MOLLY MOPAND THE

LITTLE WIZARD

Molly MopAnd

The Little WizardBy

Michael A Westland and Eamon McCreave

Sponsored by

Molly Mop and the Little Wizard

Foreword

When you are a child, you can creep into books and hide there. When you are an adult reading a good children’s book, you can almost recall what it once felt like to be a child, when the world of imagination opens up with all its magic, monsters, hopes and fears. This is why I loved Molly Mop and the Little Wizard. It is so sensitively scripted and so creatively and humorously illustrated, it allowed me once again to enter the safe realm of childhood imaginings, which, in the long spent experience of my own upbringing, harboured so many hours of mystery and salvation.

And yet, Molly Mop and the Little Wizard is no ordinary book of magical mystery; it is in fact an enchanted story with an inherently tragic and profound storyline but one which is too frequently commonplace in many children’s lives. The subject matter it deals with is the traumatic and highly personalized experiences of childhood abuse. A difficult reality for adults to face, as protectors of children, and an unbearable experience for individual children to rationalize. In spite of that Molly Mop and the Little Wizard addresses this difficult topic in a sensitive manner which, on the one hand, is tangibly and tragically real and, on the other, inspirationally and movingly transformative.

In truth, we actually know a great deal about what happens when children’s trust is abused and they are hurt physically, emotionally, sexually and soulfully. An accumulated body of published research has told us that children keep secrets, blame themselves, dissociate their experience, become sad and depressed, feign invisibility, lose confidence, and develop ritual patterns of behaviour in order to cope with the dreadful feelings that threaten to flood their integrity and innocence – just like Molly does! The diagnostic criteria are all too familiar to those of us who work closely with children and have been drilled through the required training programmes for child protection. And yet, what we are profoundly less assured of is how to raise this subject in a preventative manner with children and, more crucially, what to do in order to help those sorely affected deal with the emotional impact of their abuse. Very frequently, it feels too deeply private and controversial a space to trespass.

What Molly Mop and the Little Wizard does so remarkably well is to open the door safely to this inner world of what it feels like to be abused and misused and, through the magical motifs of wizards, good and bad, toads and talking guitars, singing birds and schoolbags, allows us to step in sensitively, use the language of symbols and thus share possibilities for exploring, understanding and healing with children. The core message, of course, is that the power for recovery lies within, but so much the better if children do not have to manage this discovery alone and can access their own Roger (or Rebekkah!) the Wizard. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s time to relax, adopt the posture of a child and begin to read the story.

Ruth Leitch Ph.D. MA. MSc

School of Education, Queen’s University, Belfast

Molly MopAnd

The Little Wizard

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Molly Mop. The day she was born her father gave her this very special name because of her beautiful, black hair.

Molly Mop lived with her parents in a small house in the country. Her room had one small window through which the sun shone in the morning and the moon shone at night. It had a very comfortable bed, a dressing table, a chair, a box for her toys and books and a wardrobe. Molly Mop kept her little red schoolbag of treasures in the bottom of her wardrobe and every time she opened the bag a lovely warm glow filled the room. Molly Mop knew with all these lovely things safely in her bag she would never lose them and she would always have nice dreams.

1

She was a very happy girl who loved climbing trees, skipping, her mum’s chocolate cake and wearing bright, colourful dresses.

2

When Molly Mop was really happy she would sing and she really had the most beautiful voice. She sang so well that all the birds from far and near would come to sing with her. Everyone said that she sang like a bird.

3

Molly Mop’s most special place in the entire world was a clearing in the nearby wood where she went nearly every day, except when it was raining. Molly Mop just loved to sit on a big tree stump and sing to the birds, while listening to them singing to her.

She had so many happy memories that, one day while sitting in the clearing with her red schoolbag on her lap, she made herself a promise.”I will always remember sitting on this tree stump and singing to the birds.” She then put this promise in her red schoolbag with all her other wonderful memories and went home to hide the bag at the bottom of her wardrobe.

4

For her birthday her parents wanted to buy her a guitar but they wouldn’t go shopping and leave Molly Mop on her own. So they waited until Uncle Ben came for his weekly visit.

Uncle Ben wasn’t really her uncle but this was the name by which Molly Mop had always known him. Uncle Ben was in fact an old man who lived on his own and each week he came into the village to do his shopping. On his way home he called to see Molly Mop and her parents and he brought her a special treat, such as a packet of sweets or her favourite comic. It was always a lovely surprise.

5

Uncle Ben came to Molly Mop’s house the day before her birthday but this time he had a special present for her – a Raggedy Ann doll. She was so busy playing with her new doll that she did not notice her parents whispering to Uncle Ben that they wanted to go to town to buy a birthday present for their daughter. They asked him if he would mind staying with her until they returned.

