The Maple Festival

by Poppy Green

  Next the trio marveled at the Olsen family’s apple sculpture. It was next to the Ferris wheel, right where Miss Olsen said it would be.

  “Amazing!” said Sophie. The squirrels had piled at least one hundred apples into an apple tower. There were three levels—red apples on the bottom, green apples in the middle, and yellow apples on top.

  “Come on!” said Sophie, scurrying off. “Let’s go ride the best ride at the festival!”

  Hattie and Owen hurried to catch up. “The Ferris wheel!” they shouted.

  Don’t Drop the Acorn!

  Higher and higher they went! The Ferris wheel turned slowly, carrying Sophie, Hattie, and Owen all the way to the very top.

  “Where did this giant wheel even come from?” Owen asked.

  “Someone found it!” said Sophie.

  “That’s what I heard too!” said Hattie. “Years ago a bird spotted it at the edge of the forest. She told the festival organizers about it. A team of animals went to get it. And they made it into . . . this!”

  Sophie nodded. “It’s been a ride at the festival every year since.”

  Sophie peered over the side of their seat. She could see the whole festival! They were higher than the tops of the tents. Everyone on the ground looked like ants at an ant festival!

  Sophie could just make out her mom’s bake stand in the long row of stands. That’s funny, Sophie thought. It looks pretty empty over there. Sophie could see lines of people at other stands, but not at Lily Mouse’s. Maybe there had been long line just a minute ago? Sophie hoped so.

  As they got off the Ferris wheel, the friends heard a familiar voice. “How about one more team?” the voice called.

  Sophie and her friends looked over. There was Mrs. Wise, speaking into a pinecone megaphone. “Step right up! We need one more team of three to start ‘don’t drop the acorn’!”

  Sophie, Hattie, and Owen rushed over to say hi.

  “Hello, you three!” Mrs. Wise said cheerfully.

  “What kind of game is this?” asked Sophie.

  Mrs. Wise explained the rules. “It’s a relay race. One at a time, each team member races to the flags and back.” Mrs. Wise pointed to some flags at the far end of the grassy area. “The fastest team wins. But there’s a twist.” Mrs. Wise held up a big spoon. “Each racer has to carry along an acorn balanced in a spoon. If the acorn falls, the whole team is out.”

  There were already four teams at the starting line. Malcolm, the mole, and Ben and James, rabbits from school, were on one team. They waved. Sophie waved back.

  Sophie, Hattie, and Owen looked at one another. “Let’s do it!” cried Sophie.

  “Yes!” shouted Owen and Hattie.

  Mrs. Wise handed Sophie a spoon and an acorn. The three friends lined up at the start in the order they would go: Sophie first, then Hattie, then Owen.

  “Ready? Set? Go!” Mrs. Wise shouted.

  Sophie sprinted from the start line—then slowed way down. If she went superfast, the acorn wobbled in the spoon. Swift but smooth, Sophie told herself. That’s how I have to move.

  She rounded the flag and raced back toward the start. Then she carefully passed the spoon off to Hattie.

  “Go, Hattie, go!” Sophie cheered. She watched Hattie take short, graceful hops. Sophie wished Hattie could go faster. But she also didn’t want her to drop the acorn!

  At last Hattie raced back and passed the spoon to Owen. He held it in his mouth while he slithered toward the flag. He was going so fast!

  “He’s good at this!” Hattie cried.

  “I know!” said Sophie. She looked over at the other teams. Two teams had dropped their acorns! Malcolm was just passing off the spoon to Ben. And the other team was way behind.

  Owen was in the lead. He raced back toward Sophie and Hattie. He crossed the finish line first!

  “We did it!” Sophie called out.

  Mrs. Wise hurried over. “Yes you did! Congratulations!”

  She handed them their prizes—three blue ribbons, one for each of them.

  “Wow!” cried Hattie as they walked away. “I’ve never won a festival ribbon before!”

  “Me neither!” Sophie exclaimed. “Owen, you were awesome! And you won a ribbon at your very first Maple Festival!” She noticed they weren’t too far from her mom’s bake stand. “You two go on without me. I want to show this to my mom!”

  Sophie also kind of wanted to see if her mom needed her help. It’s sure to be busier now, she thought as she ran along the row of stands.

  Farther down the row, Sophie stopped in her tracks.

  There was the bake stand. And there was her mom, alone. The festival crowds milled all around.

  But no one—not one customer—was at Lily Mouse’s stand.

  Art to the Rescue

  “Mom,” Sophie said as she walked up, “where is everybody?” She tucked her blue ribbon into her satchel. There were more important things to talk about.

  Lily Mouse shrugged and smiled “Maybe there are just too many other things to see at the festival this year,” she said. She ruffled the fur on Sophie’s head. “It looks like we may be eating maple-apple muffins for a while.”

