"Perry the Roly-Poly" Children's Short Story - ChatGPT


One day while catching roly-polies in the yard the kids, I had the idea of creating a children's book about the adventures of a lost roly-poly. I also wanted it to be educational and include other common yard bugs. The next steps are to draw out the different scenes and color them with the kids.


Prompt: Pretend you are writing a children's book, 3-5 years of age. The story is about a Roly-Poly (aka Pill Bug) who left his house under a log one day and got lost in the yard while out foraging for food. The roly-poly meets various insects in a series of various short, educational stories. The goal is to be fun but also teach basics about various common yard insects. Some insects to include include: lady bug, ant, praying mantis, caterpillar and monarch butterfly, stag beetle, grasshopper, and a hungry wolf spider. The roly-poly learns a lot and then eventually finds his way home and shares his adventure stories with his friend. Break each bug interaction into separate sections for easy of read. The story needs a quick intro and ending.

Once upon a time, there was a little Roly-Poly named Perry. Perry lived under a cozy log in the backyard, where he had plenty of food to eat and lots of friends to play with. But one day, Perry decided to go on an adventure to find some new food. He left his home under the log and started to roll around the yard.

As Perry rolled around, he met a lot of new bugs, each with their own story to tell. The first bug he met was a friendly ladybug named Lucy. Lucy had beautiful red and black spots and flew around the yard, eating all the bad bugs that tried to hurt the plants. Lucy taught Perry all about how to be a good bug and help the garden grow.

Next, Perry met a busy ant named Andy. Andy was always running around, gathering food for his colony. Perry learned that ants work together as a team and share their food with each other.

As Perry continued his adventure, he met a tall and graceful praying mantis named Prissy. Prissy showed Perry how to be patient and wait for the perfect moment to catch his food.

Then, Perry met a chubby caterpillar named Carl. Carl loved to munch on leaves and twigs and told Perry all about how he would soon turn into a beautiful butterfly.

Perry's adventure continued as he met a majestic monarch butterfly named Max. Max flew all the way from Mexico and had traveled over 2,000 miles to get to Perry's backyard. Perry learned that monarch butterflies are very special and migrate to different places each year.

As Perry rolled along, he suddenly bumped into a big and scary-looking stag beetle named Stan. Stan had giant pincers and made Perry feel scared. But Stan was actually very friendly and showed Perry how to protect himself from predators.

Finally, Perry met a hungry wolf spider named Wilbur. Wilbur had eight legs and was very fast. He chased Perry around, but Perry was able to escape by rolling into a ball and hiding under a leaf.

After all of his adventures, Perry realized how much he had learned about the different bugs in his yard. He was happy to be home, safe and sound under his cozy log. Perry shared all of his stories with his best friend, another Roly-Poly named Penny, and they both rolled off to sleep, dreaming of their next big adventure.

And that's the story of Perry the Roly-Poly and his backyard bug adventure.