When they came back they were so happy to hear Uncle Ben saying, “Everything was just fine. Molly Mop was a very good girl. She sang for me and I enjoyed looking after her.” But Molly Mop said nothing; she just played with her Raggedy Ann Doll. Her daddy noticed how quiet Molly Mop was but he said nothing.

6

That night, Molly Mop could not sleep. She tossed and turned and twisted in the bed but she just couldn’t get to sleep. She felt so strange. After what seemed a very, very long time Molly Mop got up, sat on the edge of the bed and began to cry, but she just didn’t know why. All she could remember was that Uncle Ben had asked her to sing. And she remembered the big warts on his hands when he picked her up, sat her on his knee and hugged her. It felt awful – like being held by a big, ugly toad! She certainly did not like it.

Molly Mop wondered if it was her singing that had turned nice Uncle Ben into that big, horrible toad with warts.

“It was only when I started to sing that he began to turn into a toad. It was my fault. I will never ever sing again”, she promised herself.

She hoped she could get rid of all these bad memories by putting them in her red schoolbag. But as soon as she did, the lovely warm glow that came from her lovely memories disappeared. Molly Mop cried and cried and cried until she fell asleep.

7

The following day was her birthday and Molly Mop’s parents gave her a present of a lovely guitar. Molly Mop was so pleased: If anyone asked her to sing she could always say no and give the reason that she would only sing when she had learned to play the guitar. “I can’t do two things at the same time!”

That night, Molly Mop still could not get to sleep. She crept out of bed, picked up her guitar and sat down on the chair. The moonlight streamed into her room through the little window and Molly Mop began to play quietly so as not to waken anyone in the house. But she did not sing. Only when she felt very, very tired, did she go back to bed and sleep.

And the next night she played the guitar. And she did the same thing, night after night. In fact she played every night for a very long time.

8

9

After a while Molly Mop’s mother found out what she was doing. She told her to go to sleep at night and play the guitar during the day. So Molly Mop went back to her special place in the forest but things were just not the same. It was as if the sun no longer shone and the birds did not sing. It seemed that all the flowers had disappeared and so she just sat on the tree stump and looked at her guitar.

Everything was terribly quiet and now Molly Mop felt scared of being on her own.

10

11

So she found another place much closer to the edge of the forest, under an old tree. In the shadow of this big tree no ugly toad would ever see her and so she would be safe.

After that, whenever she went back to play her guitar in the woods, she always wore dark clothes. These helped her disappear into the shadows of the big tree. Not only could the bad toads not hear her, but now they couldn’t even see her!

One day Molly Mop just wanted to be alone so she went to the forest again where no one could see her. She sat under the tree, lifted her guitar and played very softly. As usual, the tunes she played were sad ones.

Suddenly she heard a voice.” Hello Molly Mop. May I have a word with you? Please.” Molly Mop could not move because she was so frightened. Could it be that Ugly Toad? Molly Mop’s head began to spin and she thought that she was going to faint.

12

“Where are you? Who are you? What are you doing here? Where did you come from? How long have you been here? What do you want from me?” Molly Mop asked all these questions in one breath.

“Oh dear, dear, dear. So many questions and all at one time! I’m over here on this branch where I always sit”, said the voice. Molly Mop looked and saw a very little man sitting on the branch. He had a white beard, a pointed hat and a very colourful cloak and he was smiling a nice smile.

13

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Roger the Wizard, but you may call me Wizard and I am here to help you”. As Molly Mop watched, Wizard grew and grew until he was the same size as her. “How did you do that?” asked Molly.

“Oh I can make myself as big as a tree or as small as a mouse. But, for today, I think this size is just right.”

“You cannot be real. I’ve never seen you before. I must be dreaming because there are no such things as wizards!” Molly Mop was so surprised that she could barely get the words out. She just couldn’t believe her eyes. But she did not feel afraid.

Molly Mop did not know what to say, so she asked “What do you want from me?”

“Now, as I have answered all your questions, I have two for you. Why are all the tunes you play so sad and why have you stopped singing?”

”I play sad tunes because I am sad and I can’t sing”, she mumbled.

“Of course you can sing! You have a beautiful voice”, said Wizard, “I’ve heard you often enough to know”.

“Well, maybe I can sing, but I won’t sing in front of people”.

14

“And why not?” asked Wizard, “you have a beautiful voice and I love listening to it. But it’s the sad songs that I don’t like. Why are you so sad?”

“I’m not sad”, snapped Molly Mop.

“Of course you are!” said Wizard. “Sad people sing sad songs.”

Molly Mop had not thought of this before. And yet it must be true because she cried so often. But why was she sad? As soon as she asked herself this question, the picture of the big, ugly toad came to her mind.

