Books are Made to Read, Not Carry

Are you ready for a funny story? It was funny to me, so I decided to read it to my Language Arts Class. Some time you never know what is considered funny to younger students. Anyway, when I told the story my students laughed, they even wanted to talk about it at length. In future classes they referred to the story of Petunia many times and even wanted to read the story to a younger audience. So, I guess I scored with my students. So here is the story.

The name of the Story is Petunia written by Roger Duvoisin. Petunia was a goose. One day Petunia finds a book as she is wandering around on the farm where she lived. Petunia didn’t know much about books except seeing them under the arms of Bill, the young boy who lived on the farm. Bill would take them with him to school each day. She also remembered hearing Bill’s father say how precious books were and whoever owns books and loves them is wise. Petunia wanted to be wise, she did not like it when the farm animals called her “silly goose Petunia”. Petunia picked up the book and carried it with her everywhere. She decided if she loved the book, she too would be wise. She slept with it, she swam with it, she ate with it, she even talked to other farm animals with it. Many of the animals were impressed with Petunia and her book, they began to seek her out for wise counsel. Every time someone asked Petunia for wisdom her neck stretched a little higher with pride.

One day mother chicken thought she had lost some of her chicks on a walk and asked Petunia to help her. She said, “I had nine chicks when I started out but now, I’m not sure how many are still with me”. Petunia with her neck stretching even higher said “I can help you”. “Let’s see there are 4 here and 3 over there and 2 still eating that makes a total of 6. “Three times three makes 6 said Petunia proudly”. Mother chicken said “Oh dear is that less than 9? “That’s more than nine said Petunia”. “Where did the other chicks come from said mother chicken”? “I must set out to find their mother at once”. “Glad to offer my wisdom said Petunia”.

Petunia marched on until she met Mr. Horse who was in terrible pain with one of his teeth. “Oh, Petunia can you help me, my tooth hurts so bad”. “Glad to offer my wisdom said Petunia”. “Open your mouth asked Petunia”. “Oh, dear cried Petunia, you have so many teeth”. “Look at my mouth, Petunia opened her mouth wide, you see I don’t have any teeth, which means I don’t have tooth aches”. “But I will do you a favor”. “I will pull all of your teeth for you and then you will have no more problems when it comes to your teeth”. Mr. horse ran as fast as he could from Petunia. The thought of removing all his teeth was too much to bear. Petunia clutched her book tighter, smiled and said, “ready to help whenever you are”.

Down the road Petunia saw six or seven of the farm animals all surrounding a large package that was on the ground. When the animals saw Petunia, they cried out “Petunia can you help us”? “This package was dropped on the road, and we are all trying to figure out what is inside it”. “Can you please read what the package says?” “Glad to offer my wisdom said Petunia”. The words on the package indicated explosive firecrackers were inside the package. But

Petunia looking at the words gave a different answer. “The words spells “candy” said Petunia. The animals immediately tore open the package, the thought of sweet candy caused them to work faster at ripping open the package. Suddenly there was a large explosion!

BOOM!!

What a sight the animals were! Some were burned, some were bruised, the animals were all moaning from the explosion. They began shouting at Petunia “That was not candy”. Petunia was hurt and embarrassed, her wisdom exploded with the firecrackers. Worst of all, Petunia’s book was damaged by the blast. Petunia looked at the book and realized there were pages inside the book. She had never seen the pages before. These pages had words that were meant to be read. Petunia’s proud neck was reduced back to its original size. Petunia realized It was not enough to walk around carrying a book and think you will be wiser, you must open the book and read the contents inside the book. Petunia decided then and there it was time for her to help her friends by learning to read.

Reading is an adventure that opens new worlds and endless possibilities. Every book you pick up is an opportunity to explore different ideas, meet new characters, and gain fresh perspectives and even gain true wisdom. Whether it’s a thrilling mystery, a heartwarming story, or a fascinating nonfiction book, reading can ignite your imagination and spark creativity. The more you read, the more you learn and grow, expanding your understanding of the world around you. Let’s learn a lesson from Petunia and not simply carry books, but dive into a book today, and let the pages take you on a journey you’ll never forget!

xoxo

Michelle Obleton