✦An original story about following a clue
The Curious Cat
A missing toy sends Piku the kitten looking everywhere. Tara learns to slow down, notice the clues, and check a guess with Grandpa.
A story to read together
The Curious Cat
Take your time. Let the story unfold.
Piku the kitten had a green toy ball that made a soft rattling sound. Each afternoon, Tara rolled it across the sheltered patio for him. One day, the ball bounced off a chair leg and vanished. Piku searched under the chair, behind Tara’s shoes, and inside an empty basket. Tara looked too. The patio was small, yet the green ball seemed to have found a very large place to hide.
Three places to look
Tara first guessed that Piku had carried the ball into his bed. The bed was empty except for a folded blanket. Next she thought it had rolled through the gate, but the gate was closed and its bottom gap was much too narrow. Grandpa joined them. “What did you actually notice?” he asked. Tara remembered the bounce off the chair and a small rattling sound near the flowerpots. Piku was already sniffing along that side of the patio. Tara drew a tiny map in her notebook.
The narrow space
Behind the largest pot was a narrow gap. Tara could not see into it from where she stood. She was about to push her hand inside when Grandpa suggested looking first. They did not know what else might be there. He brought a small mirror and helped her angle it from the open side. For a moment, Tara saw only leaves and shadows. Then a bright green circle appeared in the glass. Piku’s ears turned towards the pot. Their guess now had something visible to support it.
A guess checked gently
Grandpa checked that the heavy pot could be moved safely. Tara and Piku waited clear of it while he shifted it a little. There lay the ball, beside a dry leaf. Piku batted it into the sunshine and followed it with a delighted hop. Tara added a green dot to her map. She had not needed to search every possible place in the whole house. Remembering the sound and checking the nearby gap had helped her choose where to look next.
The next small mystery
The following afternoon, Tara found Piku watching a patch of moving light on the wall. She had a new question before the ball game even began. Was the light coming through a leaf, from a shiny lid, or from somewhere else? Grandpa did not give her an answer immediately. They looked around together. Tara liked having a question she could investigate without rushing. Piku tilted his head at the wall. The patio had not grown any larger, but it seemed full of small things they had not noticed yesterday.
The end
After the final page
There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.
Which clues helped Tara choose where to look?
Why did Grandpa suggest looking before reaching?
How did Tara know her guess about the gap was right?
Make something: Ask an adult to hide a familiar object in a safe, open room. Use two visible clues to choose where to look, and explain what you noticed.
