Mr Bramble and the Boy James
Ever wondered why brambles grab hold and won't let go? Plants get lonely too you know. Ever heard rustles in the bushes you thought was just the wind? Have you ever heard a tree whispering? A mouse talk? Ever made friends with a friendly monster? What is a monster you should ask.
Mr Bramble loved being alive, but he knew something was missing. No creature would ever talk to him for fear he'd eat them up whole. The forest animals all called him monster. It made him very sad. They did not realise he had a name. While he looked like the most fearsome kind of monster anyone could ever think of, Mr Bramble just carried on being himself. To him, he was just like any other bramble bush, beautiful and lush, albeit with arms and legs instead of roots. Even worse, he worried humans from the town on the forest edges might mistake him for a tree and chop him down, or catch him in a net and boil him in a soup like his cousin nettles. It's why he lived under a tree. Humans scared him.
His only solace was reading, alone, and snug in his den.
One fateful night, in the huge archaic library of the human town where he went under the cover of dark to collect his books, Mr Bramble was to make an acquaintance that'd change his life forever, change the whole town and forest forever too...