Life with Milly

Life with Milly

A spunky little sparrow that never gives up during the adventures she encounters

Meet the Characters Milly Female sparrow

Robin Red breast

Żeppi miller’s son and Milly’s guardian

Manuel younger brother

Maria & Moon older sister and pet cat

Milly’s Mum & Dad

Honey

Bumble Bee

Kola (Nikola), Riccarda & Biscuit

Żeppi’s father, the miller, mother and pet Dog

My home is a warm nest, high up in a tree. We have a windmill next to our tree. It makes a swishing sound as the sails go round. I play with my brother and sister sparrows in the nest, until Mum and Dad arrive with a delicious treat.

“Here it is,”

Dad chirps. We jump on top of each other to get the food. I am too little to reach up. But Mum always brings me a treat, while they sleep.

How many treats can you find for Milly?

We are growing up fast and have feathers now. I can see the windmill from our nest, but today it is quiet. Suddenly, my sister is the first to fly out of the nest. Mum and Dad rush down to help her. Then, my brother also follows. Now, I am on my own in the nest. I want to fly too!

So, I hop onto the edge of the nest.

Another step and I fall, fluttering down into a cart. “Chirp, chirp!” I call my Mum. “Chirp, chirp, chirp!” I call even louder. A man climbs onto the cart, “The windmill is not working today, Gianni,” the man says as he sits next to the boy. “So, we are going to Kola instead?” the boy asks excitedly. “Yes, son,” replies his father. “Great, I will see Żeppi!” Gianni smiles.

Frightened, I quickly hide behind a sack, and the cart starts to move.

For a long time, I hide quietly, until the cart rattles to a stop. I hear the swishing sound of the windmill. At last, we are back home!

“Good morning, Kola”, Gianni’s father greets the man at the door. I quickly hop off the cart to hide behind a flower bush. Gianni and another boy come to the cart to remove all the grain sacks. “Bye, Żeppi,” Gianni calls out to his friend as the cart drives away. “See you soon,”Żeppi replies.

I peep from behind the flowers, and to my dismay, I see that the windmill is not the one at my home!

Turning wheat into flour

Number the pictures in the right order

Harvest the wheat

Grind the grain into flour

Sow the seeds in the fields

Take the grain to the miller

Separate the wheat from the chaff - separating grain from the stem and leaves, either beating it by hand, or trampling over it by cows or donkeys

Now I am very hungry. “Chirp, chirp, chirp,” I cry. I miss Mum and my warm nest. “Tweet, tweet. Are you lost dear?” Robin red breast calls out from the tree. “It is getting dark, Żeppi will soon bring us some food,” she explains. The boy comes out and walks towards me. I dart behind the bush. Scattering seeds around, he drops some close to me, and sits down to watch us. Many birds fly down to eat the seeds. “Come little one,” says Żeppi as he gently picks me up, “you are too tiny to be out alone.” He takes me inside.

Who eats what?

Draw a line to connect the pictures

“Psit, psit,” I chirp as Żeppi places me in a snug box. “What will you do with the baby bird?” Manuel, his younger brother asks. Maria, their sister, walks closer holding Moon the cat. “I am naming her Milly,” Żeppi tells them. “and you, Biscuit,” he points to the dog, “you must take care of the baby bird.”

The windmill is now my new home. Every morning Żeppi wakes up early. He feeds me, then works around the mill.

This morning Maria is weaving. I hop and flutter onto the back of the chair closer to her. I do not see Moon, curled on the chair and she tries to catch me. “Be careful Milly where you sit,” laughs Maria. “Psit, psit!” I flutter onto the weaving machine. Suddenly, it trembles as Maria starts to work on it. “Psit, psit!” I chirp and hop off, with Biscuit following me.

I hear Żeppi’s mother, Riccarda, humming in the kitchen. I hop and fly, hop and fly into the next room, and up onto the table. “Chirp, chirp!” I call. “Good morning, Milly!” Riccarda smiles. Everyone gives me crumbs, but Riccarda usually has delicious titbits while cooking. I always find something to eat here.

Vocabulary Game: What are some kitchen items used for?

Stew pot: Cow-shaped pot to slowly cook a stew

Cheeselet baskets (qaleb): A very small wicker basket used to drain cheese to make cheeselets (ġbejniet)

Bamboo tray: used for drying the cheeselets

Sausage air dryer: used for drying sausages

Cooking stove (fuklar): a traditional stone stove to cook the food

Pottery pan (pagna): to slowly cook food in over the stove

Pottery basin (żinġla): bowl in which to mix the dough

Coffeebean grinder: small hand grinder for coffee

Mmmmm, Riccarda is making pies with cheeselets. Taking one out of its little basket, she breaks it in half. “Here, you like these Milly,” she gives me some crumbs. Yum! “And this is for you Biscuit,” and gives her the rest.

“Now, do not fly onto the cheeselets drying on the hanging tray, Milly,” Riccarda warns me.

These are some traditional Maltese food Match the shadows to the pictures

Cheeselets (ġbejniet)

Ricotta pies (qassatat)

Ricotta cheesecakes (pastizzi)

Date pastries (imqaret)

One stormy night, it rains hard with a lot of thundering and noise. I am so glad I am not outside.

