Foley Crow - Friend or Foe?

By Norma Charles

Can you spot a trickster? What if it is a friend? Our friends are important people in our lives. We laugh with them and we help each other when things are not so good. Some people who mean us harm start by pretending to be friends and then lead us into danger. Is Foley Crow a friend or foe?

Safeguarding young people is on every

• Language: English
• Publisher: Norma Charles
• Release date: Apr 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781915889621

Norma Charles

Norma Charles is the author of the bestselling picture book, See You Later, Alligator, and 11 previous children's novels, including the Sophie Alias Star Girl adventures with Dundurn, The Accomplish (nominated for a Sheila A. Egoff Award), and All the Way to Mexico (winner of the Chocolate Lily Award). She lives in Vancouver.

Book preview

Dedication

Safeguarding children of the world.

Acknowledgements

Simon and Diane-Kareen Crosby-Charles, Jennifer Charles-Jones, Di Hidson, Valda Murray, and Zena Popple. Thank you.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

PART 1

Puddleland Village Where the Merlin Crab Family Lives

Foley Crow in Puddleland Village

Burshell and Sammy Hiding

Foley Crow

Befriending the Twins

Burshell’s Protection of Sammy

Foley Crow Following the Twins

Sammy’s Anger Towards Burshell

Burshell’s Disclosure

PART 2

Parents’ Responsibility and Duty of Care

Response of the Safeguarding Authorities and Community Support

Foley Crow Attacks a Councillor

The Day of the Village Concert

The Arrest of Foley Crow

Summary for teachers, parents/carers

Quiz exploration for children

1

PART 1

Puddleland Village

Where the Merlin Crab

Family Lives

Puddleland was a quiet, beautiful village situated near the market town of Woodland Palm. Through the centre of the village flowed a large river where Mr and Mrs Merlin Crab lived with their family of four children.

Burshell and Sammy were nine years old and identical twins; the Merlins’ daughter Noontide was four years old, and baby Naxie had just celebrated her second birthday.

The village was a place where all the residents lived as peaceful neighbours in their different communities, giving each other support when it was needed.

Dotted around the village and the surrounding hillsides were many tall trees with leaves of different shapes and sizes. The leaves changed colours throughout the year.

In spring, tender, delicate shoots emerged like a child taking their first step into the world, and in the summer months, leaves developed from these tender shoots. Wildflower meadows came into their full beauty to attract the wildlife - flurries of butterflies, bees, moths, and other delightful visitors searching for food and nectar on which to feast.

When autumn arrived, the leaves turned bright shades of red and gold and took the scenery to the next level of outstanding natural beauty.

Finally, winter drew in to begin the cycle all over again, and to welcome other visitors, like hedgehogs, which had selected their favourite sleeping dens.

The Merlin twins, Sammy and Burshell, attended the local village school and were popular with their many friends. The family were happy and settled within the crab community in Puddleland Village.

Each day, Burshell and Sammy spent time diving in and out of the river, especially during the summer school holidays when they had less homework to do and more time to play.

Sometimes they had fun racing each other and their friends as they swam and water-skied or climbed onto warm steep pebbles to explore crevices they found.

Making sandcastles and holes in the dunes were some of their favourite pastimes. They were taught these activities by their parents, Mr and Mrs Merlin Crab, as an important part of growing up within the crab community.

The children played hide-and-seek in the holes in the dunes, and at other times, Sammy and Burshell splashed about blowing bubbles near the water’s edge.

Noontide and Naxie were considered too young to play with their brothers. They stayed at home with their mum, while their father worked away from home as a ‘hole in the dunes builder’.

Like most father crabs, he went out each day in the early morning and often returned during the afternoon, giving himself plenty of time to collect Sammy and Burshell from school during term times.

Sammy was the naughtiest of