Just Look at that Child!

Yarden is five years old, but adults always look up at him. Not because he’s so tall, but because he’s always on top of something: a tree, a fence, or a high gate! Most of all, he loves climbing ladders. The grown-ups are always afraid, scolding him to come down and warning him how dangerous it is. But what Yarden really wants is for them to be proud and say: “Wow!” and “What a brave boy!” And he wants to tell them: “You worry that I’ll crack my skull but you don’t care what I feel in my heart.” But the words don’t come out right.

One day Grandma comes over in a panic and tells Yarden’s parents that her front door slammed shut, that Granddad is locked inside—sick—and she doesn’t have the key. What to do? Call a locksmith? The fire brigade? Everyone crowds around the old folks’ apartment. But not Yarden. He gets the ladder, puts it against the wall and starts climbing. Everyone gapes as he clambers up and slides through the window. And when he opens the front door, he hears applause and the words he loves most of all: “Bravo! You’re a hero!”

A sensitive tale for kids and for the adults who are raising them.