The Boy and the Mountain Birds

Leo looks forward to Saturdays because they mean hiking, and today his family is climbing a mountain trail with his sketchbook and pencil packed in his green backpack. Along the way, he discovers small grey and white mountain birds with speckled brown backs and bright orange beaks, hopping on rocky outcrops and flitting between bushes. Leo sits still and patient, drawing them as they move, and begins to feel like a real explorer watching creatures that live high above the trees.

As the family hikes higher, Leo learns from his parents why these birds need clean air, safe nests hidden in rock cracks, quiet places away from noisy trails, and a mountain free of litter. He sketches birds in flight, a nest tucked into stone, and two birds playing around a bush, while his mother explains how wind carries away smoke and dust and his father picks up a wrapper left behind. Leo adds a bottle cap to his own backpack, deciding that he wants to protect the birds too. This gentle story by Aysel Banu YAVUZAL can be read on Masal İzle.