Look at the drops that collect under the film and talk about how real rainwater makes its way back up to the clouds.
Completion Rewards
What you'll earn when you finish this story: