THE LITTLEST ANGEL

The Littlest Angel

Adapted by Jennifer McCormack

Birthday Stories

Once there was a little angel who lived in the heavens way up high above the rooftops, above the treetops, above the clouds and the stars, the moon and the sun. The little angel was happy in her heavenly home, but each day she would gaze down to earth and watch everything that happened. She looked at all the children playing together and wished and wished that she could join them.

“When will it be my turn to go and play on the earth?” she asked the Biggest Angel one day. The Biggest Angel took her hand and smiled. “One day” he said, “one day it will be your turn. First you will need to find your mother and father, and when you have done that I will show you the way down.”

So each day the little angel leaned over the edge of heaven and searched for her mother and her father. She wondered how she would know them! Every day she looked and looked until one day she gazed at a woman with (* describe parents) shining blond hair and a father who was very tall. They were (* describe their activities) working together in the garden of their house. When she looked at them it seemed as if the very stars sung inside her heart. They must be her mother and father!

Quickly she ran to tell the Biggest Angel. “Come quick!” she called, “I have found them! I am sure of it! Come and see!” She could still hear the song of the stars in her heart, and the Biggest Angel could hear it too.

“I will be sad to see you go, Little One,” said the Biggest Angel, “but it is your turn now. Let me take care of your wings, as you will not need them with your family. I will look after them until you come back.”

The Biggest Angel took the wings from the little angel and led her to the Rainbow Bridge. This was a glorious arc that shone in dazzling colours all the way to the earth from the heavens. The little angel gave the Biggest Angel a final hug and stepped on to the bridge. Down, down, she slid, all the way through red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, until the bridge led into a dark, dark tunnel. It was a little frightening in there but the little angel knew that her mother and father would be waiting for her at the other end. She leaned forward and landed in the arms of her mother. Her father and mother hugged her with love and promised to care for her always.

 Notes about the story:

·         Add details of the child’s personal situation: eg siblings, pets

·         Find out details of birth that could be added – eg born outside, in a pool...

WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR TO WORK TODAY?

WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR TO WORK TODAY?

Written by Jennifer McCormack, Jan 2010

What would you wear to work today?

To do your job in the very best way?

What would you wear to work today,

If you were a fire fighter?

If I were to be a fire fighter

And drive my truck so red

I would wear my safety goggles

And a helmet on my head

I would be in my fire proof suit

With my gloves and pockets

And my fire proof boots

If I were to be a fire fighter

And drive my truck so red.

What would you wear to work today?

To do your job in the very best way?

What would you wear to work today,

If you were a police officer?

If I were to be a police officer

Driving in on the beat

I would wear my blue checked hat

And blue uniform so neat.

I’d have my belt with pockets

For all the handy things I need

And keep a notebook ready

To write down things I see.

What would you wear to work today?

To do your job in the very best way?

What would you wear to work today,

If you were an expert chef?

If I were an expert chef

In my busy kitchen

I’d wear good shoes, to protect my toes

If I dropped anything on them!

A clean apron to cover

My checked shirt and black pants

A hat to cover up my hair

And of course I’d have clean hands!

If I were an expert chef

In my busy kitchen

SPLASHING AND SWIMMING IN THE SUMMER TIME

SPLASHING AND SWIMMING IN THE SUMMER TIME

Summer Morning Circle

By Jennifer McCormack, Summer 2010

Sung(chorus)

Splashing and swimming in the summer time

Cooling off in the water is just fine

Diving and kicking, keeping ourselves cool

Splashing about at the beach, creek or pool!

Spoken

This morning we go creeping down to our little creek

Where the water trickles slowly and it isn’t very deep

Heavy rocks and little rocks to lift and throw!

Make a rock castle and watch it grow

Repeat Chorus

Spoken

Today we are swimming in our local pool

There are lots of people here keeping themselves cool

Breast stroke, free-style and back stroke too

We practise our swimming in the local pool

Repeat Chorus

Spoken

Running down to the beach on hot, hot sand!

The waves foam and roll and crash on the land

 “Stay between the flags”, the life guards say

Swimming with our boogie boards all the day

Repeat Chorus

Spoken

A drink of water and long-sleeved clothes

A hat to stop the sunfaires dancing on my nose

Wherever we swim, we must learn

To enjoy the water without a sunburn!

Repeat Chorus

THE LITTLE YELLOW DIGGER

The Little Yellow Digger

By Jennifer McCormack, based on the story by Betty and Alan Gilderdale

(to the tune of  “A Foolish Man built his house upon the sand”)

There was a little digger, a little yellow digger

There was a little digger, a little yellow digger

There was a little digger, a little yellow digger

Working hard to dig a hole

The rain came down and the digger got stuck

The rain came down and the digger got stuck

The rain came down and the digger got stuck

Got stuck in the mud and the muck!

