Max was musical.
You name the instrument
and Max could play it.

trombone

bass

xylophone

flute

Max played by note and Max played by ear.
And Max practiced, practiced, practiced.

small harmonica

cymbals

synthesizer

“Max’s practicing is driving me crazy!” said Max’s father. “I’m getting tone deaf.”
“Practice makes perfect,” said Max’s mother. “Here, put on some ear muffs. It will muffle the sound.
“It doesn’t muffle enough,” said Max’s father. “Oh, for a child without talent!”
“From your side, maybe. From my side, impossible,” said Max’s mother.

But it wasn’t only Max’s...

A told B
and B told C,
“I’ll meet you at the top
of the coconut tree.”

“Whee!” said D
to E F G,
“I’ll beat you to the top
of the coconut tree.”
Chicka chicka boom boom!
Will there be enough room?
Here comes H
up the coconut tree,

and I and J
and tag-along K,
all on their way
up the coconut tree.
Chicka chicka boom boom!
Will there be enough room?
Look who’s coming!
L M N O P!

And Q R S!
And T U V!

Still more—W!
And X Y Z!
The whole alphabet
up the—Oh, no!

Chicka chicka…
BOOM! BOOM!

Skit skat skoodle doot.
Flip flop flee.
Everybody running to the coconut tree.
Mamas and papas
and uncles and aunts
hug...

Burt Dow is an old deep-water man, retired of course, but retired or not he still keeps two boats. One is a dory so old and so leaky that it can no longer be launched. Burt has painted it red and placed it on the little patch of lawn in front of his house, overlooking the bay.
He’s rigged it like one of the many ships he’s sailed to all the corners of all the seven seas. It’s filled plumb to the gun’ls with earth, and every summer Burt plants it with geraniums and Indian peas. The geraniums brighten up the deck, and the Indian peas climb the rigging and sway this-a-way, that-a-way, in...

Every morning, Arthur and Doris and Tom walked to school together.
When they came to the wide river, they looked for Monty.

Monty was always asleep, snoring.
Kids: Wake up, Monty! This is a school day!
Monty: Huh? Again?
Doris: Yes. And we need a ride so our books won’t get wet.
Monty: (yawning) Oooh..O.k. All aboard!

They climbed on Monty’s back, and he swam across the river.
Doris: Straight ahead, Monty!
Tom: Don’t wobble so much, Monty!
Arthur: Let’s see some speed, Monty!
When they got to the far side, Doris and Arthur and Tom went to school. Monty went back to sleep.

Every afternoon, he gave...

In front of a small, well-hidden hole around in back of the Majestic Museum of Art there once stood a mouse named Norman.


Norman was a doorman, and he greeted all the art-loving creatures who came to see the treasures which were kept in the basement of the museum.
“Come right in!” Norman would say to his cousins the Petrinis. “We’re quite safe. I’ve sprung all the traps.”


Norman would explain every painting in detail and handle each masterpiece with as much care and respect as if he had painted it himself!

He would also take great pride in pointing out the artistic features of certain...

Owen had a fuzzy yellow blanket.
He’d had it since he was a baby.
He loved it with all his heart.

“Fuzzy goes where I go,” said Owen.
And Fuzzy did.
Upstairs, downstairs, in-between.
Inside, outside, upside down.

“Fuzzy likes what I like,” said Owen.
And Fuzzy did.
Orange juice, grape juice, chocolate milk.
Ice cream, peanut butter, applesauce cake.

“Isn’t he getting a little old to be carrying that thing around?” asked Mrs. Tweezers. “Haven’t you heard of the Blanket Fairy?”
Owen’s parents hadn’t.
Mrs. Tweezers filled them in.

That night Owen’s parents told Owen to put Fuzzy...