Fran Manushkin - Star of the Show

Katies class was putting on a play.

Were doing The Princess and the Frog, said Miss Winkle.

Hooray! said Katie. I want to be the princess!

Me too! yelled JoJo.

I want to be the frog, said Pedro. Im a great hopper!

The parts are on these cards, said Miss Winkle. Pick one to see which part you get.

Katie picked her card first.

Oh, no! she groaned. Im not the princess. Im a worm!

Im the princess! yelled JoJo.

And Im the frog! said Pedro.

Good for you, said Katie. But she felt sad. A worm cannot be a star, she sighed.

Katie told her dad, Its no fun to be a worm. All I do is wiggle.

Her dad said, You are crafty, Katie. Youll be a great worm.

Katie asked her mom, What does crafty mean?

It means clever, said her mom. I know you will be the best worm you can be!

Katie tried to be a great worm. She worked hard on her wiggling. She wiggled forward, and she wiggled backward.

Pedro and JoJo worked hard on their parts, too.

JoJo told Pedro, Dont forget to kiss me so you can turn into a prince.

Pedro nodded. Sure, sure.

The big day came, and the curtain went up.

This is so exciting! said Katie.

Oh, Frog, called the princess. I threw my golden ball into the well. Will you get it for me?

Sure! croaked the frog. He began hopping to the well.

I cant see anything in my costume, said Katie.

She wiggled close to Pedro and almost tripped him!

Oops, she thought. That was not crafty.

Thank you for bringing me my golden ball, said the princess.

Uh-oh, Katie whispered. The tree is swaying! Its going to fall down!

Katie wiggled over and leaned on the tree.

Stop that! hissed the tree. Im swaying in the wind! Im not falling down!

It was time for the frog to kiss the princess, but the frog didnt move. He looked scared.

Kiss her! whispered Miss Winkle.

The frog still did not move. But Katie did!

She wiggled over and whispered, If you dont kiss the princess, this worm will kiss YOU!

EW! said Pedro.

He kissed the princess.

You are now a prince! she said.

The audience clapped and cheered, Hurray!

As the princess took a bow, her crown fell off and landed on the worms head!

Katie smiled and wiggled. Everyone clapped harder! So Katie took a big bow.

After the show, Pedro said, Katie, you were so clever! You scared me into kissing JoJo.

Well, said Katie, I wanted you to be the best frog you could be.

And you were the craftiest worm, said Katies dad.

I guess a worm CAN be a star! said Katie.

And everybody agreed.

With this fun project you can make your own guinea pig out of an old sock and some dryer lint! Sounds crazy, right? But your pet will be so cute. I promise!