The Girl and the Beaver

Ella lives in a small house beside a green wetland, and each morning she puts on her mustard-yellow rain boots and follows the muddy path with her canvas satchel to watch the beaver family by the pond. From a smooth log, surrounded by croaking frogs and singing birds, she observes Mama Beaver cutting small trees with her long orange teeth while Little Beaver paddles behind her and sometimes splashes into the water.

Ella keeps returning to draw pictures and note down what she sees, learning that the beavers' dam slows the stream and creates a calm pond shared by frogs, ducks and fish. When her teacher Mr. Halloran asks the class to share something learned about nature, Ella begins preparing an exhibition with drawings, real sticks and neatly written facts. This gentle tale by Jane MEADOW follows her practice, her classroom display and her growing confidence, and it can be read on Kids Tale Book.