The very small dragon with the warm breath

Tobbin was a dragon, but only just.

He was the size of a loaf of bread. His wings were the size of two leaves. And when he opened his mouth and breathed out, the way big dragons do, no fire came out at all. Only warm air. Warm as a cup of cocoa. Warm as a towel left in the sun.

“Hooo,” went Tobbin, and the air in front of him went soft and warm.

The big dragons on the far mountain did not mind. “Fire is for later,” they said. “Or never. Warm is good too.” And Tobbin agreed, because Tobbin had found out something useful about warm air.

At the bottom of the forest, when autumn came and the ground got chilly, there were a lot of cold toes.

So every evening, when the sun slipped behind the hills and the forest went blue and quiet, Tobbin went for a walk.

He found the hedgehog first. She was curled up under the oak roots, in a nest of leaves, and only her small nose and four small feet were showing. The feet looked cold. They were pink, and they were tucked up tight.

Tobbin crept close. He took a breath.

“Hooo,” he went, soft and warm, right over the hedgehog’s four feet.

The pink feet uncurled, just a little. The hedgehog sighed in her sleep. Then she curled up again, warm this time, and did not move.

Tobbin walked on.

Under the holly bush he found the mouse family. Seven mice, lined up like peas in a pod, with seven tiny tails and twenty-eight tiny toes. That is a lot of toes. Tobbin counted them twice to make sure.

“Hooo,” he went along the row, slow and warm, like a kind wind. “Hooo.”

Twenty-eight toes went warm. Seven mice snuggled closer. One of them, the smallest, made a tiny sound like a kettle just before it sings, and then was still.

Tobbin walked on.

By the stream, a young deer was lying in the tall grass with her legs folded under her. Her hooves were damp from crossing the water. Damp hooves are the coldest kind.

“Hooo,” went Tobbin, over one hoof. “Hooo,” over the next. Four hooves, four warm breaths. The deer’s long ears relaxed and lay flat along her neck. Her eyes closed all the way.

Tobbin walked on. His steps were slower now.

He found the badger last, half out of his burrow, snoring with his back feet in the cool evening air.

“Hooo,” went Tobbin, soft and warm.

The badger’s feet twitched, warmed up, and slid back inside the burrow where they belonged. The snoring went on, a little softer.

Tobbin sat down under the oak tree.

He had warmed a hedgehog. He had warmed seven mice. He had warmed a deer and a badger. That was a lot of warming for a dragon the size of a loaf of bread.

He yawned. It was a very small yawn, and only warm air came out, and it floated up into the dark and was gone.

The forest was quiet. Everyone’s toes were warm. Everyone’s eyes were closed.

Tobbin looked down at his own feet. Four small dragon feet, with four small sets of claws, resting on the cold ground.

They were cold. He had forgotten about those.

So he curled his long tail around himself, the way the hedgehog did. He tucked his nose down to his toes, the way the mice did. And he breathed out, slow and gentle.

“Hooo.”

Warm.

His toes went warm. His tummy went warm. The leaves under him went warm.

“Hooo,” he went again, softer.

His eyes were heavy. His wings, the size of two leaves, folded flat along his back.

Hooo.

The oak tree creaked, very quietly, the way old trees do when they are settling for the night.

Hooo.

The hedgehog slept. The mice slept. The deer slept. The badger snored, very softly, with his feet inside.

Hooo.

Tobbin’s breath went slow. In, cool. Out, warm. In, cool. Out, warm.

Tobbin’s eyes closed.

One more small warm breath, and then no more, just the quiet in and out of a very small dragon, fast asleep, with his toes nice and warm.

Hooo.

Goodnight, Tobbin.

How to read this one aloud

• Every “Hooo” is a real breath out. Make it long and soft, like you are warming your hands on a cold morning. If your child is near you, let a little of it reach them.
• Keep the walking parts at a normal, warm pace. Start slowing down when Tobbin sits under the oak tree, and get quieter with each “Hooo” after that.
• The natural pause point is right after “The snoring went on, a little softer.” If your child is asleep, stop there.
• If your child is still awake, ask: “Are your toes warm?” Then tuck the blanket over their feet and finish the story.
• At about 5 minutes this is a mid-length story. If your child does better with something shorter, see how long a bedtime story should be. If they want another gentle animal story after this one, try the dinosaur who breathed with the fireflies, or read bedtime stories by age to see what suits a 2 year old versus a 5 year old.