Number Three
The pipe in the corner, and the first thirteen ways of using it.
Thirteen complete stories, numbers 1-13 of the fifty-two, all of them set in or around Number Three. Nothing carries over from the book before it and nothing is owed to the one after, so this is a perfectly good place to start.
The thirteen games
1Cold Pipefree hereOne cold pipe and one wooden spoon.You bang on the cold pipe twice, and you win when it bangs back.
Number Three · F26 × R1 · 8 min aloud
2Eleventh StairSqueak, and you're back at the bottom stair.You have to get all the way up to Number Three, and if the eleventh stair squeaks you go back to the bottom and start again.
The Stairs · F01 × R5 · 8 min aloud
3Nine SecondsSay the whole name before the door.You say the whole name of your game out loud, and you win if you get the last word out before the Up-Down doors open.
The Up-Down · F09 × R2 · 8 min aloud
4Six FlightsStamp it going up. Catch it coming down.You stamp a word out with your feet going up the stairs, and you win if you can make the stairs say the very same word coming down.
The Stairs · F02 × R4 · 8 min aloud
5Four FloorsFour floors up is right next door.You shut yourself in the linen cupboard, and you win if you can hear your own word come down off the roof.
The Green Door · F17 × R4 · 8 min aloud
6Six NotesSix notes forward, six notes back.The Up-Down sings its six notes one way, and you win if you can sing all six of them the other way round.
The Up-Down · F10 × R3 · 8 min aloud
7Loudest LidNothing is louder than the bin lid.You have to make the bin lid answer, and it only counts if somebody all the way up on the roof hears it.
The Back Steps · F24 × R1 · 8 min aloud
8Small DoorKnock on the wall. Listen at the door.You knock on the wall where the door is not, and you win if the small door answers instead.
The Under · F23 × R3 · 8 min aloud
9One GrateSoft on the stone, and loud on the grate.The rain sounds one way on everything in the Middle and another way on one thing, and you win when you find the one thing.
The Middle · F07 × R8 · 8 min aloud
10One ClangCall it first, and the lid says clang.You call out the noise first, and you only win if the bin lid says the noise you called.
The Back Steps · F24 × R4 · 8 min aloud
11Pipe RadioThe radio comes up. Now make it stop.The pipe brings you somebody else's radio, and you win if you can send something back down it and make the radio stop.
Number Three · F27 × R3 · 8 min aloud
12Last KnockSend it up the pipe. Last knock wins.You knock your whole message up the pipe, and you win if the last knock lands before the Up-Down gets to the bottom.
Number Three · F26 × R2 · 8 min aloud
13Loose BannisterOne hand leans, and the bannister knocks.Only one hand may lean on the loose bannister at a time, and you win by getting your knock in on its own — two knocks belong to nobody.
The Stairs · F04 × R6 · 8 min aloud
The thirteen tappers in Book one.
One brass disc is struck for every game that gets played, and hung on the board in the Hall.
Questions about Book one.
What is in Tocko Book One?
Thirteen complete stories, numbers 1-13 of fifty-two, all of them set in or around Number Three. The pipe in the corner, and the first thirteen ways of using it.
Do I have to read the Tocko books in order?
No. There is no story arc in season one, on purpose. Every story is complete, nothing carries over, and story eight still works after story fifty because nothing changed in between except how many brass discs are hanging on a hook.
How long does one story take to read out loud?
About 8 minutes. The thirteen in this book run to roughly 13,600 words and about 104 minutes of reading aloud in total.
What age is it for?
3–6, read aloud. The sentences are short enough for a three-year-old to join in on, and each story has one line that comes back three times so they can.
Are any of them quiet enough for bedtime?
1 of the thirteen are Quiet Stories: One Grate. They invert the arc — no crisis, nobody loses, and the progress chant runs backwards.
Does anybody lose?
Yes, in 2 of these thirteen: Small Door, Pipe Radio. Losing a game you made up yourself is an ordinary Tuesday, and the story sits with that instead of fixing it in the last line.
Which is the loudest one?
Hod from upstairs wins outright in 5 of them — Eleventh Stair, Six Notes, Loudest Lid, One Clang, Last Knock. He can be perfectly still or completely out of control and nothing in between.
Can I read one before I buy it?
Yes. Cold Pipe, story 1, is on this site in full — the whole story, the same words that are in the paperback.
What is the book itself like?
A 7 × 9 in paperback, about 88 pages, 70# uncoated cream, colour throughout, colour throughout. Big type, short lines, and one struck brass tapper opening each story.