✦An original make-believe story
The Rainbow Map
A rainbow in Grandma’s story becomes a shifting path of colour. Leela learns to change her map when a journey reveals something unexpected.
A story to read together
The Rainbow Map
Take your time. Let the story unfold.
A rainbow appeared above the garden after a shower. Leela looked from the window and asked Grandma whether they could walk to its end. Grandma explained that a real rainbow was an effect of light and water droplets, not a coloured bridge standing in a fixed place. Then she opened their story notebook. “In make-believe, though, we can invent a rainbow journey.” Leela drew a map with a bold red path.
The path that turned
Inside their imagined garden, the rainbow reached towards a small green hill. Leela and Grandma followed the red path on the map. But when they arrived at the hill, the rainbow in the story curved towards a flower arch instead. Leela frowned. “The map is wrong.” Grandma looked at the page. “It shows what we expected before we began.” They added a picture of the hill and a little bend beside it. A talking rabbit near the arch asked what they were looking for.
A question from Rabbit
“The end of the rainbow,” Leela replied. Rabbit twitched one ear. “What do you hope to find there?” Leela had not decided. A treasure box, perhaps, or a grand door. Rabbit showed them a round puddle reflecting the coloured sky. It was not the end of anything, but Leela liked the upside-down flowers around its edge. She added the puddle to the map. The page now held something they had found, not only something they were trying to reach.
The bench in the blue shade
Beyond the arch, a blue path led to a small bench. Grandma wanted to rest, so they sat and watched their imaginary garden change in the light. Leela noticed how many colours appeared in a wet leaf. Rabbit described a purple flower that opened near the path. There was no need to hurry past every interesting thing just because Leela’s first drawing had pointed somewhere else. She drew a bench on the map and left enough space beside it for the story she would tell about their stop.
What came home on the page
Back beside the real window, Leela looked at their finished map. The red path was still there, but now it passed a hill, an arch, a puddle, and a resting place. They had not reached a real rainbow endpoint or brought home a treasure box. They had made an imaginary journey worth remembering. Leela titled the page with a small rainbow drawing. “Next time, I can leave some of the map empty,” she said. Grandma nodded. Outside, the colours were fading, and the ordinary garden had new things for them to notice.
The end
After the final page
There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.
Why did the map change during the story?
What did Rabbit’s question help Leela think about?
What made the imaginary journey valuable without a treasure box?
Make something: Draw a made-up journey with three interesting stopping places. Leave one blank space for a surprise that a partner can add.
