Note to Parents: Many kids that have gone through the foster
care system or adopted have had to give up some of their
childhood to survive. Thus, precious time to pretend and enjoy
the magic of make-believe were lost. Transfiguring Adoption's
Magical Creature series is designed for you to read with your 
child(ren) and help them regain some of those moments.

Parent’s Quick Look

• Creature provides a fun way to interact with your child
• Encourage your child
• Activity for helping to get children to stay in bed at bedtime

Little Folks

One of the most fun creatures in the magical world is that of the Little Folks. The unfortunate part is that Little Folks are the most difficult creature to meet face to face. They are very skittish in nature due to the fact that their small size makes them prey to many other creatures. The only reason that I was able to meet these creatures was a result of accidentally destroying their home.

Little Folks make their homes within the walls of human homes. My home actually had three Little Folk families living in the walls. My wife and I began a remodeling project on the 2nd floor of our house that involved tearing all the walls down. After the walls had been demolished, we came home one evening to hear small sobbing noises. I cautiously walked up the stairs in our house to discover a small little human-looking creature crying where one wall had been located. After getting over the shock of seeing this little man, it quickly dawned on me that the items that were inside the wall (that I considered trash) were beds and furniture items made from paperclips, pencils, and other recycled home items.

The little man was so upset and sad that his family’s home was destroyed that he did not have the energy to run and hide as would have been his normal action in the presence of a human. I comforted the Little Folk and when he could see that I meant him no harm, he introduced himself as Mr. Dickel-button.

Over a period of time my wife and I built a strong relationship with the Dickel-buttons and Snicklefritzes. Unfortunately, the third family fled during the home construction and we never met them.

Physical Appearance

Little Folks are very much human-like in appearance. The only non-human traits about them are their size and the insect-like attenae that poke out of the top of their heads.

The men tend to be between 5 and 8 inches in height while the women tend to grow to a height of 4 – 7 inches. The feet of Little Folks are covered with very tough skin underfoot which means that Little Folks do not have a need for shoes.

Little Folks make their clothing from bits of scrap cloth they find laying around a home. The men are usually in overalls or some type of work clothing. The women wear dresses and aprons. The women have been known to wear pants. When it comes down to it, a Little Folk will wear clothing that will help them do their trade more easily.

Magical Qualities

Little Folks don’t have any magical qualities. Their existence in and of itself is magical.

Typical Behaviors

Little Folks are really not that much different than you or I. However, as every different region of the human world has various differences, so are there differences in the Little Folks and humans.

• Names
  These creatures do not refer to themselves as Little Folks as we do not refer to ourselves as humans as a matter of identification in every day life. Little Folk parents give their babies names at birth. The children are referred to by their first names and the adult creatures are called by their family names and title (Mr. Dickle-button would have been highly offended if he were called Sam).
• Intelligence & Curiosity 
  Little Folks are intelligent creatures that are always interested in learning and trying new things. This is very fortunate as their quick wit helps them to stay out of the way of many creatures that would do them harm.
• Hard-working
  Little Folks are generally hard workers because their lives look somewhat like American pioneers. Some families have been known to tap into a homes electric system to create lighting in their homes. However, Little Folks do not have access to refrigeration. Therefore, when they are not busy making repairs to their home or making additions to their home, they are hunting for food sources.
• Food Sources
  Food sources are typically fruits, vegetables, and very very little meat. Little Folks will mostly hunt and forage the interior of a home for food before wondering outside. This is merely because it is safer for them to stay indoors. When multiple families live in a home forming a colony, the families have been known to have more time to process things such as flour and other baking ingredients.
• Inventions
  Little Folks are known to use objects throughout a home to invent objects and tools to make their lives better. For example I have found a hammer in my home made from a broken pencil and a toothpick used for the handle. I have also discovered several paperclips strung together and hanging from air vents in my home. These were obviously used as ladders during Little Folk’s travels during the night. If you have Little Folks in your home, you can bet that your office and craft supplies will be visited quite often by them.

Why You Won’t See A Little Folk?

As we have mentioned before, Little Folks are extremely cautious about other beings. They are always nervous that someone might do them harm either on purpose or on accident because of their tiny size. Therefore you will more than likely never meet a Little Folks face-to-face.

I have told many friends about our Little Folks and they have gone to great extents to find Little Folks inside their walls. I know one man that punched holes in walls to try and find these creatures. All this did was make the poor Little Folks even more skittish about being hurt in that home and the creatures eventually escaped to a new home.

Many children have asked me ways to show the Little Folks that they will not harm them in hopes that maybe the creatures will reveal themselves to them. All I can tell you is that a calm and quiet home has a better chance of seeing the Little Folks. Also, Little Folks will do their hunting for food in the late hours of the night while everyone is asleep. If you can keep yourself still in your bed and absolutely quiet, you just might… MIGHT fool a Little Folk into thinking your asleep.

Notes and Gifts

It’s true that you may never meet a Little Folk. However, just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t observing YOU during the day from the safety of the air vents or cracks in the walls or ceiling.

My wife and I had fostered a very good relationship with our Little Folks. When our first foster children came to our home, the Little Folks did not want to meet us face to face anymore. This isn’t a sad thing when you understand how skittish they really can be.

We were glad to see that our Little Folks were very welcoming of the children in our home. My wife and I knew that they were very accepting of our children when one child found a note from Mrs. Dickle-button after a night of crying in bed. Actually, my daughter and Mrs. Dickle-button had quite the penpal relationship and were very good friends.

Consider yourself very fortunate if you earn the trust of Little Folks so much that they begin leaving notes or gifts.

[Discover More Creatures Here]

For Parents’ Eyes Only

Activities

Notes

Write little notes to your child from a Little Folk. Come up with a name or use the names we came up with in our home. Remember that Little Folks are small so the note can’t be written on a normal size piece of paper. Our Little Folks also rolled notes up so they looked like small pieces of parchment.

Dickle-button Pie

You might find little gifts that the Little Folks leave in the night for your child. Remember that Little Folks would only get handmade gifts. My wife and I took the shell of a pistachio nut and filled it up with a kneaded raisin. Mrs. Dickle-button left two pies and a note for our daughter during a difficult night for her. It was great to see our daughter’s smiling face and excitement the next morning.

Go to Bed and You Just Might See…

Our foster and adoptive children never wanted to go to bed for normal kiddo reasons and for traumatic reasons. Some evenings I could tell some of our kids that if they remained quiet enough and still enough, they might fool a Little Folk into coming out into the open. I have never had a child able to stay still, quiet and AWAKE long enough to see one.

Paperclip Ladders

While your child is asleep, have some fun. String paperclips together and hang them around the room. In the morning you can explain that these are the ladders that the Little Folks use during the night. This activity is simply fun and can create a great memory for you and your child to talk about for years to come.