Little Bodhi And The Thing That Might Happen

Tomorrow the bell is Bodhi's to ring. What if he sleeps too long. What if he misses it. What if he hits it wrong and it does not ring. His heart went thump, thump, thump, and the worry started in his belly and filled up his chest until his throat was tight. Tomorrow was not even here yet, and it was already too big.For the child who is already worried about tomorrow.Nobody tells Bodhi not to worry. He goes out and stands under the bell without touching it, and the bell hangs there, being a bell. Then Puppy comes running and knocks him flat, because it is hard to worry with a puppy on your chest. Monkey shakes him until there is room in him again. Turtle goes slowly, and tomorrow stays where it is. Cat is not worried about anything at all. And at the water, Crane stands on one long leg, and Bodhi stands on one leg beside her and looks as far as he can look.He could see the hills. He could see the sky. He could not see tomorrow anywhere.This is a picture book about worry, which is the only big feeling about something that has not happened yet. That is what makes it so hard on a small child. There is nothing to fix and nothing to put down, and the body treats tomorrow as though it were already here. Tight throat, pulled heart, a belly that will not settle. Reassurance does not work, because reassurance is an argument and a worried child wins it every time by asking what if once more. What works is smaller and more physical. Shake the feeling loose. Look at something that is actually here. And do one real piece of the scary thing today, quietly, while nobody is watching.Tomorrow is not a place, says Bodhi. It has to come to you.Inside The Book:Fourteen calm spreads, 488 words, made to be read in one sittingA breathing refrain that repeats three times, so a child can say it along with you by the second readingA Note For Grown-Ups on why rehearsal beats reassurance, and on what a worried body is actually doingThree Things To Try Together: Look Like Crane, Shake Like Monkey, Practice Like BodhiWarm flat illustrations, with no screens, no scolding, and no grown-ups in the storyBook five of Little Bodhi And The Animal Sangha. Every book gives one animal one feeling and keeps the same calm shape, so a child who knows one book already knows how the next one goes. Reading age 3 to 7.