The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly

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

The Bee who Lost his Buzz

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 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. They climbed in, and Tiptoes called
the wind—

“Wind, wind, blow quickly,

For Bee has lost his Buzz.”

And the wind came quickly and blew. Up the waves and
down the waves they sailed till they reached the House of Bee.

“Buzz, buzz!” went the bees—for bees like to live
together—“buzz, buzz!” they said, as they flew in and out of their hive. But on
top of the hive sat Bee, crying and crying.

“Oh, Tiptoes and Jeremy Mouse,” cried Bee, “I’ve lost
my Buzz!” and he flapped his wings up and down, but not a single buzz could be
heard.

“What happened?” asked Jeremy Mouse. “How did you
loose your Buzz?”

“Oh, Jeremy Mouse,” sobbed Bee, “I landed on Mr.
Cactus and he was grumpy. One of his thorns grabbed my Buzz and I don’t know
what to do!” and he started crying all over again.

“Don’t cry,” said Tiptoes. “We’ll talk to Mr. Cactus.”

Now Mr. Cactus does not like being touched, and that
is why he is covered with spiky thorns. When they reached him his thorns looked
very sticking out and sharp, and there, stuck on one thorn, was Bee’s Buzz.
Poor Buzz, he looked so limp and bedraggled. He tried to buzz from time to
time, but all that came out was, ‘zzt, zzt,’—which did not sound buzzy at all!