Page 1
Lila and the family made a little puppet stage. The adults opened the front of a box, and Lila drew paper birds and trees. Their story began with a bird searching for a missing song. Nobody knew the ending yet. Lila found that exciting.
Page 2
Dad wanted the bird to find its song on a high hill. Lila wanted it inside a tree. They both began explaining at once, while the paper bird waited on the table. Mum suggested hearing each idea all the way through. Lila paused and looked at Dad.
Page 3
Dad described wind singing on the hill. Lila liked that. Then Lila explained how a hollow in the tree could echo the bird's voice. ‘Both places make interesting sounds,’ Mum said. Slowly the two ideas began sitting side by side in Lila's imagination.
Page 4
‘The bird could visit the hill first,’ Lila suggested. ‘The wind could show the way to the tree!’ Dad smiled. ‘And the tree could help the bird hear its own voice.’ One idea no longer had to erase the other. Both became stops on the journey.
Page 5
They took turns moving the puppets. The bird visited the hill, listened to the wind and flew to the tree. Hearing its own song, it realized the song was not lost. Lila bowed. ‘I would not have made this story alone.’ The family applauded.
Page 6
They kept the stage ready for another day. Lila placed the bird puppet beside the tree. Two different ideas rested together. Now add one of your own: if you made a third ending for the bird searching for its song, where would the journey go?
Talk together
What would happen in a third ending you invent for this story?