The Boy and the Quail

Leo, a seven-year-old boy, lives in a little house at the edge of a wide, green meadow. With his green canvas satchel, notebook, and pencil, he spends his mornings exploring the tall grasses and wildflowers, drawing whatever catches his eye. One day he notices a small, plump quail with mottled brown and grey feathers and a black plume curling forward from her head. He begins to watch her every day, learning her favourite spots and the way she moves quietly through the grass. This gentle tale by Çınar BİBER invites young readers to observe nature closely.

When Leo follows the quail farther into the meadow than usual, he discovers a hidden nest of dry grass lined with soft feathers, holding six cream-coloured eggs with little brown speckles. From that moment, he becomes the nest's quiet guardian. He asks his friend Mia to walk around the tall grass instead of playing through it, and he finds the courage to speak up to bigger kids kicking a ball near the meadow's edge. He tells more and more people about the nest, asking them to stay on the path and leave the wild grass alone, and he even steps in when a barking dog frightens the sitting quail. The story can be read on Masalcı Baba.