Nippy of Play Vale

Twelve stories of kindness, judgement and growing up

Play Vale is a village where everyday moments quietly turn into chances to learn. Nippy lives there in a little round house like a honey bun, with his best friend Twiggin a little way along the street. Twiggin has a long beard, a family of tiny mice living in it, and more common sense than anyone Nippy knows.

The collection opens with four linked stories that belong together: how Nippy was made, how he tried to share the gift of life with his toys, and what he learned from letting them go. Stories 5 to 12 each stand alone. In them Nippy faces the situations children recognise at once: staying up too late, being grumpy with someone who is helping you, worrying until the worry takes over, saying something hurtful without meaning to, and a friend who tries to take over. In the later stories, Nippy is old enough to look after younger children himself. In the last, he crosses a road to help a stranger nobody else will help.

The stories don’t lecture. Children are invited to recognise a situation, feel its weight and draw their own meaning. There is plenty of humour along the way: Crunchy Puffs that go crackle-crackle-crackle… pop, mashed slugs on toast, and a bicycle called Whizzy.

The opening stories also carry a deeper layer for readers who want it: love that gives life, the wisdom of not interfering, and what it means to matter when you are no longer the special one.

Play Vale is open and still growing, with room for illustration and new stories. At heart, these are stories about learning to live kindly in the world: not perfectly, but thoughtfully. That is Nippy’s journey.

© Michael Lock, 2026. All characters, settings and stories on this website are original works of fiction. No part of these stories may be reproduced without permission.