So a bigger digger came to help the yellow digger

So a bigger digger came to help the yellow digger

So a bigger digger came to help the yellow digger

That was stuck in the mud and the muck!

It pulled and it pulled and its wheels spun around

It pulled and it pulled and its wheels spun around

It pulled and it pulled and its wheels spun around

And it got stuck in the mud and the muck!

And so along to help came another bigger digger

And so along to help came another bigger digger

And so along to help came another bigger digger

To pull the two diggers from the muck!

It pulled and it pulled and its wheels spun around

It pulled and it pulled and its wheels spun around

It pulled and it pulled and its wheels spun around

And it got stuck in the mud and the muck!

SPOKEN

The rain went away and the sun shone bright

The people came to help the three diggers stuck tight!

The ground dried up and they brought in a truck

To pull out the little yellow digger that was stuck!

The people dug and the truck pulled and pulled

The people dug and the truck pulled and pulled

The people dug and the truck pulled and pulled

And the little yellow digger came free!

And the little yellow digger dug out the bigger diggers

And the little yellow digger dug out the bigger diggers

And the little yellow digger dug out the bigger diggers

Free from the mud and the muck!

(Repeat 1^st Verse to finish)

STAR MONEY (FESTIVAL STORY)

Tonight we held the Friends of Lavendilly House Winter Festival. Oh it was so lovely! We met early for a play in the park, and an early picnic dinner and just as the sun went down we gathered for some songs, a story and finishing with a lantern walk. We walked our lanterns through a candle-lit spiral laid out on the 

ground, and then we stood in the circle and sang lullabys. 

The mood of the evening was mellow, and it was such a beautiful thing to

 share this experience with my good friends. I've been so excited all day! Simple pleasures are the best ones I think. Tonight was proof of that. Our spiral circle wasn't quite as spectacular as the one pictured ... but that didn't matter. What was really lovely for me tonight was the attention from some children who were watching me lay out the spiral. I don't know who they were, but they were so interested they couldn't help coming close to watch. Eventually they helped me position the candles in the bags, and they lit the candles too. They found sticks for the lanterns and helped me set them all up. They were going to go back home and ask if they could listen to our story. I hope they were able to return, but in the darkness I couldn't see them.

I so enjoyed telling my story tonight. It is my own version of the Grims Fairytale "Star Money". David strummed and droned on the guitar in the background, and that was magic. It set the scene for the story, at a slow walking pace, and carried us through as we followed the journey of the little girl out in the cold winter night. The story is a perfect reflection of winter time. The story follows the journey of a little girl who gives away all she has, and lays down to die in the snow. She is brought to new life by Mother Mary and her Son and rewarded for her generosity with heavenly riches. Yes, it is a bit sad, but to me that is the story of winter. It is death and rebirth. And for the sake of the children, I only alluded to the death of the little girl. Imagine this song sung in a slow, minor mood (make up your own tune):

STAR MONEY

retold by Jennifer McCormack

One cold and frosty winter night

A little girl walked alone

She had no food, nor carried a light

She had no money, nor a home.

...no money, nor a home ...

She came upon an old woman

Who was so frail and ill

She had no hat upon her head

To keep out winter chills.

The little girl took off her hat

And gave it willingly

She said to the old woman

"You need this more than me".

... you need this more than me...

She came upon a little boy

Whose feet were cold and blue

He'd walked along this winter night

Without any shoes.

The little girl took off her shoes

And gave them willingly

She said to the little boy

"You need them more than me".

 ... you need them more than me ...

She came upon a small, small girl

Whose dress was full of holes

It was so thin and did not keep

Out the winter cold.

The little girl took off her dress

And gave it willingly

She said to the small, small girl

"You need this more than me."

... you need this more than me ...

The little girl had nothing left

She lay down on the ground

The winter night was bitter cold

She prayed she would be found.

Mother Mary and her Son

Looked down from above

"She gave away all she had,

Let's send her down our love."

... send her down our love  ...

Mary spun some moon threads

Into a silken dress

And all the stars turned into gold

And rained about her head.

And when the little girl arose

She was no longer cold

And all about her, glittering

Lay pieces of star gold.

 ... pieces of star gold ...

** You are welcome to use my story, please ask my permission first, thank you**

LITTLE BEETLE'S BIRTHDAY

Written by Jennifer McCormack

There was a little beetle

So that Beetle was her name.

She lived on a big leaf

And she played lots of games.

She was given a big red coat,

On the day that she was born.

And she loved that big red coat,

It was worn, and worn, and worn*(adapted from A.A. Milne)

When Little Beetle was born she was given some lovely new clothes to wear: a big, bright red coat, a big shady black hat and 6 pairs of shiny black boots!! She loved her big, bright red coat most of all and wore it all the time.

