The Enormous Turnip: The Bedtime Story Retold
Quick answer: The Enormous Turnip retold for bedtime: an old man plants a seed, the turnip will not come up, and the whole household pulls, down to the mouse. The Russian tale, read aloud.
An old man plants a turnip seed and tells it to grow sweet and strong, and it does, until it will not leave the ground. The Russian tale is one of the first stories children learn to tell back, because it is nothing but a line of helpers and a heave.
The story
An old man planted a turnip seed and said to it, “Grow, little turnip, grow sweet. Grow, little turnip, grow strong.” And the turnip grew sweet, and grew strong, and grew so big that its leaves were as tall as the old man and its top stood out of the earth like a round white hill.
One morning the old man decided it was time to pull it up. He took hold of the leaves and pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and the turnip did not move. So he called the old woman. The old woman took hold of the old man, the old man took hold of the turnip, and they pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and the turnip did not move.
The old woman called the granddaughter. The granddaughter took hold of the old woman, the old woman of the old man, the old man of the turnip, and they pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and the turnip did not move. The granddaughter called the dog. The dog took hold of the granddaughter, and they pulled, and pulled, and the turnip did not move. The dog called the cat. The cat took hold of the dog, the dog of the granddaughter, the granddaughter of the old woman, the old woman of the old man, the old man of the turnip, and they pulled, and pulled, and pulled, and the turnip did not move.
Then the cat called the mouse. The mouse took hold of the cat, the cat of the dog, the dog of the granddaughter, the granddaughter of the old woman, the old woman of the old man, the old man of the turnip, and they pulled, and they pulled, and up came the turnip. Everyone fell over backwards in a heap. They cut it up and boiled it and there was turnip for supper for a week, and the mouse had the first piece.
Where it comes from
The tale is Russian, one of the best-known nursery stories in the language, recorded in the nineteenth century in Afanasyev's collection of folk tales; Leo Tolstoy made a short version for his school readers. In Russia it is simply Repka, the little turnip.
What the tale is about underneath
Every helper is weaker than the last, and the last is the smallest thing on the farm. The tale does not say the mouse was strong; it says the mouse was enough. Children ask for it again because they can hold the whole thing in their heads at once. It is about being the small final weight, and the line of people who had to be there first.
Reading aloud
Recite the chain in full every time and let the child pull your arm at the heave.
Write your own
Borrow the chain of helpers with the smallest last. Give your story one stuck thing and let the characters join in descending order of size, repeating the whole line each time, until someone nobody would have called first settles it. Writers entering the Writory short story contest, open to anyone 13 and over in any language, could take that shape into an office and let the junior be the mouse.
What writers can take from this
- Say the growing words like a spell; they are what the old man says to the seed.
- Make the pulling rhythmic and let the child join on “pulled, and pulled.”
- Introduce each new helper with one small detail: the dog's ears, the cat's tail.
- Give the mouse the tiniest voice and the biggest pause before it takes hold.
- End on the heap of everyone fallen over, and on supper.
Try it yourself
Write a story about something stuck that a whole household tries to move, joining in one by one from largest to smallest, until the smallest arrives. Repeat the full chain at every attempt and change only the last word of the pattern at the end.
Questions
What is the moral of The Enormous Turnip?
Everyone's effort counts, and the smallest can be the one that makes the difference. The tale states none of this; it simply lets the mouse be the last to take hold before the turnip comes up.
Is The Enormous Turnip suitable for a 2-year-old?
Yes. It is one of the very first stories a child can follow and join in, with a repeated chain, a physical rhythm and no danger. Many two-year-olds will tell it back after a few nights.
Where does The Enormous Turnip come from?
It is a Russian folk tale, known there as Repka. It was recorded in the nineteenth century in Afanasyev's collection of Russian folk tales, and Leo Tolstoy wrote a short version for children. English retellings often add the granddaughter's own list of animals.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
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