Daisy's Perfect Word Read online

  To my father, who taught me how to write, and to my family for providing the inspiration — S.V.F.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Daisy’s Wonderful Word Lists

  Daisy’s Golden Glossary

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Chapter One

  On sunny days, Daisy liked picking lemons off the tree in her backyard to make lemonade. She liked playing kickball with her friends and making long dandelion chains, which she wore in her curly hair. On rainy days, Daisy liked putting on her red boots and stomping through puddles, making big, messy splashes.

  Almost every day, Daisy rode her bike around the neighborhood with her best friend, Emma. They often stopped to see Mrs. Bookman, who lived on the corner. Mrs. Bookman always had something unusual to eat, like roasted pumpkin seeds, and something interesting to talk about, like how some people are left-handed. “I’m left-dimpled!” Daisy said, smiling to show off the dimple in her left cheek.

  But Daisy’s favorite part of any day was when she would sit in the shade of the largest tree in her backyard or curl up in her cozy chair with a book in her hands. Daisy liked books because books were full of words.

  And more than making lemonade or wildflower chains or riding her bike with her best friend, Daisy loved words.

  She collected her favorite words in a green notebook covered with purple polka dots, and she always took her time deciding which special words should go on each list.

  One list was devoted to short words like fun, great and big. Daisy liked using short words when she was excited, which was a lot of the time. These words were on a list in her notebook titled Wow Words.

  Daisy also liked made-up words.

  “Iska-biska,” she said to Emma as they walked to school.

  “Ilpa-dilpa,” Emma answered back, because she liked making up words, too. Daisy had a whole list of made-up words and an explanation of what each word meant, so she wouldn’t forget how to use it.

  At night when she was sleepy, Daisy liked quiet words. After saying good-night to her little sister, Lily, and being tucked in by her parents, Daisy looked at the list of Quiet-Time Words in her notebook. She whispered hush-a-bye and sweet dreams to the three teddy bears that slept on her bed.

  Usually Daisy fell right asleep. But on nights when she had something important on her mind, she had trouble settling down. This was one of those nights.

  Daisy’s teacher, Miss Goldner, had told the class that she had some big news to share the next day. Daisy couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

  Emma and Daisy had wondered about it all the way home.

  “I bet we’re going to have field trips every week for the rest of the year,” Emma said.

  “I think we’re going to get pizza every day in the cafeteria,” Daisy said.

  “Maybe the President is going to ask us to help run the country!” Emma exclaimed.

  “Maybe the Queen is coming for tea!” Daisy declared.

  Now, as Daisy lay in bed, she couldn’t help wondering some more. Her teacher had sounded excited, so it must be good news. The ice-cream truck would be permanently parked outside the school? They would be having two hours of reading time every day? Or maybe it was something even bigger. The space program wanted to try sending kids into space, and Daisy’s class had been selected? The chocolate maker in town needed some new flavors and wanted students to be tasters?

  Daisy finally drifted off to sleep. She dreamed she was in space having tea with the Queen. Instead of little sandwiches, there were chocolate bars with names like MarsMallow Mash and Sweet Saturn Squares. “Delicious,” said the Queen, dabbing daintily at her mouth with a napkin. “We must start serving these at the palace.”

  “Splendid!” Daisy replied, reaching for just one more.

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, Daisy rushed through her breakfast, not even taking time to finish her cinnamon toast. After her crazy dream, she couldn’t wait to get to school to find out her teacher’s big news.

  Even though she was in a hurry, Daisy still tried to avoid walking with Samantha, who lived next door. Samantha was in Daisy’s class and liked the words stop and mine.

  If they did walk together, Samantha would always say, “Slow down,” and “Follow me.” The words Samantha used hurt Daisy’s ears. She didn’t want those kinds of words stuck in her head all day long — not when there were so many other wonderful words in the world. When she did walk with Samantha, Daisy would sometimes hum a little song to herself when Samantha began to talk.

  Avoiding Samantha took some work, because Samantha was a whole head taller than Daisy and could easily see over the fence that separated their houses. Daisy had figured out that if she cut through her backyard and then through Mrs. Bookman’s bushes, she could end up in front of Emma’s house without ever going by Samantha’s house. The only problem was that the bushes were prickly and the ground was muddy, and today she was wearing her new ballet flats and favorite blue hoodie in honor of Miss Goldner’s big news.

  So Daisy decided to skip, while singing loudly, with her hood pulled up over her head and her eyes closed. Well, one eye really. She thought it would be a good idea to keep one eye open, so she could see where she was going. Daisy figured Samantha would have no idea what to make of such a spectacle. Besides, Daisy knew that Samantha did not like to skip. By the time Daisy got to the corner, Emma was already there and Samantha hadn’t appeared.

  All the way to school, Daisy and Emma talked about Miss Goldner — the best teacher in the whole world.

  “I like how Miss Goldner uses words like imagine and recess,” Daisy said. “Those words are on my Sparkling School Words list.”

