Mae, Niko, and Grandma Elsie gather around the fountain’s three marked controls: blue bumps, a yellow wooden circle, and a purple star in a green ring. A floppy-eared dog drinks from the filling dog bowl.

A PICTURE BOOK

Mae and the Map of Taps

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Mae and the Map of Taps

Mae, wearing teal overalls and a teal headband, presses one of three matching silver buttons on a new drinking fountain outside her father’s repair shop. A low spout, tall curved spout, and dog bowl sit beside the green park.

Mae helped in her father’s busy repair shop. She liked the jars of screws, the rolls of tape, and the soft tap-tap of a hammer on wood. Outside was a small park with a new water fountain. It had three silver buttons: one for a low drink, one for a tall drink, and one to fill a bowl for dogs.

Niko in a yellow shirt and Mae stand close to the fountain, each pointing at its identical smooth silver buttons while water drips from the tall spout.

On the first hot day, everyone came to try it. Little Niko stood before the buttons and frowned. “I can’t tell which one is which,” he said. All three buttons felt smooth and cold.

Mae touched them too. Tap. Tap. Tap. “They do feel exactly the same,” she said.

Mae carefully attaches a bumpy blue bottle cap beside a fountain button. A flat wooden circle and a purple star are already placed beside the other buttons.

She brought out a box of safe things: a bumpy bottle cap, a flat wooden circle, and a rubber star. “We could put a different shape beside each button,” Mae said.

Mae taped the bumpy cap beside the low-drink button. She put the wooden circle beside the tall-drink button. The rubber star went beside the dog-bowl button.

With eyes closed, Niko presses the bumpy blue marker on the fountain while a small stream arcs from the low spout. Mae and her father smile behind him.

“Let’s test them,” said Mae’s father.

Niko closed his eyes. His finger found the bumpy cap. He pressed the button, and a little stream rose from the low spout. “That one is mine!” he said, grinning.

Then Grandma Elsie tried. She could see the shapes, but she pressed the star instead of the circle. “The bright sun makes them hard to see,” she said.

Mae nodded. “The shapes need more help.” She found three strips of tape: blue, yellow, and green. Blue went around the bumpy cap, yellow around the circle, and green around the star.

This time, Niko used his fingers. Grandma Elsie used the colors. A tall runner picked yellow. A dog named Puddle nosed the green star, and water splashed into Puddle’s bowl.

Mae and her father look out from the repair shop toward the fountain in the park. Beside it, a small board shows blue bumps, a yellow circle, and a green-ringed purple star while water splashes.

Mae made one more thing: a little map on a board beside the fountain. It showed blue bumps, a yellow circle, and a green star. “Tap the shape that helps you,” it said.

By afternoon, the fountain rang with happy slurps and splashes. From the repair shop, Mae listened. Tap, splash. Tap, splash. Each sound meant someone had found the water they needed.