Anna’s Little Blue Jar (A1 Reading Story)

A1 · BEGINNER Reading practice · ~1,370 words · 9-min read

This is a short, easy story for beginners. The sentences are simple. First, read the eight key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a small quiz to check what you understand.

The story

1 · A small job, a big dream

Anna is twenty years old. She lives in a small flat in a big city. She works in a hotel. The hotel is called The Rose Hotel. Her job is to clean the rooms.

Every day, Anna cleans ten rooms. She makes the beds. She washes the floor. She puts fresh white towels in the bathroom. She works hard. She likes her job. The hotel is warm and clean. Her boss is a kind woman called Mrs Silva.

The pay is not big. Every week, Anna gets a small brown envelope. Inside, there is some money. Not a lot. But Anna has a plan.

Anna has a little sister. Her name is Mia. Mia is seven years old. Mia lives with their mother in a small town. The town is far from the city. Anna sees Mia only two or three times a year. She misses her a lot.

Next month is Mia’s birthday. And Anna has a dream. A dream is a big wish — something you want very much.

Her dream is this: she wants to buy Mia a red bike. Mia loves bikes. She points to red bikes in the shop window every time. But a bike costs a lot of money. So Anna wants to save. To save means to keep money for later, and not spend it now.

2 · The little blue jar

Anna has a little blue jar. A jar is a small glass pot with a lid. The jar sits under Anna’s bed.

Every day after work, Anna puts money in the jar. Sometimes she puts a coin. A coin is small round money, like one pound or fifty pence. Sometimes she puts a paper note. It is not much. But it is something.

Anna is careful with her money. She does not go to cafés. She does not buy new clothes. She takes her lunch to work in a little box. She walks to the hotel — she does not take the bus.

“You look hungry, Anna,” says her flatmate, Rosa. “Come with me. Let’s go for a pizza.”

“No, thank you,” says Anna. “I am saving.”

Rosa laughs. “You are always saving! What is the money for?”

“A bike,” says Anna. “For my little sister. Her birthday is in three weeks.”

Rosa smiles. “You are a good sister,” she says.

Every night, Anna takes the jar from under the bed. She counts the money. Slowly, the jar gets full. Ten pounds. Twenty pounds. Fifty pounds. The bike costs one hundred pounds. She is close now. Very close.

At work, she cleans faster. She takes extra hours. On Saturday, she works ten hours. On Sunday, she works eight more. Her back hurts. Her feet hurt. But she is happy, because the jar is nearly full.

3 · An empty jar

Monday morning. Anna comes home from a night shift. She is very tired. She wants to sleep. But first, she wants to see her jar.

She goes to her bedroom. She kneels on the floor. She looks under the bed.

The jar is there. But something is wrong.

Anna picks up the jar. She holds it up to the light. The jar is empty. Empty means with nothing inside.

There are no coins. There are no notes. Only the little blue jar, cold and empty in her hands.

“No,” Anna says. “No, no, no.”

She looks under the bed again. She looks in her drawers. She looks in her bag. Nothing. The money is all gone.

Anna sits on the floor. She cries. She cries for a long time.

Rosa comes into the room. She sees Anna. “Anna! What is wrong?”

“My money,” says Anna. “My money for Mia’s bike. It is all gone.”

Rosa looks at the jar. Her face turns white. “Oh, Anna,” she says. “I am so sorry. My brother visits me yesterday. Only for one hour. He knows about your jar. He has a bad habit. Sometimes he takes money. I am so, so sorry.”

Anna does not answer. She only looks at the empty jar.

“I pay you back,” says Rosa. “But it takes time. Many months.”

“Mia’s birthday is on Saturday,” says Anna quietly. “That is in five days.”

That night, Anna cannot sleep. Every hour, she looks at the empty jar. Every hour, she thinks about Mia’s happy face — a face she cannot see now.

4 · A kind boss

Tuesday morning. Anna goes to work. Her eyes are red. Her face is sad. She does not want to talk to anybody.

She cleans room 12. She cleans room 14. She works, but her heart is heavy.

Mrs Silva walks past. She stops. She looks at Anna.

“Anna,” she says. “You are a good worker. But today you look very sad. Come to my office, please.”

Anna follows her boss. She sits down. She is quiet.

“Tell me,” says Mrs Silva. “What is wrong?”

