Anxious Hare
About This Story
Join Zoey the hare on her very first day of Forest School! Usually, Zoey loves to run and race, but today, she feels strange. Her tummy is full of ticklish butterflies, her heart is thumping loud, and her paws feel wobbly. She wants to hide under her blanket, but a wise friend helps her see things differently. This comforting story teaches children about handling first-day jitters and anxiety. It shows that the nervous feeling in your tummy—often called "butterflies"—isn't something to be afraid of. Young readers will learn that fear and excitement feel very similar, and that those butterflies are actually just the body's way of getting ready for a big, new adventure!
Hi there! It’s me, Zoey! Tell me, is my left ear standing up straight 🎵? And what about the right one 🎵? Are my whiskers shaking 🎵?
I am a hare, and usually, I am the fastest little animal in all 🎵 of Pine Corner. I love to run, jump, and race against the wind. But that morning… oh, that morning my paws didn’t want to run at all 🎵. They felt soft and wobbly, just like cotton balls.
It was My Big Day. The very first day of Forest School under the Great Pine.
I woke up early and felt something very strange in my tummy. It felt like I had swallowed a whole flock of ticklish butterflies, and they were having a flying race right inside my belly 🎵! I felt dizzy, fizzy, and squeezy.
“I’m not going!” I cried, hiding under my mossy blanket 🎵. “I’m sick. I have a bad case of the belly-butterflies!”
Mom just smiled and gave me a delicious clover for breakfast. But I couldn’t eat a single bite. My heart was beating so loudly 🎵—thump-thump, thump-thump—that I was afraid it would wake up all the neighbors.
I walked out of the house very slowly 🎵 (which is not like me at all!). I headed toward the Great Pine, stopping every few steps to fix my backpack.
“What if nobody likes me?” I thought. “What if I don’t know the answers? What if I trip over my own ears 🎵?!”
Suddenly, I heard the soft woosh of wings. Sophia Owl landed on a branch right above me. She adjusted the glasses 🎵 on her beak and looked down at me with wise eyes.
