To everybody else, the sky is blue.
Terri Schlichenmeyer
It’s been how many years since you started doing this?
All summer long, you’ve managed to avoid anything that even remotely resembles school. You get enough of it from now until spring, so why add to the misery, right? And yeah, you’ve been reading all summer long, but that doesn’t count because reading is fun.
The other day, while you were playing outside, you found something small on the ground. It wasn’t much, just a penny.
Who has the best dog in the world? Um, that would be you, right? There’s no other dog like yours, and if you put your pup up against every other dog in the neighborhood, the city or even the entire country, you know who would win. Whether Fido is a flea-bag or Buster is a blue-ribbon-getter, your dog is a winner with you.
If anybody asks, you’re the kid who knows the score. You can rattle off your favorite teams’ standing. You know who leads in career touchdowns and career goals. You can describe the butterfly, the crawl, the trudgen and you know who does them best. Is there anything better than watching a game?
There are days when slamming your bedroom door, though it might get you in trouble, is really satisfying. Those are the days when everybody bugs you, nothing goes right, and you just want to scream, stomp, storm and slam.
Sometimes, you just want to be left alone. But what if everybody left you — for good?
Have you ever been scared of something? Really scared? Sure you have, and there doesn’t even have to be a reason. You might be scared of the dark because it’s… dark. Maybe you’re scared of dogs, because they make a ferocious noise. Or you’re scared of clowns, because they look funny. You might not be able to put your finger on why you’re scared, but it doesn’t matter.
There is absolutely no way you’re staying inside another minute. All year long, when school’s in session, you spend enough time indoors. But with summer here and the free time that comes with it, you plan on being outside as much as possible — hiking, exploring and camping. But what if you get lost?
“Go the F**k to Sleep” certainly looks like a children’s book with lush illustrations. The soft cadence of the poem brings to mind the most beloved of bedtime storybooks. But look again, check your eyes, and you’ll see why you want to keep this book on the highest shelf in your home. Yep, it’s really about as far from a children’s book as any book can be.
You are an observant kid. You pay attention.
For a while now, you’ve listened to the news and you have opinions. You know what you’d do about war if you were president. You have ideas on how to stop poverty, hunger and other world problems.
So what can a kid like you do?
The other day, you were outside playing and you hit your head.
Ouch! It hurt so much that you started to cry, both eyes watering. Your ears rang and you cried so hard, you started to hiccup. But you were fine, you felt better later and you even managed a laugh when your dad tickled you a little.
Superman is not so super.Oh, sure, he can leap over buildings, but does he give horseback rides? He can stop trains, but can he stop your sister from bugging you? He may not ,but your dad can.
You’re a pretty smart kid.
If something is broken, you try to fix it or you work around it. You’re good at figuring things out and making up inventions as you need them. Best of all, if you can’t wrap your brain around a problem, you know enough to ask for help. You’re a smart kid, but you can’t do everything yourself. So, what if it was up to you to save your family or even your entire neighborhood?