  “After we’ve been working hard, it’s great when Miss Goldner puts her hands on her hips and says, ‘You know what we need right now? A dance break!’” Emma said.

  “I know!” Daisy agreed. “And she’s not like those other teachers who just sit and watch us dance or sort of sway back and forth.”

  “She’s always right in the middle of the class, swinging her arms and twirling around,” Emma said. Then Emma, with her long hair bouncing up and down against her back, did an imitation of Miss Goldner’s dancing technique right there on the sidewalk.

  “She’s the best,” Daisy agreed, her brown curls flying as she joined in.

  “Wasn’t it fun when she let us bring our wagons to school covered with white sheets, and we got to travel across the field like pioneers?” Emma asked, resuming the walk to school.

  “My favorite day was when we went on that field trip to the beach and our only assignment was to watch the ocean,” Daisy said.

  “And remember when she made us a cake with different colored layers to teach us about the layers of the earth?” Emma asked.

  Daisy remembered it all.

  But for Daisy, the absolutely best thing about Miss Goldner was that whenever she used a difficult word, she stopped and explained what it meant. To Daisy, that was the best possible thing a teacher could do.

  Daisy was thinking about words and Emma was still enjoying her memory of the cake as they turned the corner and arrived at school.

  The girls put their backpacks on the hooks outside the classroom door. Daisy carefully
carried her notebook into the classroom and put it inside her desk for safekeeping. When all the children were sitting in their seats, Miss Goldner did what she always did — she took attendance and said something kind after each student had answered.

  “Emma?” she asked.

  “Here,” Emma said.

  “Your shiny headband really makes your eyes sparkle,” Miss Goldner said. “And thank you for remembering to water the class plants.” Miss Goldner even had something nice to say to Samantha. Daisy usually looked forward to Miss Goldner’s comments, but today she could barely sit still. Finally, Miss Goldner put away her attendance folder. Daisy and Emma shot each other looks across the room. They could hardly wait for the big announcement.

  Miss Goldner stood up tall and asked, “Are you ready for my big news?” The children all answered together, “Yes!”

  “I’m engaged,” Miss Goldner said with a big smile on her face.

  Chapter Three

  Daisy loved the sound of engaged. It sounded as if it must be splendid. And when Miss Goldner explained what an engagement was — a promise to be married — Daisy knew it was splendid. But it was also sad, because at the end of the school year, Miss Goldner would be moving away.

  “I’m very happy,” Miss Goldner said, “but I will miss all of you very much.” Then her eyes got misty and a couple of tears fell down her cheeks.

  That happened every so often, especially when Miss Goldner was talking about a favorite book or something someone had done that was particularly nice. When her tears slipped out, she always apologized to the children saying, “I can’t help it. I get very emotional.” Not only did Daisy like the word emotional, she thought it was part of what made Miss Goldner so special. This time Miss Goldner’s emotional moment passed quickly, because the children distracted her with questions.

  “What does your wedding dress look like?” Samantha asked.

  “It will be white with little pearls and a skirt as big and fluffy as a cloud,” Miss Goldner said.

  “What kind of cake will you have?” Will asked.

  “Chocolate, of course.”

  “Don’t you want to teach at our school anymore?” Ben asked.

  “I love this school,” Miss Goldner said. “But I will have to move to a new town and find a new school, so I can be with my new husband.”

  “That sounds like a lot of ‘new,’” Emma said.

  “It sure does,” Miss Goldner agreed, sighing.

  Hearing all this, Daisy felt emotional herself and was glad that the recess bell rang before anyone saw the tear in her eye.

  Chapter Four

  After school, all the children could talk about was Miss Goldner’s engagement. Samantha was talking so excitedly that Daisy forgot to hum and listened instead. “I’m going to get Miss Goldner a gift, maybe a vase or candlesticks,” Samantha said. For once, Daisy was glad she had listened to Samantha.

  Giving Miss Goldner an engagement gift was a good idea, although Daisy thought vases and candlesticks were kind of boring. The other children wanted to give her gifts, too. Will, who was good at art, said he would make a picture frame. Ben, who loved sports, wondered if Miss Goldner would like a football.

  “Let’s all bring our presents in on Friday,” Samantha said, and the others agreed.

  On the way home, Daisy was quiet, while Emma chatted excitedly.

  “I wish we could go to the wedding,” Emma said. “I bet Miss Goldner will look like a princess! And chocolate cake is my favorite.”

  It was Daisy’s favorite, too. Normally, Daisy would have loved discussing whether the frosting was likely to be buttercream or whipped cream. But today, she was thinking about other, even more important things.

  Daisy said good-bye to Emma and headed into her house to tell her mother the big news.

  “Miss Goldner is engaged!” Daisy said, dropping her backpack on the floor and climbing onto a stool at the counter. “That word is going on a new list of Wedding Words.”

  “Well, that’s wonderful!” Daisy’s mother said.

