The Boy and the Little Dormouse

In a cozy house at the edge of the woods, a boy with warm light-brown skin and a mustard-yellow raincoat loves watching the tiny golden-brown dormice that live among the trees. Each morning, he pulls on his red rubber boots, fills his canvas satchel with a notebook and pencil, and walks the safe forest paths with his grandmother in her green cardigan. She teaches him about oak, hazel and beech, and together they observe how the little creatures hop from branch to branch, never touching the ground.

When the boy sees a dormouse hesitate at a wide, open path and dash back into the bushes, he understands that the ground is full of dangers for such a small animal. He opens his notebook and begins to sketch a plan: connected trees, like green bridges, so dormice can travel safely without coming down. At home he shares the idea with his grandmother, and together they gather twigs, moss and leaves from the forest to build a model of safe tree corridors on the kitchen table, complete with tiny clay dormice and their curling tails. This gentle tale by Aysel Banu YAVUZAL can be read on Masal İzle.