Next morning, Żeppi rises very early. “Come Milly, I will feed you while I work,” and he takes me downstairs with him to the workshop. He works all day, helping his father repair the windmill blade which broke during the storm. “We need to have the windmill up and running,” Kola tells Żeppi. “We need to grind all the grain we have, as the people need their flour.” Poor Żeppi, he works hard. He only stops to eat and give me some of his food.

I still cannot fly high. Biscuit and Moon follow me everywhere. I hop around and out into another room.

Mmmmm, I can eat seeds here. Young Manuel is grinding some grain for the farmers. He is using the hand grinder until the windmill is working again. So, I flutter closer to see what he is doing.

Manuel is dreaming of all the good things the farmer’s wife will bake with the flour

Here are some food items made with flour…

Suddenly, Żeppi rushes through the door. “Where is the bronja?” he asks. “By the stairs,” Manuel answers. I hop and flutter following Żeppi up the curved stairs. What is happening? Biscuit follows us and Żeppi runs out onto the roof. As I fly behind him, he blows through the bronja making a very loud noise. Frightened, I turn back inside. Even Biscuit stops at the door. “Now all the neighbours know that the windmill is working,” Żeppi explains as he comes back in, “so they will bring their grain.”

Scan QR code for a short video on the bronja

Join the dots to see what the bronja is

How does the bronja (conch shell) produces the sound? The end tip is cut off and air is blown in through the hole, and out comes the sound!

Żeppi runs up the rest of the curved stairs and Kola follows him. What are they doing now? I follow them and fly up higher to perch on the wind vane. “Żeppi, fill the tray with grain,” Kola instructs him, “while I remove the wooden pegs.”

Suddenly, with a loud noise and a shudder, everything starts moving. “Chip, chip, chip,” I fly frightened out of the little window. “Hey, Milly,” Żeppi laughs, “you are flying!”

“Chirp, chirp, chirp!” I fly out of the window into the carob tree. “You have learned how to fly, Milly,” Robin smiles as I meet her in the tree. “Yes,” I answer, “and it is fun!”

Up high from the tree I see people coming with their sacks of grain. Żeppi will be very busy now. “Woof,” barks Biscuit, as she comes out running and stops under the tree wagging her tail. “You do not need to follow me anymore, Biscuit!” I tweet to her happily.

Now, I live in the big carob tree outside the windmill, watching people come and go. Every morning, I fly to the windmill where the pigeons live, just above the kitchen door. I wait for Żeppi there and he comes out to share his breakfast with me. This morning Żeppi comes out alone. Riccarda does not come out. That is very unusual. Even Moon comes out to join us for breakfast. She usually likes to stay with Riccarda.

During the day I fly back to the tree to be with my sparrow friends. A buzzing bee stops on a flower. “What do you do on the flower?” I ask. “I collect nectar to take it home for our honeycomb,” Honey, the bumble bee replies. “Where is your home?” I ask again, curious. “Far off across the valley, near the other windmill,” she points out.

“Another windmill? Where is it?” I ask excited. “I am going there now, follow me!” says Honey …and off we fly over the fields and across the valley.

MAZE: Help Milly find her way to the other windmill

“Thank you, Honey, for showing me the way,” I chirp as I see the windmill where I was born in the distance.

I fly directly to the carob tree. “Psit, psit, psit,” I call out. I hear a reply, “chirp, chirp, chirp.” A sparrow flies out of the branches. “Mum!” I cry out. “You have grown my little one,” she chirps, thrilled to see me, “where have you been all this time?” We sit on the branch with Dad, my brother and sister, and my new baby brothers and sisters, chirping happily away.

visit you again, soon.”

Spot the 9 differences between these two pictures

I am overjoyed to find my family. Yet, when the sun starts to set, I want to go back to my other home. “Bye for now,” I tweet, “I will come

I arrive back home and fly through the open kitchen door. The windmill is unusually quiet, except for hushed voices in the bedroom. I fly through the rooms. Riccarda is in bed, smiling. “Ah, you are back Milly,” Żeppi reaches out to me, “come, see my new baby sister.” I fly onto his arm, and he takes me closer to the bed. “Chirp, chirp,” I tweet softly at the sleeping baby. I love my new family too!

2. Apple

3. Basket

6. Apron

10. Cotton

5. Hand Card disentangles and cleans raw cotton or wool to turn it into thread for weaving

4. Yarn

Find the hidden word: Insert the first letter of each word in the box with the same number to find where the baby is sleeping

1. Biscuit

8. Manuel

11. Kola

9. Orange

7. Moon

Life with Milly

Milly is a baby sparrow who starts her life with an adventure. This story is inspired by a miller’s life during the turn of the 20th century at Ta’ Kola Windmill in Xagħra, Gozo. The real life Zeppu Kola features as the young boy, Żeppi, son of the miller Kola. However, Milly’s story and all other characters are fictitious, to illustrate the traditional life of a miller and his family.

Publication Details

Textual & Visual Narrative: Margaret Abdilla Cunningham

Illustrations: Kimberly Azzopardi

Series Editor: Godwin Vella

Setting: Pierre Balzia

Technical Support: George Agius, Daphne Sant Caruana and Fiona Vella

Printing: Poultons Ltd

ISBN: 978-9918-619-35-1

Acknowledgements: Heritage Malta’s Board of Directors, CEO, COO, and staff members in the Conservation, Curatorial, ICT & Corporate Services, and Projects Divisions.

Produced by Heritage Malta Publishing

© 2023 Heritage Malta. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This is the seventh title in a series of fun activity story books on Maltese Heritage.