Princess Posey and the New First Grader

by Stephanie Greene

  Miss Lee smiled at Posey. “Grace was trying to say that you have the same little swirl in your hair as she does. Look.”

  Miss Lee took a small mirror out of her desk drawer. She held it up so Posey could see.

  “This is a cowlick, right here.” Miss Lee pointed to the little swirl near Posey’s part.

  “I have one, too. See?” she said.

  Miss Lee’s cowlick was on the back of her head. Like Grace’s.

  “Cows don’t have lips, do they?” said Miss Lee.

  Posey shook her head. Grace did, too.

  “Can you imagine cows wearing lipstick?” Miss Lee teased.

  A cow wearing lipstick. It was such a silly idea.

  Miss Lee pushed out her lips. She made a funny face. “MooOO,” she said.

  Miss Lee’s cow sounded so real!

  Posey giggled.

  So did Grace.

  “That’s better.” Miss Lee put the mirror back in her drawer. “I think we better write cowlick on the word wall, don’t you?”

  The Same Books Posey Reads

  At the end of the day, Miss Lee clapped.

  “Remember to have your reading slips signed tonight, everyone,” she called. “I’m going to assign new reading partners tomorrow.”

  New reading partners! Maybe this time, Posey would get Ava or Nikki.

  “If you don’t have a book to take home, hurry and get one now,” Miss Lee said.

  Posey stood up to pick out a new book.

  Grace stood up, too.

  “Grace, you come with me.” Miss Lee came over to their table and held out her hand. “You will pick from the books with the green dots.”

  Posey’s eyes got very big. Grace was in the bottom group.

  “I want to read the same books Posey reads,” said Grace.

  Miss Lee took Grace’s hand. “All of the books in our room are good.”

  “But Posey’s my friend,” Grace said in a little voice.

  “She can still be your friend,” said Miss Lee. “Come on. We’ll find a book you will love.”

  Posey quietly picked a new book and put it in her backpack.

  She and Ava and Nikki were in the red group. Three peas in a pod. That made Posey happy.

  But what about Grace?

  Grace didn’t sound happy.

  She sounded lonely. Like a tiny, sad mouse.

  A Kind Teacher

  When Posey got home, she had her snack. Then she went to her room to play school.

  She put on her tutu and her veil.

  She was Princess Posey, a kind teacher.

  Posey’s stuffed animals were lined up on the bed.

  There was Roger the giraffe. And Kiki the tiger. And Hoppy the frog. And Poinky the pig.

  Wah was a baby. She didn’t go to school. Posey put her under the covers to take a nap.

  Posey used her magic wand to point at her pretend word wall. “Does anyone know what a cowlick is?” she asked.

  They talked about the word. None of her animals had one. Then Posey said it was time for reading.

  The animals looked excited. They all loved to read.

  “Roger and Hoppy and Poinky,” Posey said in her teacher voice, “you will read a book with a red dot.”

  She put the three animals together. She propped up a book in front of them.

  Posey put her tiger at the end of the bed. “Kiki, you will read a book with a green dot,” she said. She gave her a book, too.

  “There,” said Posey. “Now, everyone read.”

  She stood back. Something was wrong.

  Kiki looked sad.

  Posey crouched down so she could talk to her in a quiet voice.

  “You will like the book with the green dot,” she said. “All of the books in our room are good.”

  Kiki looked at her with sad brown eyes.

  Looking at them made Posey sad, too.

  She knew exactly how Kiki felt. She felt left out.

  Posey stood up. “You want to read with a friend, don’t you?” she said to Kiki.

  Yes! Yes! Kiki was so excited.

  Posey picked up Roger and put him next to Kiki.

  “There,” Posey said. “You two can be reading partners.”

  Kiki thought it was the most amazing thing. Her eyes sparkled like stars. Roger looked happy, too.

  Now Posey knew how she could help Grace feel better.

  Magic Land, at Last

  “Hi, Miss Lee,” Posey said the next morning.

  Miss Lee looked up from her desk. “You’re bright and early today, Posey,” she said.

  “Can Grace be my reading partner?” Posey asked.

  “I think Grace would like that very much,” said Miss Lee. “But what about you?”

  “I want to,” Posey said. “She’s my friend.”

  “I’m glad.” Miss Lee smiled. “Okay, then, you and Grace are reading partners for the next month. How’s that?”

  “Good.”

  Grace was so excited. When it was reading time, she and Posey took their books to the reading corner.

  They sat side by side on the red and blue pillow.

  “This is my favorite pillow,” Grace said.

  “Me too,” said Posey.

  It was so much fun to read together. When Grace didn’t know a word, Posey helped her. It made Posey feel proud.

  Before they knew it, it was time to go outside.

  “Let’s get Ava and Nikki,” Posey said. “I have the most amazing game we can play.”

  The girls ran to the playground.

  “I made up a new magic game,” Posey told them. “It needs four people.”

  “That’s how many we have,” said Nikki.

  “We’re four peas in a pod!” Posey said.

  “How do you play?” said Ava.

  Posey told them about Magic Land.

  “I want to be the giant,” Nikki cried. She made mean giant growling noises.

  “Can I be the unicorn, please, please?” Ava begged. “Unicorns are so special.”

  That left the princess and the lion.

  Posey looked at Grace. “You can be the princess if you want.”

  “You have to be the princess,” said Grace. “I want to be the lion who protects you!”

  Grace gave a mighty roar. She sounded like a real lion.

  “Let’s go play!” Posey cried.

  The unicorn, the giant, the lion, and the princess ran to play Magic Land.

  This time, the princess let the lion hold her hand.

  Watch for the next Princess Posey book!

  Posey is sure Santa will bring her a real magic wand for Christmas—it will help her do so many wonderful things! But when an accident leads to a little white lie, she worries Santa won’t come at all. Will Princess Posey’s sparkly tutu help her find the courage to fix things?