Becoming Tales

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Xolo — an axolotl who has lived a very long time in a wood-pool, and who asks children one quiet question as they begin to grow into themselves — keeps a stone at the water's edge where things are kept. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a girl of six named Edie runs ahead of her grandad, steps off the path after a glint of light, and finds a small pool with a copper-coloured creature watching from under the water. She tells Xolo a secret she has told no one — that yesterday she rose an inch off her bedroom floor — and he, on the whole, takes it in his stride. Then he asks her the only thing he ever really asks: now that you can do that, what do you want to keep? A quiet, unhurried story about coming into something new, and choosing what to hold onto as you grow.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Thimble — a most courteous crab who returns what others have lost, with a bow, a ledger, and the greatest possible care — keeps an evening watch at the tideline. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a girl of about six sits where the water reaches her toes, having lost her very first tooth in the sea before she could put it under her pillow. Thimble bows, calls her Honoured Visitor, and asks for a precise description — the colour, the size, the markings — and exactly where she was standing. Then, one stone at a time, he goes to find it. A tender story about taking a child's small loss entirely seriously, and the dignity of having something returned.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Columbus — a dodo out of time, falling slowly through the centuries with a pocket watch and a collection of carried songs — lands on a quayside in Plymouth in the year 1668. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a boy named Will, waiting on the quay for his father's ship, meets a small grey dodo in a tricorn hat who wants to know the exact year, please — not the decade. They sit by the harbour, and when a sailors' song carries across the water, Will teaches Columbus the chorus, twice through, the way you teach a thing to someone who means to keep it. A warm, unhurried story about the small things you carry from one year to the next that don't get smaller in the carrying.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Tuft — the Garden Watcher, who helps children notice what they'd otherwise miss — has watched over the same garden for eight generations of one family. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a girl of about seven comes through the gap in the wall, told don't look at him — and looks anyway. Tuft goes stone, as he always does, and says nothing; he only speaks to Margaret the beetle, the way he speaks to all the small ones. The girl crouches, and then she sits, and she keeps looking. A quiet story about being seen, about the patience of waiting, and the kindest things said to the smallest creatures while a child overhears.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Fern — who gives children a small thing for where they've been — is walking south for no reason but that one morning she turned. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a child is walking the lane alone, with the kind of bag you pack when you're going somewhere you're not sure about. Fern doesn't stop her, and doesn't ask — she simply slows, and matches her pace, so the child needn't be alone for a moment. A quiet story about company without questions, and the small thing you carry on from a hard walk.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Moot — who says one word, and means everything by it — is sitting in the long grass when a boy comes to eat his lunch. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a boy called Tomas brings his lunch to a field and finds a small, helmeted creature in the grass, looking back at him. Moot only ever says one word — his own name — but Tomas is just the right age for a thing like this, and decides he doesn't need it explained. A quiet, funny story about understanding someone without many words, and the small thing left behind when they part.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Flint — a faerie who shows that accidents can still be beautiful — is blown down a valley by a wind she can't refuse, and lands beside a boy at a river. A gentle bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a boy called Tam is skipping stones at a river for no reason but that he's the right age to. Nobody asked him to; there's nothing he's practising for. Then one throw catches the evening light, and for a single moment the stone skips gold — an ordinary thing turned beautiful by accident. A quiet story about the small, unplanned moments worth keeping.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Tock — a magpie detective who stands up for whoever's about to be wrongly blamed — takes on a new case. A warm, clever bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a boy's library book has vanished from his shelf, and he's quite sure his sister took it. But Tock never closes a case on a hunch. Notebook open and pen at the ready, he follows the real evidence — a muddy dog, a cold Saturday morning — to the truth, and clears a sister who was never guilty. A story about looking properly before you blame.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.

A Becoming Tale, read aloud. Bramble — who makes children feel truly seen — sits at a crossroads and meets a tired child carrying something too heavy to hold in any longer. A gentle, comforting bedtime story for children aged 5 to 11.In this episode: a tired child arrives at Bramble's crossroads with something they've been holding in for too long. Bramble doesn't tell them it's alright — he simply makes room, and gives them something small to carry on. A quiet story about being allowed to feel what you feel.Read the illustrated version, and explore the interactive stories where your child is the hero, at yourbecoming.app.