The Hollow · ages 3-5

Tí's Secret

The idea: keeping a secret is a turn too; the smallest can send the biggest home.

Tí keeps a finger on his lips by the middle leaf while Flitter wonders where the Moonstone is.

Read it

The five-night book 228 words

Five nights, one book

Little children love the same story again. Read this one five nights running, with a different job each night.

listen.
say the last words.
join in the refrains.
stop and ask what comes next.
tell it to a toy.

Who is in this book

Tí a child of the Green Notices small things; says "again"
Flitter A secret is kept under a leaf until somebody lifts it from HollowTots
Ursa Bigger sends smaller home from HollowTots
Puck The smallest can send the biggest home from HollowTots

Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.

The Honest Page

Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?

True

Hide-and-seek games, where one player hides something and the other seeks it, are played by children all over the world. Source
Around the age of four, many children start to understand that someone else can not know something they know. Psychologists call this theory of mind. Source

Stretched

Ursa goes home laughing. What we simplified: In the game, a piece that is sent home just goes back to its start; nobody is hurt.

Made up

The Hollow, its leaves and the Moonstone are made up. Flitter, Ursa and Puck come from HollowTots.

Tell it back

Tell the story to a toy, or to a grown-up. When you have, the grown-up taps the button, and a paper leaf with Tí's own drawing of the Moonstone under it goes on your belt.

Ring the hammer for someone

Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.

Across the Table → For the grown-up: the story in three lines, one question to ask, and one thing to do together.