Play HouseTots
Nook chapter opener illustration

Nook

LET'S PRETEND

Nook the Dormouse Loves to Pretend

Nook is a tiny, cosy dormouse with round ears, soft grey fur, and the biggest imagination in the whole little house. And Nook’s very favourite thing in the world is to PRETEND.

“Pick a room,” Nook says warmly, “and tap on something - anything! - and I will pretend it with you. Whatever you imagine, I’ll do it!”

So a little friend picks the kitchen, and taps the pretend pot. And Nook gasps with delight, grabs a wooden spoon, and starts to stir. “Stir, stir, stir! We’re making soup! Ooh, it smells YUMMY!” And the little friend giggles, because they made that up, together.

Then they hop to the bathroom and tap the pretend bath. Splash! Nook pretends to splash and scrub. “Bubbles everywhere! Wash behind your ears!”

Then the bedroom, and the soft pretend bed. Nook curls up small and pretends to snore. “Zzz… zzz… shh, I’m fast asleep…” - and then one eye pops open, and they both laugh.

“See?” says Nook happily. “There’s no right way and no wrong way to pretend. YOU imagine it, and we play it out. Cooking, splashing, sleeping, building - anything you dream up.”

That is Nook’s cosy, happy idea.

Pick a room, tap a thing - and let’s pretend. Whatever you imagine, I’ll do it.

A grown-up can play too! Play pretend together, right where you are. “Let’s pretend we’re cooking! Now let’s pretend we’re asleep! Now we’re splashing!” Take turns imagining. Whatever you dream up, act it out together. That’s the whole game - and there’s no way to get it wrong.

When the day of pretending winds down, Nook snuggles into his cosy corner, warm and glad and a little sleepy, full of all the lovely things they imagined together. “Pretend is the best,” he yawns happily. “Because YOU make it up, and I get to play it with you. Shall we pretend some more tomorrow?”

Pick a room, imagine, and play. That’s Nook.

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 “Nook says: pick a room, tap a thing - and let's …” and stop. Let them finish it.

Then say the whole line together: “Nook says: pick a room, tap a thing - and let's PRETEND! Whatever you imagine, I'll do it.”.

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

Circles together: 0

The HouseTots ensemble

Nook is one of the friends in HouseTots. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.