Button the Chameleon Picks a Colour

Button is a round, soft little chameleon with big gentle eyes and a curly tail. Real chameleons change colour to show how they feel, and to warm up or cool down. But Button is a magic chameleon, so he can do the most wonderful thing: he can turn ANY colour he likes.

Red? Button turns red. Blue? Button turns blue. Sunny yellow, grassy green, bright happy pink - Button can be every single one.

One morning a small worried mouse comes to visit. “Button,” she whispers, “which colour is the RIGHT one? Which colour is the special, best, hard-to-get one? I want THAT one.”

Button smiles his softest smile. He does not have a “best” colour hidden away. He never does.

“Look, little friend,” Button says warmly. “Every colour is right here already. Every one. You do not have to win it, or wait for it, or find the secret one. They are all yours, right now.”

And Button shows her. He turns red - “RED!” - and says its name out loud, big and happy. He turns blue - “BLUE!” He turns green - “GREEN!” Each colour, he says its name.

The little mouse’s eyes go wide. “So… I can just PICK one? Any one I like?”

“Any one you like,” says Button. “And when you pick it, say its name out loud - it makes the colour feel like YOURS.”

So the mouse looks at all the colours, all already there, and she picks a warm sunny orange. “ORANGE!” she says, big and proud. And Button turns orange too, just to match her, and they both giggle.

That is Button’s whole happy idea.

Pick any colour you like - they are all already yours - and say its name out loud.

A grown-up can play too! Look around the room together. Point to a colour and say its name out loud, nice and big: “RED!” “BLUE!” “GREEN!” Then let your little one pick their most favourite colour of all. Say its name together. There is no wrong colour - every one is a good one.

When the mouse skips home wearing her own bright orange, Button feels a warm, glad wiggle right down to his curly tail. Not because she picked the “best” colour - there is no best. Because she picked HER colour, all by herself, and said its name out loud, big and happy and free.

“Any colour you like,” Button hums softly, turning a gentle purple just for fun. “They are all already yours.”