The Wishing Table a personalized book with your child as the hero

Once there was a carpenter's cottage at the edge of a green valley, where the smell of sawdust drifted out of the windows. Three young siblings lived there, the youngest hardly more than a child, and all of them were curious about the world beyond the garden gate.

One morning the carpenter said, "It is time you learned useful skills from good people in nearby villages. Go, and come home when you have something worth showing." Each of the three packed a small cloth bundle, and the youngest wore a cream shirt and a forest-green waistcoat. They waved goodbye and set off down the winding road.

At the first village the eldest sibling found a generous craftsperson and learned a great deal. When it was time to go home, the craftsperson gave a gift: a little wooden table, plain and rather ordinary to look at. "Say 'Table, be set,'" said the craftsperson, "and it will do the rest."

The eldest tried it at once in a meadow. The table stood on the grass, and at the words, a white cloth spread itself over the top. Plates appeared, steaming dishes followed, then a round loaf and a jug of cool juice. The youngest laughed with surprise, and they all ate until they were full.

The second sibling had spent time in another village, with a miller who was proud of a gentle donkey. When the visit ended, the miller said, "This donkey will make you rich, but only if you spread a cloth before it and say the words." The second sibling set a plain cloth on the ground. The donkey nodded, and golden coins rolled out onto the cloth with a happy chime.

On the way home the three stopped for the night at an inn. The eldest proudly set the table in the dining room, and the guests gasped. The innkeeper's eyes lit up. That night, while everyone slept, the innkeeper quietly swapped the magical table for an ordinary one and led the gentle donkey away to another stall.

The youngest could not sleep and crept to the doorway. Through the gap, the child saw the innkeeper tugging a heavy curtain across the real wishing table and the donkey. The child held very still, and understood what had happened. The next morning the eldest and second sibling went home with the false gifts, and when they tried them, nothing happened at all. They were crushed with disappointment.

The youngest had a different plan, but first needed a clever helper. The child walked to a workshop in a third village, where a kind woodworker was planing a board. After a few days of learning how to sand, fit and listen to the wood, the child was given a small sack. "There is a wooden cudgel inside," said the woodworker. "It will never harm anyone. But it will obey you when you say, 'Cudgel, out of the sack,' and it will not rest until you say, 'Cudgel, into the sack.'"

The child thanked the woodworker and walked back to the inn. At the door the child said politely, "I would like to stay the night." The innkeeper, who thought the visitor looked young and harmless, agreed. The child set the sack down on a bench and said clearly, "Cudgel, out of the sack!"

The cudgel leapt into the air. It did not strike anyone. It circled above the floor, rapping the boards at the innkeeper's feet whenever he took a step toward the door. Tap, tap, tap. It swung left and he stepped right. It spun in front of the door and he turned back again. There was nowhere to run.

"Stop it, please!" cried the innkeeper, hands over his head. "What do you want?"

"I want the truth," said the child gently. "And the things you took."

The cudgel went on tapping, round and round. At last the innkeeper sat down on a bench and sighed. "I swapped the table and the donkey," he admitted. "I am sorry. It was dishonest, and I have been ashamed ever since. They are behind the curtain."

He pulled the curtain aside, and there was the little wooden table, and there stood the gentle donkey, who gave a soft snort. The innkeeper led them out and placed them in the child's care. The child said, "Cudgel, into the sack," and the cudgel dropped neatly inside. The child tied the sack shut.

The journey home was a happy one. The two older siblings were waiting at the cottage gate, and when they saw the table and the donkey, they cheered. The carpenter came out, wiping sawdust from his hands, and the whole family gathered in the garden.

That evening the little table stood in the grass, and at the words, a cloth, plates and a splendid supper appeared. The donkey rested in the shade nearby. The closed sack hung on a hook by the door, and everyone agreed that the best magic of all was telling the truth and making things right.