Popcorn

Popcorn at a glance

She got her name because whenever she’s excited, she bounces around just like popcorn in a hot pan.

Nicknames

Pops, Little Kernel

Age

6 months

Home

A misty bamboo forest in the mountains

Size

About as big as a watermelon

Favourite colour

Bamboo green

Bedtime

Whenever she gets sleepy, which is often

Popcorn’s origins

Popcorn was born on a rainy spring night, in a bamboo forest surrounded by mist. She was so tiny that her mum, Bao, could hold her in one paw. For her first few weeks she was pink and fuzzy, and squeaked like a squeaky toy whenever she was hungry (pretty much constantly).

When Popcorn opened her eyes for the very first time, the first thing she saw was a dewdrop on a bamboo leaf, sparkling like a tiny star. Her mum says that’s why her eyes have sparkled ever since.

Now Popcorn is big enough to wobble around on her own. She hasn’t quite mastered walking, so she mostly rolls. She’s made it her mission to explore every corner of the forest, one tumble at a time, as long as she’s back before nap time.

What she’s like

Popcorn is sweet, curious and endlessly optimistic. She’s a bit shy at first, but once she likes you, she’ll follow you everywhere.

• Curious. She wants to sniff, poke and taste everything, including things she really shouldn’t.
• Gentle. She talks to beetles politely and always steps around flowers.
• Clumsy. She trips over her own feet at least ten times a day. But she just giggles when it happens.
• Shy. When she meets someone new, she hides her face behind her paws, then peeks out.
• Sleepy. She can fall asleep anywhere: mid-snack, mid-sentence, even mid-tumble.
• Brave, sometimes. She wants to be brave like the big pandas, but thunder still sends her straight to her mum.

Things Popcorn loves to do

• Rolling down hills. She has ranked every slope in the forest by how fast and how giggly it makes her.
• Collecting shiny things. She keeps a secret stash of smooth pebbles, a blue feather and a bottle cap from the stream.
• Cloud watching. She lies on her back and names the clouds. Most of them look like dumplings.
• Splashing in puddles. Rainy days are the best days.
• Climbing, badly. Getting up a tree is easy. Getting down is a work in progress.
• Bedtime stories. Her mum tells her one every night, but she always falls asleep before the end.

Likes and dislikes

Fun fact: She’s a slow eater because she keeps stopping to admire her food. She also tends to end up wearing more of it than she eats.

Little quirks

• Allergy. Dandelion fluff gives her the sneezes. She still can’t resist blowing on dandelions.
• Ticklish spot. Her toe beans. Touch them and she dissolves into giggles.
• Comfort item. A soft, worn bamboo leaf called Leafy. She won’t nap without it.
• Happy habit. When she’s really happy, she does a little wiggle with her bottom.
• Nervous habit. She covers her eyes with her paws. She thinks this makes her invisible.
• Scared of. Thunderstorms.
• Her sound. Instead of a roar, she makes a tiny squeak.

Fun fact: If Popcorn has even one tiny sniff of dandelion fluff she lets out a tiny sneeze so strong it sends her rolling backwards.

Popcorn’s best friend

Her best friend is her mum, Bao. She talks about her ALL the time.

Bao is big, soft and endlessly patient. She carries Popcorn on her back when her little legs get tired, and she always knows where to find the sweetest bamboo in the forest.

Every morning they share breakfast in the sunshine, and every evening Bao tells her a bedtime story. When thunder rolls in, Popcorn burrows straight into her mum’s fluffy fur until it passes.

Ask Popcorn what she loves most about her mum and she’ll tell you straight away: “She gives the biggest hugs in the whole forest.”

Fun facts

• She has never once won a game of hide-and-seek, because she always giggles.
• Her dream is to roll down the tallest hill in the whole forest.
• She’s convinced the moon is a giant steamed bun.
• She’s practising her roar, but so far it’s still a squeak.