Poppy Gets His Wings
Written by Lisa Fiori Dragonetti, Illustrated by Lisa Fiori Dragonetti,
Page 1
As Lisa, the flight attendant, marched boldly to the airport,
lemon sunshine sparkled in her eyes.
Page 2
"What a splendid day," Lisa smiled, "It is a supremely special, splender-iffic day."
Page 3
Lisa spied a little lump of litter
on the floor of the jetbridge.
Page 4
It moved! It trembled and jittered, in a funny sort of way.
Page 5
"Leaping lizards, why is this trash m-m-moving?" she gasped.
"Oh dear, oh my, this is not supposed to happen."
Lisa was shocked and a bit scared.
Page 7
Shaking and quaking, she uncovered her eyes.
Page 8
Lisa blew out her
breath and giggled when
she realized what it was.
Page 9
Captain Craig and Roy, the mechanic, spotted the commotion and bounded over to help.
"Is everything OK?" The captain asked.
Page 10
"Crikey, will you look at that," Captain Craig stared, "it's a baby bird."
Roy, the mechanic, nodded. "Yes, baby birds fall out of their nests onto the jetbridge floor. They don't live very long," he said, "We just throw them in the trash can."
Page 11
"What!" Lisa cried and then stiffened straight as a board, "You can't do that. Please, Captain Craig, we have to help. May we bring the baby bird with us?"
Captain Craig looked at Lisa's wide, wishful, watery eyes.
Page 12
"Bring him on," he commanded, "We will have a little, feathered co-pilot onboard."
As Lisa cradled up the wee birdie bundle, the baby opened his beak wide and made a peculiar- yet pleasant sound.
"Screep! Screep! Screep!"
It was somewhat like a cross between a screech and a peep.
Page 13
With no time to waste, Lisa carried the baby bird onto the airplane. She found an empty blue ice bucket to make a nest and keep him warm.
Page 14
Lisa offered the bopping bird a bit of bread.
"OK, junior flyboy," she said, "I hope you like this."
The baby bird gulped it down quick as a flash.
Page 15
Looking quite cute and coy, he had a few rowdy requests.
"Screep! Screep! Screep!" The twittering critter wanted more, more, more. Inside his nest, the baby bird scrambled and tried to hop and pop out.
"You just want to pop right out of there, don't you?" Lisa laughed. "Wait, just a minute," she thrilled, "Of course. This will be your name: Poppy!"
Page 17
After all the passengers boarded the plane, something started happening. The airplane started to move.
Page 18
As Poppy's nest shifted and tilted, he felt a smooth, lifting feeling in his tummy.
They were up in the sky! They were flying.
Page 19
"Look, Poppy," Lisa pointed,
"Do you see the puffy, white clouds?
We can fly right through them.
Look down. Do you see the
teeny-weeny cars driving
on the road? They look like ants."
Lisa beamed. "Poppy," she said,
"You are flying before
you even know how."
Page 20
Captain Craig piloted the plane all over the United States,
flying from blue, sparkling oceans to green, misty mountains.
Lisa made sure Poppy was warm in his ice bucket nest.
Page 21
Poppy even took a nap.
Page 22
During the flight, when Poppy hankered for a tasty tidbit, he had no problem letting Lisa know.
"Screep! Screep! Screep!"
"What is that noise?" Some of the passengers wondered.
Page 24
After the airplane landed, the passengers and crew gathered in the terminal.
Everyone started clapping and cheering.
Page 25
"Poppy," Captain Craig announced, "Since you have successfully completed your first flight bravely and with honor, I present you with this pin. You have earned your wings." Lisa's heart glowed.
"Poppy," She whispered, "it really has been a supremely special, splender-iffic day."
