She is never given a name
In the whole of the story she is only ever called the Never Bird. She has one scene. It is one of the bravest things anybody does in the entire book.
Meet the Characters
The True Story of the Never Bird
She has no name, and one scene, and most people forget it. Here is what she did.
Featured on the map at Mermaid Lagoon
Did you know?
She gave up her own nest
A storm came up in the lagoon and the tide rose over a rock, with a boy on it who could not fly and could not swim. She pushed her nest across the water to him.
The eggs were perfectly all right
In case you were worried. There were two of them, and they came through the whole business without a crack.
Would you rather?
So — would you rather be thanked for a small kindness, or simply do the thing and say nothing?
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Family reading companion
The True Story of the Never Bird
A short bedtime version — one screen. Read it aloud together.
She has no name. In all the story she is only ever called the Never Bird, and she has one scene, and most people forget it. Here is what she did.
There was a storm in the lagoon, and the tide came up, and there was a boy left on a rock in the middle of it who could not fly and could not swim.
And the Never Bird, who had a nest of her own, and two eggs in it, and every reason in the world to mind her own business, pushed that nest across the water to him. So that he could get in it. So that he could go home.
Nobody thanked her properly. Nobody ever does thank the ones who simply do the thing.
But the boy got home. And the eggs, in case you were worried, were perfectly all right.
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