The Riddle of the Robin

• A Fine Feathered Friend
• Gifts for the Robin
• Splish, Splash
• Oh, No! Where’d It Go?
• Following Willa
• Which Way’s Which?
• Willa Finds Out
• All’s Well That Ends Well
• For Parents

A Fine Feathered Friend

Willa dances a happy jiggle as she waits for her friends, the WellieWishers. She has a wonderful surprise to show them. When they all arrive, she urges them to put on their wellingtons and join them. Carrot, their pet bunny, hops alongside the girls as they scramble to put their boots on.

Willa leads the way down to the maple tree, where she points to a cozily nestled little bright yellow flower in the roots. Willa explains it’s a crocus, which indicates spring is here. Emerson giddily exclaims that she loves spring; it’s her favorite season. She starts bouncing up and down with energy. Kendall agrees that she loves springtime, especially March. That gives her an idea, and she pretends to play a flute and begins marching in place. All the girls fall into line and march after Kendall.

Suddenly, Willa hears a cherry little whistle fill the air. Too-wheet. She shushes her friends, and listens closely. Willa pulls her friend over to the sounds. And there in the branch of the maple tree, she sees a stout bird with gray wings and a bright red chest. It’s a robin! Willa shares that this must be the first robin of spring. The girls all too-wheet with the robin.

The girls admire how shiny the robin’s red chest feathers are. Willa calmly tells the robin she’d like the robin to stay. Willa understands animals, and the robin seems to understand Willa back. The robin puffs out its chest and sings.

Then Emerson rises up on her toes and announces she’s came up with a new song. To the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” she sings:

  Sing to us your song so sweet,
  Song so sweet, song so sweet.
  Sing to use your song so sweet:
  Too-wheet, too-wheet, too-wheet.

  Since you’re back we know it’s spring,
  Know it’s spring, know it’s spring.
  Since you’re back we know it’s spring.
  Too-wheet, too-wheet, too-wheet.

The bird, as if delighted, chirps along.

Gifts for the Robin

The next day after school, the girls rush to go visit the robin. They see it perching on the same skinny branch as the day before. Willa holds up a book she brought, all about birds. Camille, Ashlyn, and Kendall hold up a birdfeeder, birdseed, and a water dish. And Emerson holds up a big hat decorated with flowers and origami paper cranes—she calls it a bird hat!

They set up the items for the robin. When the robin seeds the birdseed in the birdfeeder, it seems curious. It hovers nearby, and then flies around it in a circle. Then it goes right back to the skinny branch. The girls wonder if there’s something wrong with the gifts, and that’s why the robin doesn’t want them.

Willa turns some pages in her book. Then she states that robins don’t eat birdseed, so they don’t go to birdfeeders. Willa says the garden has plenty of food for the robin. She rolls over the rotten log she was sitting on. The book says robins like to eat beetles, bugs, worms, and grubs.

“Ew!” the WellieWishers exclaim! Camille recites a jingle:

  Beetles, bugs, worms, and grubs:
  That sounds soooo delicious.
  Beetles, bugs, worms, and grubs.
  Our robin’s favorite dishes!

With a wrinkle of her nose, Ashlyn says she doesn’t like the beetles. Willa explains that beetles are hardworking creatures. They chew dead wood and help break it down to little bits so it can become part of the dirt. Emerson jokes around that they should put together a plate of yummy bugs for the robin. They can serve worm spaghetti, with a side order of squooshed bugs and some icky beetles for dessert.

All the girls agree, but most of them are grossed out by the idea of touching the robin’s food. Willa isn’t bothered by the bugs, and puts together a cup out of leaves, worms, and beetles. After Willa sets the bowl down on the ground, all the girls take several steps back so they don’t scare the robin. After a while, the robin flits down to the bowl and picks up a worm. Then it flies back to its branch. The girls laugh.

Splish, Splash

While the robin eats, Kendall takes down the birdfeeder and scatters the birdseed. She puts the water dish at the bottom of the tree. And then suddenly, the robin comes down and lands in the dish of water. As if taking a bath, the robin dips its head over and over into the water. The water splashes around.

Emerson, inspired by the robin, jumps into a puddle. She dips her head and flutters her arms, as if she is also a bird. She’s fluttering her limbs so fast that suddenly, her wellington flies off her foot! It twists and turns in the air, landing on the roof of the playhouse. “Oops,” says Emerson. Camille says they’ll have to ask Aunt Miranda later to help them get it down. But in the meantime, Ashlyn keeps some spare wellies in the playhouse that Emerson can wear. She pulls a yellow one onto her other leg, so she has on mismatched boots.

Oh, No! Where’d It Go?

