Michael Morpurgo 
Giant’s Necklace 

Short-story-telling at its very best, from the master storyteller.It all began with a necklace, made of glistening pink cowrie shells. A long, long necklace that had taken Cherry days – weeks – of careful, painstaking work. It was nearly complete, and Cherry was determined not only that it would be the longest necklace she had ever made, but that it would be fit for a giant! But the end of the summer holidays had arrived. "You’ve only got today, Cherry, " said her mother. "Just today, that’s all." Cherry didn’t mind, a day would be enough – she only needed a few more shells after all. So, amidst the taunts of her older brothers, she set out to search for them. Then the clouds grew dark and the waves grew large, and as the storm blew in, Cherry realized, to her horror, that she was cut off from the shore. From then on, events began to take a decidedly dark turn. And one from which there was no turning back…