Little Wonders

Preface There is a child within me who never grew up-and I hope she never will. I still believe that the moon listens, that rivers remember, that butterflies carry secrets, and that even the smallest light can make the darkness less frightening. As the years passed, that little world did not disappear. It grew with me, finding new doors through memory, imagination, and wonder. Little Wonders was born from that child. I wrote these stories because I wanted to leave a small piece of my own childhood spirit in the imagination of every child who opens this book. I wanted them to look beyond what things simply are and imagine what they might become: a cloud carrying a wish, a river keeping a memory, a flower waiting with purpose, or a tiny star searching for its way home. Children possess something precious-the ability to find an entire world inside the smallest things. My hope is not to teach them how to dream; they already know. I only hope these stories encourage them never to forget. And perhaps these pages are also for the grown-ups reading beside them-for those who may have tucked their childhood away somewhere beneath the years. If one story makes a child look at the moon a little longer, listen differently to the rain, or wonder whether a butterfly has a secret of its own, then Little Wonders has found its way home. Raida Jarjes