SHE HUMS
Ahh.
Oh!
Oh, hi!
THEY CHUCKLE
Whoa!
Ooh!
YAWNS
Hi! Oh!
Once there was a fish, and his name was Tiddler.
Wow!
He wasn't much to look at, with his plain grey scales.
Ooh.
But Tiddler was a fish with a big imagination.
He blew small bubbles, but he told tall tales.
Hm.
Hi!
Sorry I'm late.
I was riding on a sea horse!
Yeah!
THEY LAUGH
Whoo!
Oh!
Hi!
THEY CHUCKLE
Oh! Ha-ha!
TEACHER CLEARS HER THROAT
Hi!
Oh!
TIDDLER CHUCKLES
HE HUMS
Whoa!
Huh?
Hello? Ooh!
Mm! Mm.
Oh!
Ha-ha-ha!
Oh!
Ah!
Sorry I'm late. Mm.
I was flying with a ray!
Whoo! Whoa!
Whee!
TIDDLER CHUCKLES
Whoa.
BOTH: Whee! Whoo! Whee!
TEACHER CHUCKLES
Ooh!
Huh?
Ahh!
Hello. Hi!
Mm.
Oh!
BELL RINGS
Oh, sorry I'm late.
Mm.
I was diving with a dolphin!
Woohoo!
Whoo!
Whee!
Tiddler tells a different story every day.
Mm.
TEACHER CHUCKLES
Hmm.
Hm.
HUMMING
Hm? Oh.
Hm.
TEACHER CLEARS THROAT
Mm-hm. Oh?
Mm-hm.
CLASS GASP
Ooh!
Wow!
Hm.
CLASS: Whoa!
Mm-hm.
CLASS GASP
Hm.
Oh!
Hm.
Hello!
Hi?
Hello! Ah!
Hello!
Ooh!
Ah!
Whoa!
Oh, wow.
At nine o'clock on Monday, Miss Skate called the register.
MISS SKATE CLEARS HER THROAT
Little Johnny Dory?
Yes, Miss Skate.
Rabbitfish?
Yes, Miss.
Redfin? Yes, Miss.
Tiddler?
Tiddler's late.
ALL: Huh?
Sorry I'm late.
I was swimming round a shipwreck.
Oop!
Woohoo!
Whee! Woohoo!
TIDDLER LAUGHS
Whoa!
I swam into a treasure chest and someone closed the lid!
Ugh!
I bashed and I thrashed!
Ohh.
SHARK GROWLS
Ah!
Till a mermaid let me out again.
Shh!
Whoa!
SHARK GROWLS
Ah!
Ahh!
Oh, no, she didn't.
Oh, yes, she did!
BOTH: It's only a story...
..said Rabbitfish and Redfin.
BOTH: Just a silly story...
..said Dragonfish and Dab.
I like Tiddler's story...
..said Little Johnny Dory.
Huh?
Hmph!
MISS SKATE: Hm.
Ahem.
Hm.
LITTLE JOHNNY DORY HUMS
And he told it to his granny...
..who told it to a crab.
Hi!
Hi, hi! Hello.
He-he!
TIDDLER HUMS
Oh.
Mm.
At nine o'clock on Tuesday, Miss Skate called the register.
Little Johnny Dory?
Yes, Miss Skate.
Spiderfish?
Yes, Miss.
Sunfish?
Yes, Miss.
Tiddler? Tiddler?
Tiddler's late.
ALL GASP
Sorry I'm late, Miss.
I set off really early,
but on the way to school
I was captured by a squid!
SCREAMING
SQUID GROANS TIDDLER SHRIEKS
I wriggled and I struggled...
..till a turtle came and rescued me!
Oh, no, he didn't.
CLASS LAUGH
Oh, yes, he did.
BOTH: It's only a story...
..said Spiderfish and Sunfish.
BOTH: Just a silly story...
..said Devilfish and Dace.
I love Tiddler's story...
..said Little Johnny Dory.
CLASS LAUGH
Ugh! Oh!
Mm.
