A Beaver Bedtime Story: The Waterwheel's Day Off

This original beaver bedtime story is ready to read aloud. Benny discovers why his model waterwheel has stopped and gives its smallest visitor a say in the repair. Below the complete story, you will find a small way to adapt it together.

The Waterwheel's Day Off

Benny the beaver had built a waterwheel beside his workshop. It was a small model, no taller than his stool. A narrow stream turned the paddles, and the paddles turned a little painted duck on top.

Every morning the duck nodded toward the path. Visitors nodded back. Benny considered this an excellent use of a waterwheel.

On Friday the duck stopped nodding. Benny leaned over his workbench to look. The stream still ran. The paddles stood still. A twig had wedged between the wheel and its frame.

"Simple," Benny said, reaching for it.

"One moment," said a very small voice.

A spider sat at the twig's upper end. Between the twig and the frame stretched a newly finished web. Its threads caught the morning light. Benny pulled his paw back.

"You have built in my wheel," he said.

"It was standing still when I arrived."

Benny looked at the painted duck. It stared straight ahead with its beak slightly raised, as though waiting for an explanation. He wanted it nodding again before the morning visitors passed.

He offered the spider a corner above his workbench. Too dusty. He offered the handle of an old basket. Too often moved. The spider pointed toward a small wooden arch beside the window. Benny had made it for a picture frame, but the picture had turned out wider than expected.

"That looks possible," she said.

Benny placed the arch beneath the workshop eaves, where it would stay sheltered. He held the twig beside it while the spider climbed across. Then he waited. The first thread took longer than he expected. So did the second.

A rabbit stopped on the path. "Is the duck finished?"

"Taking a break," Benny said.

By lunchtime the spider had settled beneath the arch. Benny removed the twig from the waterwheel. The paddles moved, hesitated, then began turning steadily. Above them, the duck nodded again.

Benny washed his paws and brought his lunch to the workshop step. From there he could see the turning duck and the spider's new web. One moved all the time. The other stayed almost perfectly still.

When the rabbit passed again, she nodded to the duck. Benny pointed out the wooden arch too. She leaned closer, admired the fine threads and continued down the path without touching a thing.

One optional idea for reading together

Let your child choose the little flag on Benny's model. Keep the fallen twig and the visitor visible when retelling, so the repair follows something the reader has already noticed. The painted duck can have a name too, especially if your child likes giving names to objects. A drawing with a turning arrow is enough for a child who wants to show how the wheel works.

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