Tilibou
Pantin Tells the Story of Emma's Dad
A bedtime story for children. Tonight, someone is coming home: a step on the stairs, a key in the lock, and Dad is back from work. Emma runs to him as fast as she can. "Dad! Dad!" He lifts her up for a big hug, loud and laughing, with Mochi, her lovey, squeezed between them. Poc-poc goes Mochi's heart, because a hug from Dad counts double. And right against Dad's heart, Mochi hears a beat almost like his own. After the bath and the pajamas, Dad and Mom both say good night, each with a kiss, and Mom adds the lighthouse kiss that stays lit all night long. Emma falls asleep, safe and surrounded. In the Evening World, the shelf hello begins as always, but Pantin, all made of wood, is deep in thought. He recognized Dad's laugh. He has known it for a very, very long time, even before Mochi existed, even before Emma. So Pantin tells his story. A long time ago, he was the lovey of a little boy, two and a half years old, just like Emma. That little boy was afraid of the dark too, and he held on tight, so tight. Every evening, Pantin did the shelf hello with his toys, put away his little worries, and showed him his lighthouse kiss. That little boy was Emma's dad. He grew up, but he never packed Pantin away in a box: he kept him high up on a shelf, then gave him to Emma almost on the day she was born, the very first gift. This story about when Daddy was little helps your child understand that grown-ups were small once too, with the same fears and the same need for a lovey. Tenderness passes from one generation to the next, from lovey to lovey. It is the treasure of the collection, a secret told only once, and a lovely way to share family memories at bedtime. From his old wooden pocket, Pantin takes out a very old, pale yarn ball: Dad's very first hug, from when he was a little boy. He has kept it all this time. Mochi opens his heart and adds it to his Cuddle Box, where it joins Emma's golden ones like a big sister welcoming a little sister. Two children, one single wooden lovey, two Cuddle Boxes answering each other. Then Pantin starts another story, by the fireside with a hot cocoa, and falls asleep in the middle of it, like every night. No one tells Emma out loud that her dad was once a scared little boy: the secret stays in the Evening World, told softly by the one who knows it best. Pantin shares it with pride and with love: this way of passing tenderness from one child to another is the whole spirit of Tilibou bedtime stories. And in the morning, in the living room, Dad drinks his coffee, without knowing that Pantin tells his secret every night to anyone willing to listen. A screen-free lovey story for children from age 2, perfect to enjoy warm and cozy at bedtime, in the car, or before a nap. As always with Tilibou, the ending stays soft and quiet, without music, so your child can drift off to sleep without waking anyone up.