At first, Anna does not want to talk. But Mrs Silva has kind eyes. Kind means nice — a kind person helps other people. So Anna tells her the whole story. The little blue jar. The red bike for Mia. The empty jar this morning.

Mrs Silva listens. She does not speak. When Anna finishes, Mrs Silva is quiet for a long time.

Then she says, “Anna. You clean this hotel for two years. You are never late. You never miss a day. You are one of the best workers here.”

Anna looks up.

“You save your money for your sister,” says Mrs Silva. “Not for yourself. That is a beautiful thing.”

Mrs Silva opens her desk. She takes out a small white envelope. She puts it in Anna’s hand.

“This is a bonus,” she says. “A bonus is extra money the boss gives you for good work. It is not much — fifty pounds. But it is yours.”

Anna cannot speak.

“And now,” says Mrs Silva, “I have a question for you. My son needs a babysitter for the weekend. Fifty pounds for two days. Can you do it?”

Anna’s eyes are wet again. But this time, the tears are happy tears.

“Yes,” she says. “Yes, I can.”

5 · Saturday

Saturday morning. Anna is on the bus. In her bag, there is a big box. Inside the box: one small, red, beautiful bike.

The bus is slow. But Anna does not mind. She looks out of the window. She smiles.

She thinks about her job. She thinks about Mrs Silva. She thinks about the empty jar — and the full envelope. Sometimes, she thinks, hard work is not enough. But hard work and kind people together — that is enough for anybody.

At last, the bus stops at the small town. Anna’s mother is at the bus stop. And next to her, in a pink dress, is Mia.

“Anna! Anna!” Mia runs to her. Anna picks her up. She holds her tight.

“I have a present for you,” Anna says. “A big present.”

She puts the box on the ground. Mia opens it. Her eyes get big and round.

“A bike!” she cries. “A red bike! For me? For me?”

“For you,” says Anna. “Happy birthday, Mia.”

Mia hugs her sister. Their mother is smiling too. There are tears in her eyes.

“You work so hard, Anna,” says her mother. “How can you buy this?”

Anna looks at the bike. She looks at Mia’s happy face. She thinks about her empty jar, and about Mrs Silva’s kind eyes.

“I have a good job,” she says. “And I have kind people around me. That is my answer.”

Mia is on the bike now. She is pushing with her feet. She is laughing. She is going fast down the street.

Anna watches her. She is very tired. But her heart is full.

Now Anna has a new plan. Soon, she wants to buy a new little blue jar. And she wants to save again — this time, for a train ticket. A ticket to visit Mia every month, not every year.

But first, she wants to ask Mrs Silva a big question. A very big question about a better job at the hotel. What does Mrs Silva say?

Check your understanding

Read each question. Think about your answer. Then click “Show answer” to check.

Words to remember

Here are the key words again, in new sentences. Say each one out loud.

• job — My brother has a new job in a big shop.
• save — I want to save money for a summer holiday.
• coin — There is one gold coin in my pocket.
• jar — My mother keeps her sugar in a big glass jar.
• dream — My dream is to visit London one day.
• empty — I finish my drink. My cup is empty.
• bonus — I work hard. My boss gives me a small bonus.
• kind — My neighbour is very kind. She helps me every week.

Talk about it · Write about it

Talk about it: Do you save money? What is your dream? What do you want to buy one day — for you, or for a person you love?

Write about it: Write 5 simple sentences about your job (or a job you want). Where is it? What do you do every day? Do you like it? Use the present simple.

🎉 Well done — you read a whole story in English! That is a big step. And did you notice? You now know eight new words about work and money too.

But wait — Anna wants to ask Mrs Silva a big question about a better job. Does Mrs Silva say yes? You will find out in the next story…

Next story: Read another easy A1 story →

About this story: This is an original A1 graded reader (~1,370 words). It uses simple, controlled vocabulary and the present simple tense, so beginners can understand about 98% of the words. Any harder word is explained before the story and used again inside it.

Khamis Maiouf

I’m Khamis Maiouf. English is not my first language – I learned it as an adult in the UK, passed Functional Skills Level 2 in English, qualified in Hairdressing at Level 3, and I’m now studying Business at university. For over five years I’ve taught ESOL classes in my community and tutored students through GCSE English. I write every lesson on this site myself, for the learner I used to be.