Noreen Philippa Hesthammer

The Stump Gump Noreen Philippa Hesthammer

Mother Nature honours a decaying stump for being a kind, inclusive host to a wide variety of lives. With the help of some rain and sun, a few trees and a good fairy, she transforms the stump into an elf called the Stump Gump. The Gump is warmly welcomed by everyone in his forest home. As he gets to know his neighbours, he meets bears and rabbits, birds and squirrels and bees-but no one who is quite like him. When he decides to search for another Stump Gump, his friend Bluebird directs him to "the pond on the hill by the red cedar stump," where he has a life-changing experience. In a magical moment we couldn't possibly spoil for the reader, his feeling of being separate is transformed into a feeling of belonging.