The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly by Reg Down

The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly
    The Bee who Lost his Buzz
    Pumpkin Crow
    Lucy Goose and the Half-Egg
     
    Written and illustrated by Reg Down
    Text and Illustrations
    Copyright © 2004 Reg Down
    All rights reserved
    To my children, Aran, Oisin and Isa for the many stories
we shared together
    and
    to all the children who passed through Grade One and
the Little Gate and Little Bridge Kindergartens at Camellia Waldorf School,
1999—2004
    especially
    Miki Higashine and her rambunctious bunch.
    Table of Contents
    Tiptoes
finds a Note . 6
    Tiptoes and
Jeremy Mouse help Buzzless Bee . 8
    Tiptoes
Sings to Tadpole . 10
    Tiptoes
wakes up Jeremy Mouse rudely . 12
    Pine Cone
and Pepper Pot are Not At Home . 13
    Ompliant is
Unplugged . 14
    The Hats
Appear 15
    Worm looses
his Squirm .. 16
    The Wind
Blows . 18
    Octopus is
Untangled . 19
    Tiptoes
Walks Along the Shore . 21
    Pine Cone
and Pepper Pot meet Crab . 22
    Jeremy Mouse
picks Blackberries . 24
    Sailing Home . 25
    Tiptoes
meets Mr. Crow .. 26
    Pumpkin Crow
is Pulled . 28
    Pumpkin Crow
is Pulled Again . 29
    The Gnomes
see Mr. Crow and Tiptoes Flying . 30
    Pumpkin Crow
is Pulled Once More . 31
    The Seeds
are Gathered . 32
    The Tale of
Crystal Fire . 33
    The Midnight
Garden . 35
    Jack Frost
Pays a Visit 36
    Tiptoes asks
Running River a Question . 37
    The Old
Woman of Snowy Mountain . 39
    Jack Frost
Tells his Tale . 40
    Snow Balls . 42
    The Two
Rivers . 44
    Going Home . 45
    Tiptoes
cleans her House . 46
    Lucy Goose
and the Half-Egg . 47
    Jeremy Mouse
and Tiptoes Look for the Mother of the Half-Egg . 48
    The
Sunflower 49
    Chips . 50
    Butterflies
and Flowers . 51
    Tiger the
Tabby Cat 52
    Pins and
Needles . 53
    Ompliant has
Big Ears . 54
    Ompliant
comes to Farmer John’s . 56
    Tiptoes
loves Blue . 57
    Jeremy Mouse
is Gone . 58
    Ompliant
carries Jeremy Mouse Home . 59
    The
Firefly’s Story . 60
    Tiptoes and
Jeremy Mouse visit Lucy Goose . 61
    A Telling
Tale . 63
    The Author’s
Tale . 64

BOOK ONE
    The Bee who Lost his Buzz
Tiptoes finds a Note

    Jeremy Mouse lives in a house underneath the roots of
a Great Oak Tree. He’s sound asleep in bed, with his tail curled round his
head.
    “Wake up, Jeremy Mouse,” calls the Sun, shining
through his window—but Jeremy Mouse stays fast asleep. He’s a sleepy head.
    “Wake up, Sleepy Head,” sings the Sun, glowing
brighter. “It’s time to rise and get out of bed.”

    Jeremy Mouse yawns and stretches and gets out of bed.
First he wiggles his toes, then he wiggles his nose. He picks up his fur brush
and brushes his fur until it’s soft and smooth. Then he combs his whiskers with
his whisker comb till they’re straight and shiny.
    “I wonder if Tiptoes is still asleep,” he says to
himself, as he runs out of his house and scurries up the trunk of the Oak Tree.
    Tiptoes is a fairy. She also lives in the Great Oak Tree
—inside an acorn, as small as can be.
    Jeremy Mouse knocks on her door—knock, knock,
knock—but there’s no reply. So he lifts the latch and peeks in. Tiptoes is
sound asleep on her feather bed.
    “Wake up, Tiptoes,” he calls. “Wake, wake!”
    Tiptoes rubs her eyes and smiles at Jeremy Mouse. She
yawns and stretches and gets out of bed. The first thing she does is say her
prayers. She says:
     
    “Angel of God who is guarding me
    Be thou a bright flame before me
    Be thou a shining star above me
    Be thou a smooth path below me
    Be thou a kind shepherd behind me
    Today, tonight and forever.”
     
    Then she washes her hands and face, combs her golden
hair and smoothes her sky-blue dress. As she’s putting on her shoes Tiptoes
sees a note lying on the floor.
    It says: Please help! Bee has lost his Buzz!

    “My goodness,” she says to Jeremy Mouse, “Bee has lost
his Buzz! We have to help him.”
Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse help Buzzless Bee
    Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse went  to Running River. By
the shore, tied with a vine, was their boat. It’s made of an acorn cap, with a
toothpick for a mast and a leaf for a sail.