The Boy and the Pelican

On a bright Saturday, Sam fills his green canvas backpack with a notebook and pencil and sets off for a wetland reserve he has never visited before. There he meets Ranger Maya, who takes him to a wooden viewing platform just as a large white pelican glides in and lands with a splash. Sam is struck by the bird's long orange beak, its enormous pouch and wings wider than he is tall, and he starts to sketch and jot down notes while the ranger explains what he is seeing.

As the morning goes on, Sam watches the pelican scoop up fish and swallow its catch, and Ranger Maya points out turtles, frogs, dragonflies and a heron. She tells him how wetlands shelter many creatures, clean water and hold back floods, and how pollution and draining threaten them. Asked what he can do, Sam decides to make a poster, and this gentle tale by Aysel Banu YAVUZAL follows his first steps as a young guardian of the wetlands. Readers can find the story on Masal İzle.