  “No … I mean … yes, it is,” Daisy responded. “It’s great she’s getting married, but then she will have to move away. She won’t teach at our school anymore. I won’t be able to go visit her next year and show her my new word lists,” Daisy explained. “And I won’t get to see her at lunchtime or recess.”

  “Oh, I see,” said her mother.

  Just then, Daisy’s little sister, Lily, walked into the kitchen, wearing her purple superhero cape, fastened with a big gold clasp. Lily pushed her bangs out of her eyes and handed Daisy a card she had made at preschool.

  “It’s for you,” Lily said, with her hands on her hips, in her best superhero stance. “For my big sister.”

  Daisy took the card and looked at it. It had a big flower on the front and her name written in bright orange letters inside. The “D” was printed backwards. It made Daisy smile, even though she didn’t much feel like smiling. Daisy gave Lily a hug.

  “I want to get Miss Goldner an engagement present,” Daisy said, returning to her seat at the counter.

  “How about something for the kitchen?” her mother suggested.

  “That’s a good idea,” Daisy said, “but I want to get something special.”

  “Something homemade is always nice,” her mother said. Daisy looked at the card her sister had given her. It was nice. Daisy was good with clay and made great friendship bracelets, but those didn’t seem right either.

  “Even more special,” Daisy said.

  Daisy’s mother stopped stirring the sauce she was making for dinner and looked at Daisy. She knew that look of determination.

  It was the same look Daisy had when she decided that for her book report project, she would decorate a soda bottle to look like the book’s main character.

  There was much glue, tape and fabric involved in the project, not to mention Styrofoam, buttons and yarn. It had taken Daisy days of work to make it look just right. But when she was finished and brought her creation to school, Miss Goldner said that it was the most wonderfully creative book report she had ever seen. It was still displayed prominently on a shelf above Miss Goldner’s desk.

  “I don’t think you need any more suggestions from me right now,” her mother said. “I can tell you’re going to come up with your own idea, and I bet it will be just right.”

  * * *

  That afternoon, her mom made Daisy’s favorite snack — a big bowl of strawberries with vanilla yogurt. Between bites, Daisy did what she always did when she had serious thinking to do. She pressed her nose up against the fishbowl that was home to her goldfish, Bubbles. Bubbles was a special, one-of-a-kind fish that came when Daisy called his name. She had found that staring at Bubbles and the clear water usually helped her see things more clearly. But this time, it didn’t help. She slumped over her strawberries.

  Daisy wanted to get Miss Goldner a one-of-a-kind present so Miss Goldner would never forget her, even when she moved away and had a whole new group of students to teach. But Daisy didn’t know what that present should be.

  Daisy thought some more. She got up from the counter and paced around the kitchen. Still nothing was coming to her. So she grabbed a book and went outside to sit under her favorite tree, a large oak. But instead of reading, she tried to do some more thinking.

  She thought about the best gifts she had ever received. There was the pink elephant her grandfather gave her the day she was born, the ball from her uncle that bounced so high it ended up stuck on the roof, and the watch from her aunt that came with a different band for each day of the week. Then there was the special piece of brown sea glass that Emma had given her because it was the same color as Daisy’s eyes. They were all wonderful gifts, but none of them seemed quite right for Miss Goldner.

  Finally, she gave up thin
king for a while. She watered the herbs her mother had planted, jumped rope and picked some lemons from the lemon tree. Still nothing. When she came back in, she put her book away in her backpack and saw her green notebook with the purple polka dots. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands.

  Then it came to her.

  Daisy would find Miss Goldner the perfect word! A word she would know was chosen specially for her. It would be a word that was right for kids and teachers, perfect loudly or softly, and not too long or too short. Plus, it would be full of fun. She would find a perfect word for a perfect teacher. But what would it be?

  Chapter Five

  Daisy gobbled down the rest of the strawberries and ran back outside. She yelled, “Yippee!” and did a happy dance on the lawn, her curls bobbing up and down. She was so eager to start her search that she didn’t even mind when Samantha leaned over the fence and said, “Be quiet!”

  All of a sudden the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. Yellow was a good word, not too long and not too short. But then again, maybe it was a little too, well, yellow. What if Miss Goldner was having a blue day? In that case, yellow would not work at all.

  Daisy opened the front door and told her mom, “I’m going to Emma’s house.”

  She raced down the block.

  “I’m going to find the perfect word for Miss Goldner!” Daisy called to Emma, who was in her front yard. “Want to help?”

  “Sure,” said Emma. “Where do we start?”

  Daisy looked around.

  “I guess we start right here,” Daisy replied.

  Daisy was used to looking for things. Almost every morning, Lily seemed to have misplaced one of her shoes, and Daisy could never find a sharpened pencil when she needed it. She had a magnifying glass and detective’s hat for when she and Emma wanted to solve mysteries. But even Daisy wasn’t exactly sure how to find a perfect word for someone.