People ask for the list, so here it is, whole. Twenty-six letters, twenty-six faults, and the virtue standing next to each one.
The list
- A Aggression, a wild boar. Answered by calm.
- B Boastfulness, a swan. Answered by modesty.
- C Cowardice, a sheep. Answered by courage.
- D Deceit, a fox. Answered by honesty.
- E Envy, a chameleon. Answered by contentment.
- F Frivolity, a grasshopper. Answered by diligence.
- G Greed, a squirrel. Answered by generosity.
- H Haughtiness, a pufferfish. Answered by humility.
- I Impatience, a hare. Answered by waiting.
- J Jealousy, a snake. Answered by trust.
- K Know-it-all bossiness, a raccoon. Answered by listening.
- L Lying, the boy who cried wolf. Answered by truth.
- M Meanness, a hyena. Answered by kindness.
- N Nagging, a goose. Answered by asking once.
- O Obsession with power, an eagle. Answered by enough.
- P Pessimism, a deer. Answered by hope.
- Q Quarrelsomeness, two badgers. Answered by peace.
- R Rudeness, a donkey. Answered by manners.
- S Selfishness, a dog. Answered by sharing.
- T Thievery, a magpie. Answered by honesty about what is yours.
- U Ungratefulness, a gull. Answered by thanks.
- V Vanity, a peacock. Answered by simplicity.
- W Wastefulness, a walrus. Answered by care.
- X eXcess, a pig. Answered by enough again, differently.
- Y Yelling, a yak. Answered by a quiet voice.
- Z Zealotry, a zebra who insists on her own way. Answered by give and take.
The letters that fought back
Most of them arrived quickly. A few did not.
X nearly finished me. There is no fault beginning with X. Xenophobia is the obvious answer and I threw it out, because a fable for a five-year-old about xenophobia is either dishonest or frightening and I could not find a third road. eXcess uses the sound rather than the letter, which is cheating, and no child has ever objected.
K took weeks. Know-it-all is not one word and I still slightly resent it.
L was the opposite. The boy who cried wolf already exists, is already perfect, and needed nothing from me except putting into rhyme. It is the only fable in the book I did not invent, and I have never regretted leaving it alone.
The ones people ask about
Why a boar for aggression and not a bear. Because a bear is frightening and a boar is faintly ridiculous, and a five-year-old needs to be able to laugh at the fault before they can look at it.
Why the boy who cried wolf keeps his own name. He is the only human in the book. I tried an animal version and it lost everything, so I stopped.
Why two badgers for Q. Because quarrelsomeness needs two. A single quarrelsome animal has nobody to quarrel with, which sounds obvious and took me a fortnight.
Why faults and not virtues
Because a child can see a fault. They have felt impatience. "Patience" is a word adults use about children who are being quiet.
Name the thing they recognise, then put the way out beside it. Which is why the fault is in gold in the book and the virtue is on the card, the two of them together, never one without the other.
Where to find them
All twenty-six, with the fables, songs, karaoke, games and colouring pages, in the set at $49.95 during the launch.
Or take the animals for nothing: twenty-six free colouring posters, one per letter, and the list above will tell you which one to print on a difficult Tuesday.