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Ozzie

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01 Opening

02 Ozzie

Ozzie is a little elephant with soft floppy ears and a gentle trunk. Ozzie lives in the Helping Garden, where friends grow flowers and play.

03 Ozzie

Ozzie has a special way of looking. While others hurry past, Ozzie slows down and looks around. "Who needs a hand today?" Ozzie wonders, ears wide and listening.

04 Ozzie

One morning, Ozzie looked around the garden. A little friend had dropped all her flowers, and they lay scattered on the path. Everyone else walked by. But Ozzie noticed.

05 Closing

Ozzie's heart felt warm and full. He walked over slow and gentle. "I see you need a hand," said Ozzie. "Let me help you gather them up." Ozzie's little rhyme is: "Look around — who needs a hand?"

That is Ozzie's kind secret. Before you can help, you have to notice. So look around, slow and gentle, and see who needs you. Noticing is where kindness begins.

Hear it as an audio drama

A short play starring Ozzie, from HelpPals. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.

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Read the drama script

Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and Helppals — this is Ozzie, in chapter 1 of the Helppals cast.
Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
Narrator: In the Helping Garden, everyone was busy. But Ozzie was looking around, the way Ozzie always does.
Ozzie: Hmm... let me look around the garden. Who might need a little help today?
Narrator: And there — by the flower bed — little Pea was trying to carry a watering can that was much too big.
Pea: Oof... it's... so heavy...
Ozzie: I noticed you, Pea! Let me help you carry that. Two friends make it light.
Narrator: Together they carried the can, and watered every thirsty flower.
Pea: Thank you, Ozzie! How did you know I needed help?
Ozzie: I looked around and I noticed. Kindness starts with noticing. Say it with me.
Pea: Look around — who needs a hand?
Narrator: And the flowers drank happily. That's Ozzie, in the Helping Garden.
Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
Narrator: Apps stay free forever.
Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.

Reading together with a grown-up? A card for the grown-up

For the grown-up: ask one question, then wait. When they answer, add one word to what they said. Tap the button when they have said something — that is one turn each, a circle. Nothing is recorded or kept.

Let them finish it

Say “Look around — who needs …” and stop. Let them finish it.

Then say the whole line together: “Look around — who needs a hand?”.

Now wait. Count slowly to five in your head. Their answer is worth the quiet.

Circles together: 0