The Characters

Old Ma

As a character, how Old Ma looks is entirely in the children's imagination. We want them to picture her in their minds and every child will see her differently.

Old Ma’s appearance may be a little frightening at first, since her wrinkled face is deeply scarred, and one eye is missing.  Once she smiles, however, her face lights up with friendly warmth, while her eye dances with laughter and wisdom.  She tends to move very slowly at times just as you might expect of someone as ancient as she, but watch out, she is full of surprises and can easily reach the top of a tree before any young squirrel.   

Hobb

Hobb is a lively young squirrel who often finds himself in trouble but doesn’t understand why. With Old Ma’s support he begins to learn how best to help himself and to ground his tendency towards anger.

Peace

Peace is Hobb’s little sister and is part of the Alert Squad which helps those in need and alerts the senior squirrels to any changes in the forest.  Her first task is to help Old Ma, but she breaks something valuable and becomes very upset.  Will Old Ma shout at her for the damage she has caused, or will she do something unexpected?  

Si

Si is one of Hobb’s friends and is a very nervous, anxious squirrel. He wants to join the Alert Squad but has been listening to the many scary stories that Hobb has invented about ‘Old Ma’ and is almost too frightened to attend. What will happen if he chooses to take part?  We will find out.

General Thorn

A tall, fierce old squirrel who is the leader of the Alert Squad and teaches us the special Alert Squad salute.  You may also wish to learn and use it as well.