A story to help a shy child

Tommy and Dicky (for a shadow theatre)

A story to help a shy child (based on an idea from Susan Perrow’s beautiful book – Helpful Stories for Challenging Behaviour) Adapted by Carol Liknaitzky - Educational Leader, Ignite Minds

Once upon a time there were two little birds Tommy and Dicky. Dicky was a very brave and clever bird and just seemed to know about everything from the day he was born. When he first had to leave the baby nest, and fly out on his own, he did it as if he had always been flying. He didn’t hesitate once and even went to catch his first worm on his first flight. His little friend Tommy, on the other hand was always a little hesitant and unsure and often waited for Dicky to do something first so he could see how it was done and then follow. He gave everything a lot of thought and learnt to observe very carefully how things were done before he tried to do something new. He loved flying out with Dicky in the early morning, swooping through the trees and diving down to catch his first worm of the day. You could always see the two of them, Dicky always in front, with Tommy following him very closely as they went on their flying journeys.

One morning, Tommy was having such a wonderful time on his favorite branch that he decided to stay there while Dicky went for his first early morning adventure. Tommy was perched on the tree, feeling the beautiful soft breeze ruffle his feathers, the dappled sun flickering over his face and his beak, when he looked down and noticed a little nest in the tree across the path in front of him. “Oh my goodness” he thought to himself, “ I can see three little white eggs in the nest! I wonder if there are little baby birds in there?” Just at that moment, he heard ccrr..aa..acck…cr…ac..kkk! And then saw the eggs crack open one by one as three little beaks appeared. “Tweet, tweet, tweet” chirped the baby birds.

Just as Tommy was watching this wonderful happening he heard another sound coming from underneath his branch. “Meouw, Meouw, Meouw”. He looked down and saw a black kitty, her nose lifted up and sniffing in the air. He realized that the kitty had picked up the scent of the baby birds as she licked her lips in anticipation of a lovely meal. “Oh my goodness, I better call Dickie to come and help, I don’t know what to do and he will know. Come quick little Dickie! Come quick little Dickie! The chickies are in danger from the tricky, crafty, kitty! Come quick little Dickie! Come quick little Dickie! The chickies are in danger from the tricky, crafty, kitty! He called and he called but there was no Dickie. He looked down and saw the kitty getting closer and closer to the tree with the nest in it and realized something had to be done immediately to stop the tricky, crafty kitty.

He swooped down towards the kitty, making the loudest squawk he could manage. “Squeak, Squeak, Squeak! You better run away or I will peck you with my beak!” and he chased the kitty far away from the baby birds in the tree.

Tommy flew back past the baby birds, who hadn’t noticed anything and were now being fed by mother bird. She looked at him and nodded her head as if to say thank you. Tommy landed on his favorite branch and suddenly felt much bigger and stronger and certainly braver. He realized he had managed to protect little baby birds from very real danger all on his own and that he was just as brave as his good friend Dickie. He breathed a big sigh of relief and felt very proud in his heart as he knew that he would always be able to do what was needed.