Mole and The Baby Bird

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

written by Marjorie Newman, illustrated by Patrick Benson, Publisher: Dar al-Huda

When Mole finds a baby bird injured and alone he takes it home to look after it very carefully. But soon Mole has a dilemma – is the baby bird going to be a pet or is it going to be free? Guided by observant parents and a thoughtful grandfather, he makes his final decision. A story about love, importance of freedom and the necessity to, sometimes, let go.

Family Activities

The mole found a baby bird who fell out of his nest, and waited for his mom to put him back. But, mole decided to take care of him because his mom never showed up, so he fed him and took care of him and built a cage for him, thinking the baby bird will feel comfortable in it. When mole realized ...

Video

Dear parents,

Our children are like the baby bird, as they grow their need to be independent in some things increases as well. Sometimes it is hard for us – as parents – to release them. We prefer to protect and to keep them with us. But, they need to experience life, gain experiences and to believe in their abilities. Our most difficult mission, as parents, is to know when to support and encourage and when to release them to face life alone.

We share with you some ideas for enjoyable reading with your child:

Family Activities

- Watch together the ways that mole cared for the baby bird. When are these comfortable for the baby bird? And when did they stop being so? We can have a conversation about how the mole felt when he released the bird from the cage.
- Mole took care of the baby bird because he loved him, and so did the whole family. The mother taught mole how to feed the baby bird, and the father lent his equipment to build a cage. How do we, family members, take care of each other?
- Our child moved recently moved to a new class and gained new skills. It would be nice to have a conversation with him about the things he can do alone, and about the things that he would like to experience alone.
- The separation is a difficult emotional experience for a child, and it is an essential part of the growing process. We can have a conversation with our child about the separation every time we take him to school. Is there a special daily “ritual separation” between us? How does the child want us to separate or to greet him?
- Do we raise at home a bird or a pet? How does our child like to take care of it (pet/bird)?
- Birds often visit our gardens. It would be nice to build “a restaurant” for these birds with our child. We can take an empty plastic bottle, and make a hole in the middle and put some vegetables and fruits, and hang it on a tree. Birds will enjoy eating, and we will enjoy seeing them and hearing their peeps.

أحد التّحدّيات التي يواجهها الطّفل في بداية سنته في الرّوضة هو الانفصال عن الأهل والبيئة العائليّة، والتّأقلم في بيئة تربوية جديدة. وكما لا يخفى عليك، هناك عدد من العوامل التي تؤثّر في مدى حدّة هذه الخبرة عاطفيًا على الطّفل، وفي تعامله معها؛ مثل امتلاكه لخبرات سابقة مشابهة، وطبيعة علاقته مع الأهل، والمساندة التي يحصل عليها من الأهل، ومن الطّاقم التربوي في الرّوضة.

لذلك اخترنا أن نفتتح قائمة كتب هذه السّنة بكتابٍ يعبّر عن صعوبة الطّفل في الانفصال عن شيء يحبّه. فالخلد الصّغير متعلّق عاطفيًا بالزّغلول، ويرفض- على الرّغم من نصائح الأهل وحزن الزغلول- أن يتخلّى عنه ويطلقه إلى السّماء. فقط حين يختبر الخلد بنفسه، ومع جدّه، فرح الانطلاق والتّحليق في المدى المفتوح، يفهم حاجة الزّغلول إلى الحرّية.