The wind shrieked. It howled around chimneys. And it whistled through the gaps in the stone wall, depositing stray snowflakes on the floor.

Mama Chipmunk called her tallest grandchildren to help hang quilts on the walls (the ones not already covered by bookshelves), and soon the library was as snug as a blanket fort.

While the snow stayed outside where it belonged and the quilts muffled the sound of the wind, the littlest chipmunk pulled a book from the shelf and sat in her grandmother’s comfiest chair, and her brothers and sisters piled onto the floor nearby. Mama Chipmunk brought out mugs of hot cocoa, and they were ready for their nightly read-aloud story time.

(Early January 2024)

Story © Jennifer Singleton / Read+Purr

This is another vignette in my ongoing series of Tiny Garden Stories: peaceful 1-minute tales that let you read like a kid again. Click one of the first two buttons below to go to (or back to, if that’s where you fell down the rabbit hole) either the “Public Garden” archive page or (if you’re a Story Club member) to the members-only “Private Garden” page. Or click the third button to learn more about my Tiny Garden Stories. If you’re new to Tiny Garden Story-land and would like 10 days’ worth of stories from our first year, visit ReadPurrNewsletter.com.