“Alright, maybe I am sad. But it’s because the last time I sang for Uncle Ben, he turned into a huge, nasty toad. So I stopped singing in front of other people because they change and they are not nice”, said Molly Mop, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the ground. “Honestly, I don’t want to turn people into nasty toads ever again”

Wizard took off his pointed hat and scratched his head. “Oh! I see”, he said. Molly Mop looked up. “What do you see?” she asked.

Wizard looked straight at Molly Mop and said, ”I saw Uncle Ben going to your home and on his way he met a wicked wizard who went with him. It was the wicked wizard who changed him into a toad, not your singing”.

15

“But I didn’t see a wicked wizard”, said Molly Mop.

“Of course you didn’t!” said Wizard,” and you never saw a good wizard like me until now. We wizards can do magical things. We can change ourselves into anything we want. And we can change people into what they would like to be. Good wizards help to make good people even better but wicked wizards only want people to be bad.”

16

Molly Mop found this vey strange. “Can you really change yourself into something else? Could you turn yourself into a guitar if you wanted to?” she asked.

“Of course! Not a problem” said Wizard, and Molly Mop found that the guitar, which was across her knees, was looking up at her and talking! She jumped up, quite startled, and the guitar fell to the ground with a bang. “Ouch!” said the guitar, “that hurt.”

It took Molly Mop a few minutes to get over her surprise. By then Wizard had returned to his seat on the branch and was smiling at her.

“See! I told you that I could turn myself into all kinds of things”.

17

“Does that mean you could turn me into something nasty?” asked Molly Mop with a worried look on her face.

“Of course not! I wouldn’t dream of changing you at all. I like you the way you are”, explained Wizard with a smile.

Molly Mop was quiet again. She was confused and didn’t know what to say. She thought that no one would like her after what she had done to Uncle Ben.

“Will you change me into something better? Please”.

“If you want to turn yourself into something better, then I can help you. I can show you how to do it, but, you must do the changing. Nobody can do that for you, not even a wizard like me”.

For the first time in a very long time Molly Mop smiled. “When do I start?”

18

“You’ll know when the time comes. But now you must go home because it’s nearly dinner time and your mother will be looking for you. I will see you soon”. And with that, Wizard disappeared.

19

Molly Mop did not tell her parents about Wizard. But then, she had not told them about Uncle Ben either. She just didn’t think that grown ups would be interested in toads and wizards! It just seemed better to tell them nothing. However, her parents had noticed how quiet she had become. They were very worried that she no longer sang.

“What’s the matter with her?” asked her father.

“I don’t know”, replied her mother, “but I think I know what we should do. If Molly Mop won’t sing to the birds anymore, let’s find a bird that will sing to her! This might start her singing again.”

20

A few days later Molly Mop went into her bedroom to find a little songbird in a beautiful golden cage

Molly Mop was really pleased. Now she had someone to tell all about wizards and toads. She told the little bird how she had turned Uncle Ben into an ugly toad. She also said that Wizard had a different story. He believed that a wicked wizard had changed Uncle Ben.

But no matter what Molly Mop said to the songbird, it refused to make a sound. Instead of singing, it just hopped around its cage while keeping a careful eye on Molly Mop.

21

Back in Molly’s school, everyone was getting ready for the concert. All the children were excited. They had been practising their singing and dancing for such a long time and could hardly wait for the big day.

Molly Mop was also excited. However, there was no way she would go on a stage. Nobody was going to make her sing and dance before all the pupils and their parents! But then, nobody had asked her to sing and dance. To everyone else Molly Mop was just a shy little girl who was very good at playing the guitar. The best place for Molly Mop was with the class musicians who sat on the floor, in front of the stage, with their backs to the audience. This made Molly Mop very happy.

On the night of the concert, Molly Mop put on a nice dress and, with her guitar and her parents went off to school.

When she arrived, she went to the back of the stage with the other girls and boys who were in the orchestra. Suddenly there was a call for silence and the school principal began to speak. “Children, I have some very bad news. Our lead singer has come down with the flu and she cannot sing tonight. I’m afraid we will have to cancel the concert...unless we can find someone to take her place.”

All the children were very quiet. Everyone had worked so hard for such a long time and the thought of having no concert was just awful. In fact it was so awful that some of the children began to cry.

22

“Is there any girl in the class who knows the songs and can sing?” asked the class teacher. Nobody said a word. Molly Mop – like all the other girls – sat with her head down so that no one would see her.

Suddenly, Wizard popped out of her pocket and said, “Come on Molly Mop. You wanted to change. Here is your chance!”

“Shhh! Oh please be quiet”, whispered Molly Mop,” people will see and hear you!”

“No they won’t. Only you can see and hear me but if you go onto that stage then everyone will see and hear you.”