LITTLE JOHNNY DORY SIGHS
Mm.
Mm?
Mm.
And he told it to his granny,
who told it to a plaice...
..who told it to a starfish...
..who told it to a seal,
who told it to a lobster,
who told it to an eel.
THEY SIGH
Hello! Mm-mm.
At nine o'clock on Wednesday,
Tiddler was dawdling,
dreaming up a story,
his tallest story yet.
TIDDLER GASPS
Ugh!
Oh!
Ohh.
Oh!
PENGUIN CHIRPS
TIDDLER CHUCKLES GLEEFULLY
Whee!
Ooh!
Whee!
Wow!
Whee!
Lost inside his story...
TIDDLER HUMS
..he didn't see the fishing boat.
He didn't hear the fisherman.
Hup! Ugh!
He didn't spot the net.
Meanwhile, in the schoolroom,
Miss Skate called the register.
Little Johnny Dory?
Yes, Miss Skate.
Leopardfish?
Yes, Miss!
Leaf Fish?
Yes, Miss.
Tiddler?
MISS SKATE SIGHS
ALL: Tiddler's late.
Ten o'clock...
..11 o'clock,
still no Tiddler.
12 o'clock, lunchtime.
Mm.
Where could he be?
Mm.
Far away,
the fishermen were hauling in their fishing net.
Ahhh!
Ahh! Ah!
TIDDLER SCREAMS
TIDDLER TREMBLES
This one's just a tiddler.
FISHERMAN GRUNTS
We'll throw it back to sea.
Ahhh!
Whoa!
TIDDLER PANTS
Tiddler was lost in the middle of the ocean.
Oh!
Ooh.
Where strange lights glimmered...
Wow!
Ooh.
TIDDLER CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY
Ahh!
Ah!
TIDDLER PANICS
TIDDLER GASPS
And strange fish flew.
Mm!
Ahh!
Mm!
He swam around in circles.
Oh!
He shivered in the seaweed.
Ohh.
HE SOBS
But then he heard a story,
a story that he knew.
Tiddler rode a sea horse.
Tiddler met a mermaid.
Tiddler met a turtle who saved him from a squid!
Tiddler found a shipwreck.
Tiddler found a treasure chest.
Oh, no, he didn't.
ANCHOVIES GASP
ANCHOVIES: Oh, yes, he did!
Oh!
Tiddler peeped out
and he saw a shoal of anchovies.
Excuse me!
Can you tell me where you heard that tale?
We heard it from a shrimp...
..but we don't know where she heard it.
Oh.
And they took him to the shrimp,
who said...
I heard it from a whale.
WHALE CHUCKLES
I heard it from a herring.
Ah!
I heard it from an eel.
Oh.
I heard it from a lobster.
Ooh.
I heard it from a seal.
Ah!
Hm.
I heard it from a starfish.
Huh? I heard it from a plaice.
Oh!
The plaice said...
Just a minute,
don't I recognise your face?
I'm Tiddler!
Said Tiddler.
I'm tracking down my story.
The plaice replied...
I heard it from my neighbour, Granny Dory.
Oh!
Ohh.
One o'clock,
two o'clock,
still no Tiddler.
Nearly home time.
Where could he be?
Hm.
Oh?
Hi!
TIDDLER CHUCKLES
Just as the fishes were finishing their lessons...
CLASS GASP
..in swam Tiddler at half past three.
Mm.
Sorry I'm late, but I swam into a fishing net.
I managed to escape, and I swam away and hid.
I was lost, I was scared.
But a story led me home again.
Oh, no, it didn't.
Oh, yes, it did.
Oh!
MISS SKATE CHUCKLES
BOTH: It's just another story...
..said Leopardfish and Leaf Fish.
BOTH: Just a silly story...
..said Butterfish and Blue.
It isn't just a story...
..said Little Johnny Dory.
LITTLE JOHNNY DORY CHUCKLES
Ha!
THEY LAUGH JOYFULLY
Mm-mm!
Hi!
And he told it to a writer friend...
..who wrote it down for you.
Mm.
Oh!