Beanie Finds Her Bob
|
 |
Little Beanie loved going to school. She loved her teacher, Miss Wackersoo, and she was friends with everyone in her class. There was one part of the school day Beanie didn't like though. Everyday at recess everyone in her class formed a circle to play Jamarama. They would chant a little chant and call someone into the middle of the circle to do their favorite dance.
Richie did the Barracuda.
Teeny did the Hubaloo.
Mac did the Funky Chipmunk.
But when they chanted, "Boogie down, wiggle around! Get in your groove! Hey Beanie, show us your move!" Beanie just folded her hands and shook her head. Beanie did not know how to dance. She felt sad and lonely at recess so she practiced at home in front of the mirror. But every dance Beanie tried just looked silly. Beanie did not want to look silly in front of her friends at school.
One day at recess, while the other kids were playing Jamarama, Beanie was watching from the bench. Miss Wackersoo sat down next to Beanie, "why aren't you playing Jamarama Beanie?" she asked.
"I look silly when I try to dance", said Beanie sadly. "I look silly when I do the Barracuda and the Hubaloo, the Funky Chipmunk, the Wacky Weasel, and the Swirly Doo- I look silly doing all of them!"
"But Beanie!" said Miss Wackersoo, "everyone feels a little silly when they dance. The more you practice though, the more comfortable you will feel dancing with your friends".
So when she got home from school, Beanie stood in front of the mirror and practiced all the dance moves her friends did when they played Jamarama.
When the bell rang for recess the next day her friends formed the Jamarama circle. When they chanted, "Boogie down, wiggle around! Get in your groove! Hey Beanie, show us your move!" Beanie suddenly felt very shy. She didn't want her classmates to see how goofy she looked dancing. So she folded her hands and shook her head. The rest of the day she felt very sad and when she went home she did not feel like practicing the dance moves at all.
The next morning at school Beanie was dreading recess. She did not want to watch everyone play Jamarama again without her. At lunch Beanie was walking to her table with her lunch tray when she stepped on some slippery pudding somebody dropped. Beanie's lunch tray flew into the air and her arms started swinging around in circles. Her legs were flapping as Beanie tried to catch her balance but it didn't work and Beanie fell down.
Beanie was so embarrassed! She covered her face but she knew everyone was staring at her. Then she heard Richie, "Hey Beanie! That was a super cool dance move!"
"That looked like fun!" Teeny said.
Beanie smiled and stood up to take a little bow... and everyone cheered!
When the bell rang for recess, the whole class formed a circle for Jamarama. Richie did the Barracuda, Teeny did the Hubaloo, Mac did the Funky Chipmunk. Then they chanted, "Boogie down, wiggle around! Get in your groove! Hey Beanie, show us your move!" So Beanie jumped into the middle of the circle and began swinging her arms around in circles and flapping her legs. "Hey everyone," shouted Mac, "let's do the Beanie Bop!"
And everyone in Miss Wackersoo's class started doing the Beanie Bop. From that day on, Beanie joined in Jamarama with the rest of the class every day.
Copyright Julie Mitchell 2009
Julie lives in Michigan, USA.
Return to the Free Kids Books page.
