The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
Read The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly Online
Authors: Reg Down
The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
The Bee who Lost his Buzz
Pumpkin Crow
Lucy Goose and the Half-Egg
Written and illustrated by Reg Down
Text and Illustrations
Copyright © 2004 Reg Down
All rights reserved
To my children, Aran, Oisin and Isa for the many stories
we shared together
and
to all the children who passed through Grade One and
the Little Gate and Little Bridge Kindergartens at Camellia Waldorf School,
1999—2004
especially
Miki Higashine and her rambunctious bunch.
Tiptoes and
Jeremy Mouse help Buzzless Bee
.
8
Tiptoes
wakes up Jeremy Mouse rudely
.
12
Pine Cone
and Pepper Pot are Not At Home
.
13
Tiptoes
Walks Along the Shore
.
21
Pine Cone
and Pepper Pot meet Crab
.
22
Jeremy Mouse
picks Blackberries
.
24
Pumpkin Crow
is Pulled Again
.
29
The Gnomes
see Mr. Crow and Tiptoes Flying
.
30
Pumpkin Crow
is Pulled Once More
.
31
Tiptoes asks
Running River a Question
.
37
The Old
Woman of Snowy Mountain
.
39
Jeremy Mouse
and Tiptoes Look for the Mother of the Half-Egg
.
48
Ompliant
comes to Farmer John’s
.
56
Ompliant
carries Jeremy Mouse Home
.
59
Tiptoes and
Jeremy Mouse visit Lucy Goose
.
61
The Bee who Lost his Buzz
Jeremy Mouse lives in a house underneath the roots of
a Great Oak Tree. He’s sound asleep in bed, with his tail curled round his
head.
“Wake up, Jeremy Mouse,” calls the Sun, shining
through his window—but Jeremy Mouse stays fast asleep. He’s a sleepy head.
“Wake up, Sleepy Head,” sings the Sun, glowing
brighter. “It’s time to rise and get out of bed.”
Jeremy Mouse yawns and stretches and gets out of bed.
First he wiggles his toes, then he wiggles his nose. He picks up his fur brush
and brushes his fur until it’s soft and smooth. Then he combs his whiskers with
his whisker comb till they’re straight and shiny.
“I wonder if Tiptoes is still asleep,” he says to
himself, as he runs out of his house and scurries up the trunk of the Oak Tree.
Tiptoes is a fairy. She also lives in the Great Oak Tree
—inside an acorn, as small as can be.
Jeremy Mouse knocks on her door—knock, knock,
knock—but there’s no reply. So he lifts the latch and peeks in. Tiptoes is
sound asleep on her feather bed.
“Wake up, Tiptoes,” he calls. “Wake, wake!”
Tiptoes rubs her eyes and smiles at Jeremy Mouse. She
yawns and stretches and gets out of bed. The first thing she does is say her
prayers. She says:
“Angel of God who is guarding me
Be thou a bright flame before me
Be thou a shining star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kind shepherd behind me
Today, tonight and forever.”
Then she washes her hands and face, combs her golden
hair and smoothes her sky-blue dress. As she’s putting on her shoes Tiptoes
sees a note lying on the floor.
It says: Please help! Bee has lost his Buzz!
“My goodness,” she says to Jeremy Mouse, “Bee has lost
his Buzz! We have to help him.”
Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse went to Running River. By
the shore, tied with a vine, was their boat. It’s made of an acorn cap, with a
toothpick for a mast and a leaf for a sail. They climbed in, and Tiptoes called
the wind—
“Wind, wind, blow quickly,
For Bee has lost his Buzz.”
And the wind came quickly and blew. Up the waves and
down the waves they sailed till they reached the House of Bee.
“Buzz, buzz!” went the bees—for bees like to live
together—“buzz, buzz!” they said, as they flew in and out of their hive. But on
top of the hive sat Bee, crying and crying.
“Oh, Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse,” cried Bee, “I’ve lost
my Buzz!” and he flapped his wings up and down, but not a single buzz could be
heard.
“What happened?” asked Jeremy Mouse. “How did you
loose your Buzz?”
“Oh, Jeremy Mouse,” sobbed Bee, “I landed on Mr.
Cactus and he was grumpy. One of his thorns grabbed my Buzz and I don’t know
what to do!” and he started crying all over again.
“Don’t cry,” said Tiptoes. “We’ll talk to Mr. Cactus.”
Now Mr. Cactus does not like being touched, and that
is why he is covered with spiky thorns. When they reached him his thorns looked
very sticking out and sharp, and there, stuck on one thorn, was Bee’s Buzz.
Poor Buzz, he looked so limp and bedraggled. He tried to buzz from time to
time, but all that came out was, ‘zzt, zzt,’—which did not sound buzzy at all!
