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The Button Map: A Cozy Autumn Adventure About Courage and Big Feelings
Paperback
Series: Tales from the Misty Hills, Book 1
AnimalsChapter BooksGeneral Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Aug 1 2026
Pages: 84
Weight: 0.24
Height: 0.20 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Far beyond the misty hills, a village of shy mice lives beneath a great oak. Their winter stores are nearly empty, the frost has arrived months too soon, and the oldest mice have begun to whisper about a cold with no name - the Darkness, which does not bite or claw. It simply asks you to sit down, stop feeling, and rest forever.
One young mouse refuses.
With nothing but a packed bag, a smooth stone from the brook, and a carved wooden button that turns out to be both a map and a lantern, he sets out to find the legendary great pumpkin - the one from the old stories, the one that could feed his whole village through the winter.
Along the way he meets a wise old mole who saves him from an owl, a water spirit who charges a strange toll to cross her bridge, a Forest Maiden with a lantern of will-o'-the-wisps, a bonfire full of celebrating hedgehogs, a swarm of bats fleeing the same shadow he is, and a guardian at the roots of the Tree of Life. And he learns the only magic that works against the Darkness: say what you feel, out loud, and keep feeling it.
A cozy autumn quest with real emotional depth- Sixteen short chapters - one a night at bedtime, or a satisfying solo read for a confident young reader
- Emotional literacy woven into the plot, never lectured: naming your fear, sitting with frustration, admitting you need help, letting yourself rest without guilt
- Nordic forest atmosphere - northern lights, frost spirits, still water, glowing will-o'-the-wisps, and a slow river that carries the silent away
- Gentle, but not toothless - real stakes, real fear, and a hero who is frightened at every single step and goes anyway
Perfect for readers who loved woodland animal adventures and for any child who has been told to be brave when what they really needed was permission to be afraid.
Book one of Tales from the Misty Hills. Also on Kindle, free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
How can I be so frightened and so certain at the very same time? the mouse wondered. He did not know the answer. Perhaps it could only be learned by setting out.
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