Toby and the Wonky Ladder

Toby McRae has a plan for these school holidays, and it's a ripper. Everybody in Cooinda Creek knows Pop, the bloke who can fix anything with a bit of wire and a stern word, and Toby has decided this is the year he becomes Pop's proper apprentice.

There's just one problem. A wonky ladder, a very surprised chicken, a ute that won't start in the middle of the main street, and a runaway sheep in the neighbour's prize pumpkin patch all have other ideas.

The more Toby tries to prove he's turning into a real man, the more spectacularly things go sideways, until Pop sits him down under the old gum tree and explains that growing into the man God wants him to be was never about getting things right the first time. It's about standing firm, being honest, having a crack anyway, and doing it all with love, exactly like the verse Pop has carried with him his whole life: "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love." (1 Corinthians 16:13 and 14)

A funny, big hearted story for boys about courage, honesty, and what real strength actually looks like.