For the grown-ups beside them
Make room for
“I wonder…”
Curious Wild Ones brings small discoveries into family story time. Read at your own pace, follow a question, and let a first guess change.
A little company
for curious minds.
Our stories welcome families with children ages 3–9, designed to grow with shared reading. Younger children can notice and point; older children can compare clues and explain their thinking.
Share the reading
Try different voices, linger on a funny line, or let your child turn to the next chapter. There’s no timer and no score.
Make space for a guess
Ask “What do you notice?” before offering an answer. Being wrong can be part of discovering something.
Carry the idea into your day
Five minutes with paper and crayons is enough. The conversation matters more than a perfect drawing.
Learning & family activities
Something to do together.
A Home for a Small Creature
A five-minute drawing activity inspired by The Shell That Walked.
Make a Helping-Pair Drawing
A drawing activity inspired by The Clownfish’s Secret.
Our family resources begin here with free activities. New digital books, learning experiences, downloadable resources, and activities to play together will join this space as they become available.
Behind the little discovery
A real discovery,
an imagined adventure.
Hermit crabs can use empty snail shells to protect their soft abdomens. Our story invites children to observe wildlife and leave shells at the shore.
For a real shore visit, follow local guidance, stay close to children, watch waves and slippery surfaces, and leave wildlife undisturbed.
Explore the science with the Monterey Bay Aquarium hermit crab guide.
The Clownfish’s Secret · Discover more
A living home.
A helping pair.
A living home
A sea anemone is an animal, not a plant. Its tentacles can sting.
A special partnership
Clownfish shelter among the tentacles of certain sea anemones. A protective mucus coating helps them avoid their host’s sting. Some clownfish also defend their host from fish that would eat it.
The right place
This fictional adventure takes place at a tropical Indo-Pacific reef pool. Clownfish are not the fish to expect in an ordinary Florida or California tide pool. Their natural range is tropical Indo-Pacific, and they live closely with host anemones.
Be a careful visitor
Explore with an adult and follow a local guide’s instructions. Watch the tide and waves, wear grippy shoes, and leave animals, rocks, and shells where they belong. Never touch an anemone or catch, feed, or relocate the fish.
Sources for grown-ups
Stay curious with us
More discoveries, together.
Explore stories, digital books, learning experiences, and family activities here. Follow Curious Wild Ones on social media for new discoveries and watch every film and short on YouTube.
A quiet space for families.
This website has no child accounts, signup forms, uploads, advertising, or analytics added by Curious Wild Ones. Story interactions stay in your browser; they are not saved to a profile. Printing uses your browser’s print dialog.
The hosting service may process technical information needed to deliver and protect the site. External reference links open other websites with their own privacy practices.