Thorin Thistlebottom’s Yellow Button – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2022

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Deep in the woods, in a land not so far away, there once lived a little elf named Thorin Thistlebottom. Thorin was a very happy little elf. Of course, he was! He had everything he needed. He had a little house in the roots of a great big oak tree. He had a little bed covered with soft milkweed, he even had his own set of dishes made of acorn caps. But Thorin’s most prized possession – the one he treasured most of all – was the fine waistcoat his friends the woodland fairies had made him. A waistcoat is a fancy vest, and this one had six colourful buttons down the front: a red button, an orange button, a yellow button, a green button, a blue button, and a violet button – one for every colour of the rainbow. But Thorin’s favourite button was the yellow button – the shiny yellow button, as yellow as a buttercup.

Well as you can imagine, Thorin wore that waistcoat everywhere he went, whether he was gathering morning dew for his morning tea, or out visiting his friends. And Thorin had many friends – the woodland fairies, for starters, not to mention all the animals that lived nearby: birds, and bears, and rabbits, and otters – even the little fieldmice.

Now little elves like to get up early. As soon as Thorin heard the birds chirping in the branches of the big oak tree, he would spring out of bed, ready to start his day. But one morning, Thorin got up especially early. He had to plans to visit his sister, Freya Thistlebottom, on the far side of the woods. It was a long way to Freya’s house, especially for a little elf. But it was a lovely spring day, and as Thorin started off through the forest – wearing his fancy waistcoat, of course – he whistled a happy tune.

Every now and then Thorin would come to a little stream, and he would have to climb up onto a log to get across. And sometimes he had to scramble over roots that were taller than he was. And sometimes he would find himself squeezing through tangled bushes and brambles. But Thorin didn’t mind all the squeezing and scrambling. In fact, he rather liked it.

Thorin reached his sister Freya’s house just in time for afternoon tea. And what a lovely tea it was. Freya had made a whole tray-full of little cakes, which she served with wild strawberries and a pot of honey. And there was sweet elderberry tea to wash it all down. They had a very happy visit together, the two littles elves, with lots of laughter and good conversation.

In the late afternoon, Thorin started off for home. And he made it, all the way back to the great big oak tree just as the sun was going down. The little elf was very tired from all the scrambling over roots, and squeezing through brambles, and climbing across logs, so he tucked himself into his cozy bed and he went to sleep.

But in the morning when he got up, Thorin made a terrible discovery. One of the buttons on his waistcoat was missing. And not just any button. Not the red or orange or green button. Not the blue or violet button – but his favourite button – the yellow button, the shiny yellow button, as yellow as a buttercup.

Well, of course he retraced his steps immediately. He climbed over logs and under logs, over roots and under roots, through bushes and brambles and thickets. He went all the way to his sister’s house and back again, but there was no sign of his shiny yellow button.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” said the little elf. “What shall I do?”

Well, the word spread. All his friends heard about the missing button, and they started looking too: the birds and the bears and the rabbits and the otters – even the woodland fairies. But though they combed the forest, though they searched under every twig and leaf – no one could find the missing button . . .

. . . until a great big bullfrog came forward. (Ribbit, ribbit)

“I hear you’ve lost a yellow button,” said the big bullfrog.

“Oh yes,” Thorin said. “Did you find it?”

“I did,” said the bullfrog. “It was at the bottom of my pond.”  

The little elf clapped his hands, he was so happy. “Oh, that’s wonderful news. It’s my very favourite button.”

“Oh, no,” said the bullfrog.  “It’s my button now. Finders keepers.”

“But I need my yellow button,” said Thorin. “It belongs on my beautiful waistcoat, the one my friends the woodland fairies gave me.”

“Hmph,” said the bullfrog. “No one ever gives me anything beautiful.”

“I know!” said the little elf. “If I find something beautiful – something really beautiful – will you trade me for my yellow button?”

“Hmm,” said the bullfrog. “It depends what you bring me.”

So Thorin went away to look for something beautiful. And he found something almost at once – a white stone, smooth and round as a bird’s egg, with specks of gold and silver.

But when he brought it back to the bullfrog – the bullfrog was not impressed. “A white stone? Even with gold and silver specks, it’s not nearly as beautiful as my shiny yellow button.”

So, the little elf went off again. This time he went all the way the edge of the forest, to a meadow filled with wildflowers. The wildflowers were so colourful, they made Thorin’s heart sing just to look at them. “Oh, these flowers are beautiful,” he said to himself. “Really beautiful. The bullfrog will have to agree this time.” So the little elf quickly gathered a bouquet of bright pink and purple and orange and blue flowers, and he hurried back to the pond where the bullfrog was waiting.

“The flowers are beautiful now,” the bullfrog agreed, “but in a few days they’ll wither away. Not like my shiny yellow button. It will be beautiful forever.”

Poor Thorin wasn’t sure what to do then. The little elf thought, and he thought, and he thought – until he remembered the little silver looking glass that he had back in his house at the bottom of the oak tree. Now, a looking glass is the old-fashioned name for a mirror. Thorin’s looking glass was a little hand mirror that had been a gift from the woodland fairies – just like his waistcoat. And the little mirror was beautiful – made of polished silver. But would the bullfrog think it was beautiful? Beautiful enough to trade for the shiny yellow button?

The bullfrog took one look at the silver mirror . . . and began to smile – a great big bullfrog smile. “Oh,” said the bullfrog, “that is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” But the bullfrog wasn’t looking at the polished silver when he spoke those words; no, he was looking at his own reflection in the mirror. That’s what he thought was beautiful: his own, big, bullfrog face.

And so it was that everyone went home happy that day. The bullfrog was happy because he could now admire himself in his new looking glass any time he wanted. Thorin was happy because he had his shiny yellow button back. The little elf took it straight home and sewed it back on his waistcoat with the strongest thread he could find, so it would never come off again. And the other woodland creatures? Well, they were happy for their friend, of course!

And all the woodland creatures – the elves, the fairies, the animals – lived happily ever after – well, at least until the next adventure.

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