Nook

This gentle, lovely story about intense shyness and friendship is a beautiful description of the feelings involved when one is unsure of oneself.  Nook is a very shy rabbit, who is perfectly happy at school and in the park, watching her friends play whilst finding for herself a ‘nook’ to sit in – a box, or a corner or under a table where she can press her back against the wall and feel safe.  She smiles happily and draws pictures and rarely speaks.  The others know she is there and accept her quiet nature without question.  In the park, her nook is in the ‘deep hollow of an old elm tree’, and the other little animals are so used to her sitting there that they call it ‘Nook’s place’.  Occasionally they try to get her to join them in play, but she always stays where she feels safest.  Then one day when she comes to the park, there is a fierce badger sitting in her place.  She is quite upset, but the Badger shouts, ‘Mine!  Go away!’  She feels panic and starts to cry when she realises that all her friends are standing behind her and telling the badger that it is Nook’s place and he must let her have it.  He refuses, so the animals surround Nook and take her out to the field where she sits and draws while they play around her.  After this, the badger doesn’t return, but Nook is happy to be out in the open with her friends ‘who she knew had her back’.  This is a child with serious problems with shyness and sensory needs, who must have love and support and understanding, which her friends supply in quantity.  Acceptance of differences is a major theme subtly portrayed.  Outstanding.