“That’s what scares me”, said Molly Mop, “people will turn ugly if they hear me sing”.

23

“No Molly Mop that is not true”, answered Wizard. “Did I turn into a nasty toad when you sang? Of course I didn’t. As you can see I am still my pleasant and charming self! So just pop me into your pocket and go out there and sing. I will help you charm everyone with your singing”.

“You will?” asked Molly Mop with surprise.

“Of course I will”, promised Wizard. “You know I can change people into what they want to be and everyone out there wants to be charmed by your singing. But I cannot charm them by myself. You must help me and you must take the first step.”

”But I am still scared”, whispered Molly Mop.

“So are all the other children, scared to sing and scared that the concert will be cancelled. So help them, little songbird. Come out of your silent cage, spread your wings and sing freely once more. I know that you can do it.”

As he spoke Wizard clapped his hands and the golden cage and the songbird from Molly Mop’s bedroom appeared before her. Wizard opened the cage door and the bird flew out and sang a tune that only Molly Mop could hear. This was the very first time that she had ever hear the little bird singing and it was still singing when it flew out of an open window and disappeared, glad to be free.

24

For the first time, Molly Mop realised that she really could sing like a songbird and that she had locked herself in a cage of silence.

25

“It was the wicked wizard that turned Uncle Ben into a toad and yet I have been blaming myself for something that I did not do. Well, not anymore because all that is going to change right now”.

Once more the school principal looked around the silent room. “Will anyone sing for us tonight?” she asked for the very last time.

Molly Mop stood up. “I want to sing”, she said in a very clear voice which everyone could hear. “I know all the songs and I can sing”.

26

A gasp went round the room because very few of her classmates had ever heard her sing. In fact most of them thought that Molly Mop was as timid as a mouse and just kept to herself. Even the teachers were surprised but there just wasn’t the time to find out whether or not she could really sing. ”Well, come along Molly Mop. Go on to the stage and the rest of you take your places as we rehearsed. Quickly now, it’s almost time for the concert to start.”

Molly Mop went onto the stage and stood facing the big curtains that were still closed. She could hear the other pupils with their instruments moving into place in front of the stage. Then the curtains parted and Molly Mop stepped forward.

28

A murmur of surprise went around the assembly hall as people recognised Molly Mop. Then the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on her. The spotlight was so bright that it made her close her eyes. Still, it reminded her of her own little room with the moonlight coming through the little window and shining down on her. Molly Mop began to relax.

As the music started she heard Wizard whisper, “Good luck Molly Mop, I know you can do it”.

29

Molly Mop took a deep breath and began to sing like her little songbird. The beautiful voice from long ago came back and filled the assembly hall. The more she sang, the sweeter and stronger her voice became.

There was no other sound in the hall – everyone was absolutely quiet, as if they were spellbound.

As Molly Mop sang, the young musicians began to play better and better as if trying to copy her. And the better they played, the better she sang. Together they filled the assembly hall with magic. Everyone was enchanted as if they had come under the spell of Molly Mop and Wizard!

And when the last song was sung the assembly hall remained totally silent. Then, as the lights went on, people were on their feet cheering and calling for more. As Molly Mop came off the stage her teacher could only say, “Wonderful, absolutely wonderful”. The concert was a tremendous success and a marvellous evening for everyone.

After the concert, Molly Mop’s mother and father came back stage to collect her. Her mother was crying with pride and happiness and her father wiped a tear from his eye. They took her home and, because it was so late, Molly Mop went straight to bed.

But just before she fell asleep, and when the moon first peeped through her window, she looked up and there was Wizard sitting on the edge of the dressing table. “Well, that was a great evening, wasn’t it? And I’ll bet you did

30

not hear a single toad croaking this evening!” he said with a smile.

“No, I didn’t. Thank you so much for your magic. It really helped”.

“Did it? Well, let me tell you a big secret. A good wizard is one who does nothing at all! Tonight all the magic was yours and yours alone. Tonight it was you who turned yourself into the beautiful person you are – by helping the other girls and boys in your class who needed your help. When you did that my work was over. All I had to do was to sit back and enjoy the concert. Thank you so much Miss Molly Mop for a really wonderful evening!”

And with that Wizard vanished, leaving the red schoolbag full of happy memories on her bed.

Molly Mop fell fast asleep and had nice dreams for the first time in a very, very, very long time.

31

Additional copies of

“Jimmy and the Island of Magic”

And

“Molly Mop and the Little Wizard”

are available from

Workforce Training Services

88/120 Springfield Road

Belfast BT12 7AJ

Tel: (028) 90247016

email: mwestland@workforceon line.org

Printed by The Abacus Print House

23b Crawfordsburn Road, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 4EA

Tel: 028 9181 1011