Owl Diaries #1: Eva's Treetop Festival (A Branches Book)
Page 2
are finished. And I can’t wait for
everyone to see how cool they look!)
Diary, you know I wanted to do this
festival all on my own. But I need some
help
-
a LOT of help.
I’m going to talk to Lucy after school.
I’ll write more later!
Lucy was a BIG help. Well, sort of.
We painted half of the talent show
set. But our wings got tired.
We tried to hang the
frames for the art show.
But we couldn’t reach!
We planned a flower-shaped table
design for the bake-off. But we didn’t
start building the table.
We even started building the
runway. But it’s a really big job!
So we have A LOT left to do:
Oh, Diary! Will I have to cancel the
festival?
Lucy, I just don’t
have enough wings
to do everything.
Don’t worry,
Eva. We’ll figure
something out.
1. Finish painting the talent
show set
2. Hang the frames for the art show
3.
Build the flower-shaped table
for the bake-off
4.
Finish building the runway
for the fashion show
Tuesday
When I woke up today, I thought
about how sad everyone would be if we
cancelled the festival.
Then I thought about
what Miss Featherbottom
had said when I first told
her my idea.
Share
the
work!
A Helping Wing
I thought about who was good at what
in my class. Then I asked my classmates
to help with the part of the festival they’d
be best at. To my surprise, everyone
actually wanted to help! We all had fun
together, too!
Finally, Diary! I know what I have to
do! I was so silly to think that I could do
ALL of this work on my own. NO ONE
could! There are so many talented owls
in my class. I just have to ask for help!
Wish me luck, Diary! I’ll write again
after school.
George, Carlos, and Zara are the best
painters in the class. So I asked them to
paint the talent show set.
Zac and Macy are the tallest owls in
the class. So I asked them to hang the
frames for the art show.
I still need help with the runway. But
Sue was out today. (She had to go to the
owladontist!) I must ask for her help
tomorrow. But I’m SO nervous.
Lilly and Jacob are good at building
things. So I asked them to make the
table for the bake-off. They loved
Lucy’s and my flower design!
But tomorrow is the day before the
festival. If Sue says no and the runway
is not ready, we’ll have to cancel the
fashion show!!!!
Lucy, I’m scared of
asking Sue for help.
What if she laughs at
me? What if she says
something mean? Or
what if she says no?
There’s no way to know
what Sue will say. Just be
the lovely, fluffy, hoot of
an owlet that you are and
see what happens.
Wednesday
I spoke to SUE!! Here is what
happened:
Um . . . Sue?
Help build the runway?
Yes. Would that be okay?
Of course! I was hoping
you’d ask me for help!
Yeah?
I was just wondering if
you might want to help
-
An Odd Day
I could not believe that Sue said yes.
She even smiled at me. Kind of.
Then she helped me build the runway
after school.
Later, Lucy came over. We baked
her cupcakes for the bake-off contest.
And we made a flower on top of each
cupcake!
After we made flower cupcakes, we
had a flour fight! It was really fun!
It’s been an odd day. But a good one.
And I cannot believe that TOMORROW
is the BIG day, Diary!! EEK!
Thursday
Hello Diary,
Today’s festival was
a huge success
for everyone . . .
The Festival
Just not for me. I spent the day running
around to make sure everything was
going okay. But everything went wrong.
First, Lucy’s cupcakes did not look
like pretty flowers. We had frosted the
cupcakes when they were still hot. The
frosting melted. And now they looked
like gloopy SNOT balls!
Next, I saw that my just-for-fun
painting of Baxter had been hung up in
the art show! Lucy’s was nowhere to be
seen. She must’ve turned in my painting
by mistake. Oh, Lucy! No one was
supposed to see mine! Baxter looked
like a CRAZY ALIEN!
Um. Hope you’re
enjoying the show!
Later, at the talent show, I tripped
and landed on Miss Featherbottom!
The fashion show was the last
contest. And I walked out onstage
with my dress tucked into my
underpants!!
ARGH! The whole festival was so
feather-flappingly embarrassing!
I’m sure everyone thinks I’m a total
squirrel-head.
After Miss Featherbottom gives out
the contest prizes tomorrow, I hope that
I never have to hear about this festival
again!
Friday
I went to class early to drop off the
contest prizes.
Then I tried to hide from everyone.
Blooming Fabulous!
Miss Featherbottom started hooting:
Everyone liked the prizes I made.
(I felt bad that Lucy didn’t win. I never
should have helped her with those
cupcakes!)
Then, Miss Featherbottom asked
me to come up front. I thought she was
going to screech at me for showing my
underpants! But instead . . .
The first Bloomtastic
Festival was truly fabulous!
Now, I will announce the
contest winners . . .
. . . she gave me a special prize!
I was so happy!
But I knew that it
wouldn’t be right
to take the prize.
Thank you, Eva, for working so hard
and for getting the whole class to work
together! We couldn’t have had this
amazing festival without you.
I’m sorry, but I
cannot accept
this trophy.
Can all of my
classmates come up
here, please?
My classmates flew up front. Lucy
stood next to me.
This festival
never would have
happened without
the help of
all of you.
We all took turns holding the trophy.
Miss Fe
atherbottom smiled. Everyone
hooted and cheered! Even Sue!
Diary, it was the best feeling ever.
Now I just need to think of my next
project!
Hmm . . . How soon can
I start planning a
summer festival?
Rebecca Elliott was a lot like Eva when
she was younger: She loved making things and
hanging out with her best friends. Now that
Rebecca is older, not much has changed
-
except that her best friends are her husband,
Matthew, and their children Clementine, Toby,
and Benjamin. She still loves making things,
like stories, cakes, music, and paintings. But as
much as she and Eva have in common, Rebecca
cannot fly or turn her head all the way around.
No matter how hard she tries.
Rebecca is the author of JUST BECAUSE and
MR. SUPER POOPY PANTS. OWL DIARIES is
her first early chapter book series.
Name some cool owl facts.
Does Eva think the
festival is a success?
Why or why not?
Eva creates the word bloomtastic.
This word is made up of two real
words: bloom and fantastic. What do
you think bloomtastic means?
Would you want to take part in the
fashion show, talent show, art show, or
bake-off? Use words and pictures to
describe what you would do.
How does Eva feel about me at the
beginning of the story and at the end?
What does Eva learn about teamwork?
How much do you know about
Eva’s Treetop Festival?
scholastic.com/branches
scholastic.com/branches
www.scholastic.com/readinglevel