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.
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.
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Cosy
Every room has its play - Cosy the hedgehog, who shows you round the cozy rooms: cook in the kitchen, splash in the bath, snuggle in the bed, build in the playroom
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Dell
It grows and never wilts - Dell the mole, whose garden grows on real time all by itself - slow and sure - and never dries up, dies, or wilts, and never costs a thing (the Timer Rule)
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Daisy
The same day as you - Daisy the songbird, who keeps the little house on the real clock: good morning in your morning, goodnight at your bedtime, so the pretend day matches your real day