Calm Pond

By Richard Clarke

Are you looking for the ideal bedtime book for your child? A book where you and your child can connect to strong characters and develop essential life skills through fun?

Then look no further than Calm Pond!

Calm Pond is in Blackstone Edge. It is a wonderful place, a special place.

It can be quiet and beautiful, but it can also be noisy and fun as it is the home of some amazing creatures!

The creatures of Calm Pond live and work together, helping each other to form a strong community.

The nine short stories cover many topics to help children understand many life issues, such as equality, resilience, honesty, change, strengths and weaknesses, anxiety, differences, empathy, and bereavement.

Calm Pond – educating and entertaining!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Dec 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035813582

Richard Clarke

Richard Clarke was born in 1969, a proud Bradfordian. A trained PE teacher at Carnegie College, Leeds, he spent nearly 30 years in the education sector. The majority of his experience was as Head of Pastoral at a large secondary school in Halifax.

Book preview

Calm Pond

Richard Clarke

Austin Macauley Publishers

Calm Pond

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Acknowledgment

Prologue

Introduction

Story 1. Danti Duck Loses Her Quack

Story 2. The Golden Balloon

Story 3. Sports Day

Story 4. Reach for the Stars

Story 5. Green Day

Story 6. Sheep Egg

Story 7. A Beautiful Friend

Story 8. Healing Tears

Story 9. Going My Way

About the Author

Richard Clarke was born in 1969, a proud Bradfordian. A trained PE teacher at Carnegie College, Leeds, he spent nearly 30 years in the education sector. The majority of his experience was as Head of Pastoral at a large secondary school in Halifax.

Dedication

In memory of Agnes Morrell.

Copyright Information ©

Richard Clarke 2023

The right of Richard Clarke to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035813575 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035813582 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgment

Many thanks to Sarah Morrell for her literary guidance and George Clarke for his artwork.

Prologue

The need to educate our children about life skills and being kind to others is essential, both at home and at school.

This book is aimed at Key Stage 1 school children. It is not a text book. It is a series of short stories aimed at promoting discussion and guidance, perhaps best used in PSHCE and assemblies.

We need to do all we can to create kind children who are better equipped to deal with difficult situations.

Introduction

Calm Pond is in Blackstone Edge. It is a wonderful place, a special place. It is quiet and beautiful. You could say it is my heaven on earth.

It is not just my special place, though. It is also the home of some amazing creatures. The creatures of Calm Pond live together, work together and help each other to form a strong community.

The following stories are about these creatures, my friends.

Richard Clarke

Story 1

Danti Duck Loses Her Quack

Danti

Danti Duck loved Calm Pond. She had lived there since she was a duckling. Her favourite thing was her quack. She quacked in the frost and snow of winter mornings. She quacked on hot summer nights as the sun was about to set.

You might say she was totally quackers!

Danti had many friends at Calm Pond, but one of her best friends was Tommy Toad. Tommy and Danti loved playing ‘Duck Boat.’ The idea of the game was simple. Tommy jumps on Danti’s back, and then Danti tries to knock him off by speeding up, slowing down and moving from side to side. They would play this for hours, Tommy