Help your child embrace imperfection with this heartwarming bedtime story about making mistakes. Join Barnaby the Beaver as he learns that sometimes, a little wobble creates the most beautiful magic.
Once upon a time, deep in the Whispering Woods, lived a little beaver named Barnaby.
Barnaby was a very busy beaver. He loved to stack sticks, he loved to slap the water with his tail, but most of all, Barnaby loved to build.
Tomorrow was the Great River Festival, and Barnaby wanted to build the most perfect, straight, and smooth dam the forest had ever seen.
“It has to be perfect,” Barnaby whispered to himself. He found a big birch branch. He chewed it carefully. Chomp, chomp, chomp.
But then… Crack!
The branch didn’t snap in a straight line. It broke in a jagged, zigzag shape. It looked silly. It looked wobbly. It definitely did not look perfect.
Barnaby’s whiskers trembled. His little paws clenched. He felt a hot bubble of frustration in his tummy. “Oh no!” he cried. “I ruined it! Now my dam will be ugly.”
He was about to throw the wobbly log far into the river when he heard a gentle voice.
“Why the long face, little builder?”
It was Grandpa Oak, the oldest beaver in the river. He was swimming slowly towards Barnaby.
“I made a mistake,” Barnaby sniffled, pointing at the zigzag log. “It’s crooked. I wanted it to be straight like a ruler.”
Grandpa Oak chuckled softly. “A mistake? Or a surprise?”
Grandpa Oak took the wobbly log. He didn’t try to straighten it. Instead, he flipped it over and placed it right in the middle of the dam. Because of the zigzag shape, the water trickled over it creating a beautiful little waterfall that made a musical sound. Splish, splash, plop.
“Look,” said Grandpa Oak. “If the log was straight, the water would just rush by. But because it is wobbly, it sings! You didn’t make a mess, Barnaby. You made music.”
Barnaby’s eyes went wide. He listened to the water. It sounded like a lullaby.
“I… I guess it is okay that it’s not perfect,” Barnaby said, feeling the hot bubble in his tummy pop and disappear.
“It is better than okay,” Grandpa smiled. “It is yours. Mistakes are just how we learn to build new things.”
That night, the moon shone bright over the Whispering Woods. All the animals came to see the dam. They didn’t talk about the straight logs. They all pointed at the wobbly log that made the beautiful water music.
Barnaby curled up in his cozy lodge. He was tired, but he was happy. He closed his eyes and listened to his wobbly, imperfect, wonderful waterfall.
“I’m glad I made a mistake,” he whispered into his pillow.
And within moments, the little beaver was fast asleep.
The End.
Did you enjoy Barnaby’s forest adventure? The Whispering Woods are full of sleepy friends! Snuggle up and discover how a tiny hedgehog prepares for the cold in our cozy Animals in Winter Story: The Little Hedgehog’s Snowy Bed.
