Silly Daddy and The Big Weed
Written by Julia Frankel, Illustrated by Chelsea Lane,
Page 1
Katie, Jason, and Lisa had a very silly Daddy. He was probably the silliest Daddy in the whole world. They never knew what he would do next, but he always made them laugh. It was a lovely spring day and Daddy was busy in the yard. He had already mowed the lawn and planted some new flowers. He had promised Katie, Jason, and Lisa that they could take turns watering the plants.
Page 2
"Katie, you can water this bed," he said. "Jason, you can water the apple tree in the corner. And Lisa, you can water the lawn."
The kids took the hose out of the shed and attached it to the faucet.
Page 3
"Me first!" said Katie.
"Me second!"
Jason shouted.
"Not fair!" Lisa
huffed grumpily.
Page 4
Katie turned the water on and pointed the hose at the flower beds.
"STOP!" yelled Daddy.
Surprised, Katie dropped the hose. Jason ran over to see what happened.
"Not fair!" muttered Lisa again, under her breath.
Page 5
Daddy got down on his hands and knees and stared at an ugly green weed.
"Look" he said, "we have a new flower growing here. Mommy will be so pleased!" He turned to Katie and said, "Make sure you give this one plenty of water."
Page 6
Every day, Daddy went out into the yard to water the ugly weed, and every day it grew bigger...and bigger...and uglier...and uglier. Each day, Daddy took Katie, Jason, and Lisa out to see the huge ugly weed. And each time, he said:
"Look at my beautiful flower. See how strong and healthy it is? Mommy is going to love it!"
Page 7
One day, Mommy told the kids that she was going out for the day to visit a friend in another town.
"Daddy will take care of you today. There's food in the refrigerator for all of you. See you all at six o'clock. Be good!"
Page 8
Mommy kissed the kids
goodbye, and off she went.
Page 9
As soon as she left the house, Daddy called Katie, Jason, and Lisa over and said:
"I have something very exciting to tell you. We are going to give Mommy a BIG surprise."
"Great!" said Katie. "What are we going to do?"
"Cool!" said Jason. "Are we going to have a party for her?"
"Not fair" said Lisa "How come I never get surprises?"
The kids huddled around Daddy as he explained:
Page 10
"You know that beautiful flower in the back yard?" he asked "...the one that I have been watering and taking care of every day?"
Katie, Jason, and Lisa looked at Daddy curiously.
"Well," he said, "we are going to plant it right in front of our house. I have found the perfect spot, a place where everybody will be able to enjoy it. Mommy will see it there when she comes home tonight!"
Page 11
"Don't you think the plant
is a bit big to move?" asked Katie.
"It's VERY big!" said Jason.
"Will you plant me in the garden,
too, when I get big?" asked Lisa.
Page 12
Daddy brought out a shovel and told the kids to fetch the hose. Katie, Jason, and Lisa watched as Daddy dug a big hole right in front of their house. Then, they followed him into the back yard and watched him dig and dig and dig around the enormous ugly weed until he was able to pull it out of the ground.
Page 13
The weed was so gigantic that the kids all had to help Daddy carry it to the front of the house. Daddy proudly planted the weed in the new hole and filled the hole with dirt.
"Okay, kids. It's time to water the weed so that it stays healthy and strong."
Page 14
Katie, Jason, and Lisa all held the hose together and squirted gallons of water at the huge weed. Finally, Daddy said, "That's enough. Just wait until Mommy gets home. I can't wait to see her face!"
Page 15
Then Daddy and the kids all stood back and admired their work.
They had all gotten quite dirty from the planting, so they went
inside to clean up before having lunch.
Page 16
All afternoon, they waited for Mommy to come home. They checked the clock every ten minutes.
"I wish Mommy was home now," sighed Katie.
"Me too," said Jason, peering out the window hopefully.
"How come nobody wanted to plant ME in the front of the house?" whined Lisa.
The sun went down and the clock chimed six o'clock. The kids ran to the window as fast as they could to watch Mommy pull into the drive.
Page 17
Katie, Jason, and Lisa were all grinning from ear to ear as they watched Mommy climb out of the car. She walked over to the house and then stopped suddenly with her mouth open wide. She shrieked loudly, staring at the towering ugly weed in front of the house. Her face turned deep red.
"What on earth..." she stammered, as Daddy went out to greet her.
Page 18
As they all stood looking at the big ugly weed,
a little black bird landed on it. The weed wobbled and then very
very slowly leaned forward until it flopped all the way over,
landing flat on the ground.
Page 19
"Never mind" said Daddy with a smile "there are lots more of them growing in the back yard! Let's go and water them!"
