This is a story about Aiden’s Mum…
Once upon a time, in a cozy little town, there lived a happy boy named Aiden. With a heart full of joy, Aiden invited his best friends to his 7th birthday party.
Aiden couldn’t wait! He still remembered how much fun he had on his 6th birthday when his friends gave him lots of new toys that made him laugh and smile all day long.
One by one, Aiden’s friends began to arrive, all smiling and saying “Happy Birthday!” His heart raced with excitement as he couldn’t wait to swap his old toys for new ones.
But, to Aiden’s amazement, none of his friends brought any presents. Not a single one! Instead, they brought their favourite toys to share and play with together.
Lucy, Aiden’s best friend, whispered into his ear that his Mum had asked her Mum not to buy him a present this year, and that her Mum “didn’t approve”.
Try as he might to keep smiling, the day just didn’t feel quite as magical as Aiden had hoped. After his friends left, he quietly slipped away to his room and closed the door.
Later that night, Aiden’s Mum sat beside his bed and told him that the best gift of all wasn’t wrapped in fancy paper, but it was the time spent with friends and the kindness they showed by sharing their favourite toys with him.
As Aiden tried to fall asleep, a wave of uncertainty washed over him. He couldn’t help but wonder if his Mum still loved him.
At school the next day, Aiden learned about fossil fuels. These were like magical powers that helped grown-ups do many things, like drive cars and make toys.
Aiden and his friends discovered that using too much of these magical powers could make things worse, not better.
They found out that all living things around them – plants, animals and nature – were like a big team in a special game.
The children were told that grown-ups sometimes thought they were winning the game by being the most clever. But if they didn’t take care of plants, animals and nature, they would lose the game in the end.
Aidan and his friends learned that looking after their toys, sharing them with friends and being nice to nature would help make the future happy.
They also learned that by taking care of the world, they were creating a magical and wonderful future for everyone.
Aidan went to sleep that night feeling sure that his Mum really loved him.
The end.
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Once upon a time, there was another boy called Robert. When he was about 23 years old, he read a book called ‘Small is Beautiful’. It felt like all the thoughts he had in his head were finally written down and explained in a better way.
Robert set about connecting with like-minded people, so he introduced himself to the Schumacher Society and subscribed to Resurgence magazine. Two years later, he concluded that it was all too high-brow for his tastes. This inspired him.
For years now, I’ve been wanting to turn Small is Beautiful into a children’s story. Aiden’s tale is Chapter 1, which explains the problem of production.
Honestly, I don’t think it’s turned out great as I think there would be better ways to teach Aiden this message whilst inspiring Lucy’s Mum – I’m no children’s writer!
I decided to publish it anyway as I feel it still demonstrates in its own subtle way that tackling climate change requires a huge behavioural shift by billions of people. Which begs the question: do you know anyone who’d be as brave as Aiden’s Mum?
The service designer in me would love a crack at this challenge!
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For any young readers, the ‘jackanory’ tag is named after a great children’s TV series. Ah, the innocence of youth, though I’m going to try writing about things we weren’t taught in school.
The ‘small is beautiful’ tag is named after the book “Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered” by E.F.Schumacher. If it’s not already obvious, ‘What is beautiful?’ is a play on words because, while we all understand I feel where the world is generally heading, what we’re less certain of is what we (both individually and collectively) can do about it. WIB is asking that question.