Little oak

In the very centre of the forest, on the first day of spring, a little twig poked out of the ground.

Every day he grew a little bigger.

Every day new leaves unfurled.

Before the end of the summer, he had two little branches, and he was very proud of himself.

'Look at me!' he would shout out to his mummy. And Mother Oak would tell him he was perfect.

In the autumn his leaves turned beautiful colours and then fell to the ground.

And in the winter the snow fell in great drifts on the ground, and he could see the beautiful stars and the bright moon clearly through the branches of the bigger trees.

The little oak tree was happy.

And when the spring came again, even more leaves came poking out, and he started growing even more.

Every day he grew a little bigger.

But this year there was something new. By the end of the summer he had two little brown acorns with grey caps on his branches. He loved them so much.

'Look at these!' he would shout out to his mummy. And Mother Oak would tell him the acorns were beautiful.

But when autumn came and his leaves turned red and gold and orange, and all around him the forest was beautiful with colours, the little oak tree started to feel anxious.

And when he started seeing the other trees dropping their acorns to the ground it got even worse.

Every day he held on tighter and tighter to his little acorns.

At night he was afraid they would fall to the ground.

One day he was very upset, and Mother Oak asked him what the matter was.

The little oak tree was still very small. He told his mummy why.

'You don't need to worry,' she said reassuringly. 'If you let the acorns fall to the ground, then next year you will have even more.'

And so the little oak tree let them fall, and the winter came, and then spring and summer.

And the next year the little tree grew even bigger.

And every year there were more acorns in his branches.