The Girl and the Swan Lake

Maya spends quiet mornings by the lake near her home, wearing her mustard yellow raincoat and carrying a canvas satchel with a sketchbook inside. She likes to sit on a flat stone and watch the water. One misty morning she finds a woven reed nest with pale eggs, watched over by a mother swan with a long arched neck and a bright orange beak, and soon a larger father swan glides around the nest too. From a respectful distance, Maya comes back after school each day and fills her sketchbook with drawings of the birds.

When a group of chattering visitors with binoculars and a camera steps too close to the water's edge, the swans become restless. Maya approaches with a friendly smile and politely explains that the mother swan might leave her eggs if people get too close, and that loud voices frighten the birds. The visitors step back and whisper, and Maya shows them a good viewing spot behind a big willow tree. This gentle tale by Jane MEADOW can be read on Kids Tale Book.