✦An original tiny-dragon adventure
The Wand of Wishes
Nadi wishes for a small adventure. The wand answers with a dragon no bigger than a teacup—and a problem that needs more than another wish.
A story to read together
The Wand of Wishes
Take your time. Let the story unfold.
Nadi found the wand among the garden twigs after a windy night. It had one silver leaf that trembled when he spoke. “I wish something exciting would happen,” he said, then thought of the muddy footprints an enormous adventure might leave. “A small adventure,” he added. On the table beside him, an empty teacup began to glow. A tiny arched doorway opened inside it, and a green-and-violet dragon tumbled out.
The dragon in the teacup
The dragon was no bigger than Nadi’s hand. Its wings looked like folded leaves, and its tail changed colour whenever it sneezed. “That was the wrong door,” it said. It had been practising a journey between teacup-sized places and lost the tune that opened the way home. Nadi lifted the wand. “I wish you could—” The silver leaf curled gently around his finger. A small voice whispered from the twig: “One adventure at a time.” Nadi put it down. Perhaps he would have to help rather than order the problem away.
A whistle that became a bubble
The dragon explained that its doorway recognised a three-note whistle. It could remember the first two notes, but every attempt at the third ended in a squeak. Worse, each squeak became a bubble. Soon the table was covered with floating bubbles in pale green, violet, and gold. Nadi tried to whistle the tune himself. He produced mostly air and one very undignified noise. The dragon blinked, then laughed. Nadi laughed too. Failing together made the little creature look less worried about trying again.
The note between the notes
They listened to the sounds in the garden: a bird’s call, water dripping from a leaf, and the soft creak of the gate. The dragon realised it had been hurrying from the second note to the third. It needed a tiny pause, just like the space between two drops of water. Nadi tapped a slow rhythm on the table. The dragon breathed, whistled, waited, and tried the last note. A small blue bubble rose without bursting. Inside the teacup, the arched doorway opened onto a garden of violet grass.
A door that could open again
The dragon climbed to the rim, then turned back. “Aren’t you going to wish for a bigger adventure?” it asked. Nadi looked at the bubble-covered table and his new friend. “This one has been quite large enough to remember.” The silver leaf unfolded. Before the doorway closed, he made a different sort of wish: “I hope you can visit when you want to.” A violet tail waved from the other side. After that, Nadi kept the teacup on the garden table. Most days it held nothing but tea. Sometimes, though, three clear notes sounded at its rim, and a small blue bubble floated up to say hello.
The end
After the final page
There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.
What made the dragon’s third note difficult?
Why did Nadi’s own failed whistle help the dragon feel better?
What small adventure could fit through a teacup-sized door?
Make something: Invent a tiny visitor and a three-sound greeting for it. Draw its doorway, then perform the greeting with taps, hums, or whistles.