She put her 6 big, shiny, black boots on.

She put on her big, shady black hat.

She put her big, bright red coat on.

And that, she said, is that! *(adapted from A.A. Milne)

She wore her big, bright coat so red

She wore it always, even in bed!

She wore it when she went to play

She wore it always – every day!

She wore her big bright red coat through Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer!

She washed her coat lovingly and treated it carefully, and when she had worn it for a whole year it still looked like brand new.

But the day after she had worn it for a whole year she saw something different– a big black spot!

“Oh no! My coat is dirty!” she cried.

She tried to wash it but no matter how hard she scrubbed the spot, it would not come off.

“Whatever is the matter Little Beetle?” her mother and father asked.

“My coat won’t come clean!” she answered.

Her mother and father looked at the spot on the big bright red coat and smiled.

“AH! That must be your Birthday Spot! All Beetles grow a new spot every birthday!”

They were so excited that they made a cake and sang in joy:

Happy Birthday Little Beetle!

You’ve grown up such a lot!

Happy Birthday Little Beetle!

You’ve grown a Birthday Spot!

And today we celebrate another little beetle, Little [Jaiah] Beetle, who has worn her coat through:

Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer , Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer!

So Little Beetle has [2] spots! Happy Birthday Little Beetle!

Notes for this story:

This story was told simply to the children – the verses sung to the tune of Melanie’s version of A.A. Milne’s Alexander Beetle Poem.

I would make a little beetle in a leaf beetle house and hide it somewhere near us. After the story it would ‘appear’ from a pot plant, or behind a child, and it was presented to the birthday day child.

THE GOLDEN CASSIA FLOWERS

Written by Jennifer McCormack, 

Autumn 2009

Once upon a time there was an old woman who lived alone in her little house. Her name was Cassia and she had lived a long life, good and kind and true. Each day she would work in her garden, tending her vegetables and her flowers. She had a beautiful flower garden! Her vegetables were cared for so tenderly that they grew so ripe and tasty. Cassia looked after herself and her home well but she was lonely. Her husband had died, her children had grown up and moved away to see the world and her neighbours were a long way away, and only came to visit every now and then.

One Autumn evening, after a day in the garden, the old woman ate her dinner and got ready for bed. That night she heard a sweet singing and gentle chiming music from her garden! She looked outside her window but there was only darkness. She took her candle outside but the moon was very dark and there was not enough light to see what was happening. When she stepped close to the garden the sweet singing and gentle chiming music stopped! So she went back to bed and decided to have a look in the morning. The sweet singing and gentle chiming music began again as soon as she was in bed and she was lulled to sleep with peaceful dreams.

In the morning there she noticed a plant growing in her garden that she had never seen before, a round sprawling bush with little round green leaves on it.

That evening she again heard the sweet singing and gentle chiming music, and every evening for a week or so, but each time she stepped outside the happy sounds would go quiet and there would be nothing to see. But as soon as she was back in bed the music would begin again and keep her company through her lonely evenings.

Cassia checked the new plant every day and after it had been there two weeks it had big round bright yellow blossom buds on it. Cassia was very excited to see what those flowers might look like. She also noticed that since this plant had appeared that other plants in her garden were starting to change. Some had different coloured leaves that were now turning delightful shades of orange and red and gold.

That night as usual she heard the sweet singing and gentle chiming music. Again she tip-toed outside to have a look and this time the moon was full and bright in the evening sky. She could see quite well without her candle. The old woman crept quietly towards the happy sounds, and there in the light of the full moon she saw some little people about the new bush with the yellow buds. “I think they might be fairies!” thought Cassia.

They were. The bush had blossomed and the big yellow buds had turned into beautiful yellow flowers, each shaped like a little cup. Inside the flowers were little fairy babies who were being rocked to sleep by their mothers who were singing fairy songs and playing their gentle chimes.

Cassia stayed to watch them for a while with such happiness in her heart.

The next morning she began to collect eggs from her chickens and painted them so beautifully, and then she left them under the bush with the golden cradle blossoms as gifts for the fairies who kept her company every evening. The little fairies would find them when they returned from their day’s work painting flowers and autumn leaves, and came back to the bush to put their babies to sleep.

For many years, Cassia would wait for the fairies to visit her garden in Autumn to paint flowers and leaves. The fairies would place their babies in the flowers at night and sing them to sleep. When the moon was full Cassia would leave little presents for the fairies to find in the evening, to thank them for their company and for bringing the beautiful colours of autumn.

The bush that grew in her garden is now known as the Golden Cassia, and you will notice that it blossoms beautifully every autumn, every year, and if you are good and kind and truthful perhaps the fairies may visit a cassia bush near you. What gift will you leave them?