Tila's Lots · The five-night book · ages 3-5
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Read by an AI-generated voice. The words on this page are the transcript.
The Patch That Grew
The hammer rang once. A spark jumped off the anvil and did not go out. It waited. They followed.
The spark landed on Bà Tư's sewing chair.
Its old leg was tied with string.
By the knot, a tiny hammer.
"The cat needs a cushion," said Bà Tư.
"Let's see what you do."
Snip, snip. Bà Tư cut four little … patches.
Two otters bounced in. Miro and Moro!
Two on top. Two below.
"Same size, side by side."
Bà Tư sewed them. A little … square.
Same size, side by side.
The cat climbed on.
Its tail hung off one side.
Its paws hung off the other.
Too … small!
"One more!" said Tí.
He stuck a patch on the side.
A round owl blinked. Broody!
"Hoo, that's lopsided," said Broody.
Same size, side by side.
"Grow it all the way round," said Broody.
Two along this side.
Two along that side.
And one tiny one in the … corner.
Two sides and a corner.
Tí laid the five new patches himself.
Two. Two. And the corner.
Bà Tư sewed, in, out, in, out.
Three across. Three down. Nine!
The cat climbed on.
It turned round once.
It curled up and fitted, every bit of … cat.
Same size, side by side.
Two sides and a corner.
The spark dimmed to a warm dot and settled back on the anvil. The Green was just the Green again.
Back on the Green
Tí made a square of four blocks.
He wanted a bigger one.
"Two sides and a corner," said Tí.
Who you met
-
Bà Tư The grandmother who sews and lets the children count from VầnTots -
Miro & Moro Matching strips are the same size and lie side by side from PatchPals -
Tí a child of the Green Notices small things; says "again" -
Broody A square grows bigger by a strip along two sides and one tiny corner from PatchPals
Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.
The Honest Page
Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?
True
- A 2 by 2 square of 4 patches grows into a 3 by 3 square of 9 by adding 5: two along one side, two along the other, and one in the corner.
- Square numbers go 1, 4, 9, 16, and the gaps between them are the odd numbers 3, 5, 7. Each gap is two sides and a corner. Source
Stretched
- The cushion fits the cat perfectly. What we simplified: Cats curl up to fit almost anything; the new cushion is just big enough for this one.
Made up
- The cushion and the cat are made up. Miro and Moro and Broody come from PatchPals, and Bà Tư from VanTots.