Broody the Owl

Broody is a round, cozy owl who loves nests. Not just any nest - Broody loves square nests, tucked one inside the bigger one, like little quilts that keep growing. Broody lives high on Tila’s quilt-tree, and Broody’s happy job is the most magical of all: Broody makes a square grow bigger.

There is a little square nest on the quilt - snug, small, just right. But Broody wants a bigger nest, for when more friends come. Now, Broody does not just make a whole new nest. That would be a lot of work! Instead, Broody has one gentle idea, and it is this: “To grow a square, add a strip on two sides and a corner - and it is bigger!”

So Broody keeps the little square just as it is. Then Broody lays a strip of patches along one side - there. And a matching strip along a second side - there. And where the two strips meet, there is a tiny gap, a little empty corner. So Broody pops in one tiny corner patch - there. And - whoo! - the little square has grown into a bigger square!

Nothing was thrown away. The old little square is still inside, cozy in one corner. The bigger square is just the old square, plus the two strips, plus the corner that grew on. Bigger, made from the same little square plus its growth.

That is Broody’s whole gentle teaching.

Add a strip, add a strip, add a corner - and a square grows bigger.

If a child wants a bigger square, Broody never starts over. Broody smiles, “Keep what you have. Just grow it.” A strip here, a strip there, a corner in between - and the square is bigger, with the little one still snug inside.

A grown-up can play too! You can grow a square. Build a little square of blocks or cushions. Now, don’t knock it down! Add a row along one side. Add a row along the side next to it. See the little gap in the corner where they meet? Pop in one block there. Whoo - a bigger square! And the little square is still inside. Say it: “A strip, a strip, a corner - bigger!” Grow it again and again, like Broody’s nest.

That is growing a square. You keep the square you have, add a strip along two sides and one little corner, and a bigger square is born - the old one plus the bit that grew.

When the strips and the corner settle in and the little nest becomes a big, roomy square, Broody feels a warm, spreading gladness - the snug joy of something growing just big enough, without losing what it was. Broody fluffs its feathers, content. “Bigger,” Broody hoots softly. “And the little one still here, safe inside.”

And Broody settles all the pond friends into the big square nest, the small square warm at its heart.