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THE LITTLE RONIN · BOOK 2

Horan and the Mystery Neighbour

2 min 27 s Ages 2–7 16 pages

Tap, tap… scritch, scratch! Fish are vanishing and tiny footprints keep appearing. Mei thinks it's a ghost — but Horan has a kinder idea about the empty house next door.

A gentle story about being brave, being kind, and making room for someone new.

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Every page of the book, for reading together without a screen.

  1. 2At the edge of a little village, in a little house on a hill, lived a little ronin named Horan. Right next door stood an old empty house where nobody lived at all.
  2. 3But one night, Horan heard a noise. Tap, tap… scritch, scratch!
  3. 4In the morning, Granny Ume's fish had vanished from her basket!
  4. 5And little Mei found tiny muddy footprints all across her porch.
  5. 6"Maybe it's a ghost!" whispered Mei. The chicken was too scared to say anything at all. Well… except "Cluck."
  6. 7But Horan wasn't scared. "A neighbour is a neighbour," he said. "Let's say hello."
  7. 8He left a rice ball on the step of the old house, and hid behind a bush to wait.
  8. 9The sun went down. The moon came up. Horan waited… and waited… and fell fast asleep.
  9. 10Tap, tap… scritch, scratch! Two glowing eyes peeped out from under the house.
  10. 11Out crept… a small, fluffy, ginger cat, nibbling the rice ball!
  11. 12"So YOU'RE the mystery neighbour!" laughed Horan. The little cat said, "Mew."
  12. 13She had no home, and no one to look after her. Horan knew just how that felt.
  13. 14"Would you like to live with me?" asked Horan. The cat purred, and padded right inside.
  14. 15Granny Ume brought her a fish of her very own, and Mei gave her a name: Mochi. Horan had a new family member.

In this book

Horan Granny Ume Mei The chicken Mochi New