Grandma Lu Said The Children Were Good Listeners

Grandma Lu was walking around the room and stopping by each child's flower,  petals, and acorns. She spread the petals apart so that they could see inside the flower. She said, "Okay everyone, spread your flower petals apart. Can you see the little yellow part way down inside? Even these little white honey suckle flowers have a little part like the pink and blue ones. Oh good you all were so gentle that you can see inside your flowers. You are good listeners. Okay, now let's begin our story that Marlee picked out."

Once upon a time there was a lady who wished she had a baby, but she never got her wish. So one day she went to her fairy godmother. She said, "Fairy Godmother, I have wished and wished for a little baby, but I never get my wish. Can you help me?"

The Fairy Godmother said, "Oh that's easy. Get a piece of barleycorn that the farmers plant and put it in a flower pot and see what happens."

"The lady did as she was told. She planted a kernel of barleycorn in a flower pot and guess what?"
The children all said, "It grew into a flower just like we have."

Grandma Lu said, "You are exactly right. The lady was so happy she kissed the flower that had grown in the flower pot. Guess what? The flower opened up wide and there in that little yellow part you see was a little bitty baby. She was so little: not even half as big as my thumb." She showed the children her thumb. She said, "Is your thumb the same size as my thumb?" The children all showed her their thumbs. Such laughing there was. They decided that the little baby was really really little if it was half as big as their thumb. The children also noticed that everyone had a different sized thumb. Then they got the giggles.

Marlee said, "Grandma B had me plant a flower at my birthday party. It is growing too. Will it have a baby in it too, 'cause I don't need one. I already got a baby sister, Whitlee Jo."

Bradshaw said, "My baby sister was really little when we got her too, but she's pretty big now. I can play with her sometimes."

Andy said, "My baby sister wasn't that little when we got her, but we got ours at a hospital."

It seemed to Grandma Lu that many of the children had gotten new babies at their house in the last few months, so she said, "Okay, you will all have a chance to talk about your new babies, but for right now, let's see what is happening in our story, okay?" The children agreed and again were quiet and listened to the story of Thumbelina once known as Tiny.