Over the next couple weeks, they see the same robin on the same branch. Each day, they pick up worms and beetles for the robin to eat as a snack. Camille is in charge of ensuring its bathtub is always full of water. And Emerson leads them in singing their robin song each day, and in response, the robin sings back.

One night, there’s a big storm. The wind blows hard, and it shakes the branches of the maple tree. When the WellieWishers come back to the garden the next day, they find that for the first time in two weeks, the branch is empty—the robin isn’t there.

Desperately, the girls look high and low for the robin. They call out to it, and sing to it. They try to hold out bugs and worms for it. But it doesn’t come back. The robin is gone.

Following Willa

Willa suggests that maybe the robin flew to another part of the garden, where it’d be safer during the storm. Ashlyn’s concerned it may be hurt or lost. Emerson suggests looking for it. Willa rushes into the playhouse. She returns with a pair of binoculars on her neck and a backpack. In her backpack, she’s stashed her bird book, a map of the garden, some granola bars, water, cups, and her compass. She’s ready to go!

Willa leads all the girls deeper into Aunt Miranda’s massive garden. They keep their eyes open for the robin, and also look at all the plants and creatures they see. Camille almost gets herself into trouble with some poison ivy, before Willa mentions that’s only trouble!

Then, Kendall points out a faint nest in a tree. Willa takes out her binoculars and looks closely. Each of the girls take turns looking at the nest, and comparing it to the bird book. She eventually comes to the conclusion that it’s a wood duck’s nest, not a robin’s nest. Ashlyn jokes around that it’s kind of quackers that a duck made a nest in a tree. Emerson comes up from behind and asks if they can have their snack now… she’s hungry.

Looking down, Willa realizes it’s too wet and soggy to sit where they are. They should go back to the playhouse to eat their snack. Emerson complains she’s hungry now, and Ashlyn reminds everyone that they still haven’t found the robin. Willa, trying to cheer everyone up, says maybe the robin is back at the maple tree now. They should go look!

Camille looks around. “Which is the way back?” she asks, turning to Willa. Willa turns around a few times, before admitting that she doesn’t know. They went off the path when they saw the duck’s nest. Emerson slumps onto a tree stump, complaining that she’s tired. But Ashlyn and Camille fear they’re lost.

Which Way’s Which?

Willa says not to worry… she brought her compass. She explains the arrow points north, and because Aunt Miranda once told her the playhouse is in the north part of the garden, then should head that direction. It shouldn’t take that long for them to find the playhouse. All the girls follow Willa as she leads the way. Emerson lags behind, dragging her feet.

When they all see the playhouse, they break out into a run. They found their way home! All except for Emerson, whose pace barely changes. “At last,” she sighs.

Willa takes out the granola bars and water from her backpack. But then, she sees something on the roof of the playhouse. It’s the robin! Emerson _too-wheet_s to try to get it to sing back. All the girls start to sing to encourage the robin. And then, the robin cries a horrible “Scrrreech!” It continues to shriek and squawk at the girls, and then suddenly dives at them. They take several steps back. It dives even lower towards them. They notice the robin is diving right to Carrot!

Willa Finds Out

Camille bends down, picks up Carrot, and then all the girls dash away from the playhouse. When they get to safety, Emerson’s tears fill with tears; the robin scared her. Willa says she doesn’t know why the robin acted that way. But her bird book wrote that if an animal’s behavior changes, there’s probably a good reason for it. So why did their robin become so unfriendly all of a sudden?

Willa takes a deep breath, and says she’s going to find out. Willa creeps back toward the playhouse where she left her binoculars. The robin shrieks at her loudly and flaps its wings. She stands on a tree stump and peers through the binoculars. Then she realizes and calls over her friends.

All’s Well That Ends Well

The robin laid a nest inside of Emerson’s boot! She counts four baby birds. The robin is merely protecting its family. They each take a chance to peer through the binoculars and see the baby chicks. They watch as the robin swoops down and pulls a worm from a mud puddle, then brings it back to the nest to share between the babies. The girls giggle.

Then Emerson remembers: they never had their snack! Suddenly, Willa laughs. Emerson’s behavior changed because she was hungry and tired, just like the robin’s behavior changed. She agrees, it’s time for a snack.

Then, the girls start to feel a sprinkle of rain. They agree they should probably go inside the playhouse to eat, but with the robin’s nest right above the door, how are they going to get inside? Kendall suggests climbing in quietly through the back window so they don’t disturb the birds.

One by one, they slide through the open window. Once they’re inside, they eat their yummy snacks. They’re all safe and sound in their nest, just like the little bird family. And from their nest inside the playhouse, they can hear the too-wheet of the birds in their nest on the roof.

For Parents

Discusses engaging with nature and learning about what’s in your backyard. Topics include:

• Feeding birds
• Making a birdfeeder and display bird
• Turning over rocks or logs to look at what’s underneath