  Sophie frowned. She looked around at the other stands. “It’s true,” said Sophie. “There are a lot more stands this year.” Everywhere she looked, there was something to catch the eye. There were colorful flags and balloons. There were banners and streamers and signs.

  Was Lily Mouse’s stand too hard to find . . . in the middle of it all?

  Suddenly, Sophie had an idea. “Be right back!” she told her mom. Then she scurried off to the edge of the festival grounds. She snatched up the biggest, reddest maple leaf she could find. She carried it back to the bake stand.

  “What’s that for, dear?” asked Mrs. Mouse. But Sophie just gave her a sly smile. She pulled out a paintbrush and her paint box. Inside, she had some colors already mixed. But she needed one more. She reached into her satchel again. She pulled out a handkerchief full of black currants. She had picked them on the way to school the other morning.

  “Mom, do you have any water?” Sophie asked.

  Lily Mouse nodded. She handed Sophie a canteen she had tucked behind the stand. Sophie squashed the currants in the lid of the paint box. She added some water. Then she mixed the water and berry juice together until she got the color she wanted.

  Sophie tilted the leaf up so only she could see the next part. “No peeking!” she told her mom.

  After a few minutes, Sophie finally put her brush down. She held the leaf out at arm’s length and studied it. Then she smiled and turned it around for her mom to see.

  “Well?” Sophie said. “What do you think?”

  Lily Mouse gasped.

  “Sophie!” cried Lily Mouse. “It’s perfect!”

  “I’ll say!” said George Mouse, walking up with Winston.

  “Cool sign, Sophie!” said Winston. He was holding a maple-candy lollipop.

  Sophie smiled proudly. Her dad went off and found two sticks. Together, he and Sophie poked holes in either end of the leaf sign and strung it on some baker’s twine that Mrs. Mouse had. They tied each end to the posts of the bake stand.

  Sophie’s sign fluttered high over their heads.

  But will it make any difference? Sophie wondered.

  Back in Business

  At first nothing seemed to happen.

  Animals walked by on their way to play games or go on the rides.

  A couple of birds swooped past.

  A line of ducklings led by a mother duck waddled along the row of stands. One duckling turned to gaze hungrily at Lily Mouse’s treats. But his mom was moving along and he had to hurry to keep up.

  Then, just as Sophie was starting to lose hope, a hummingbird zipped up. She hovered right in front of Sophie’s nose. Sophie had to refocus her eyes.

  “Piper!” cried Sophie, recognizing her friend from school.

  Piper’s mom and dad zipped up on either side of Piper.

  �
��Thank goodness we found you!” Piper’s dad said to Sophie.

  “We are simply starving after flying around all morning!” added Piper’s mom.

  Piper smiled at Sophie. “We’ve been looking all over for your mom’s bake stand,” Piper said. “It’s harder to find everything this year!”

  The hummingbirds bought several of Lily Mouse’s treats. They tasted them right then and there.

  “Mmm-MMM!” said Piper’s mom, trying a maple-apple muffin. “These are the most delicious muffins I’ve ever tasted!”

  Sophie did a happy little dance behind the bake stand. It was the first time she’d heard what someone—other than her mom—thought of her recipe.

  Soon, a few more animals stopped at the bake stand. They looked at all the treats, trying to choose. Behind them, Sophie saw other animals look up at her sign and point.

  More and more animals got in line. Sophie moved to her mom’s side. She handed the customers their baked goods as they ordered.

  They were working quickly. But the line was growing quickly, too! Before Sophie knew it, the line was winding way down the row of stands.

  “Looks like we have lots of tired and hungry customers!” Lily Mouse whispered to Sophie.

  Sophie nodded. “Ready for your treats!” she whispered back.

  “Our treats!” Lily Mouse said with a wink.

  A bit later, Hattie and Owen came running up. They were excited to see how busy the bake stand had gotten. Sophie asked her mom if she could take a quick break. She gave her friends some treats. They sat behind the bake stand and nibbled away happily.

  “Yum!” Hattie said. She was trying a waffle-cream sandwich. “This is really good!”

  Owen agreed as he tasted a poppy-seed doughnut. “Did you make this?”

  “I helped,” Sophie said proudly. “And those recipes were my ideas!”

  Hattie and Owen were very impressed.

  That evening, back at the bakery, Sophie helped her mom unpack the catering cart. All the boxes, baskets, and trays were empty. Every one of the treats had been sold at the festival.

  “Well, Sophie,” said Mrs. Mouse as she closed up the cabinets, “that was the busiest bake stand I’ve ever had.” She pulled Sophie into a big hug. “I could not have done it without you.”

  Sophie hugged her mom back. “It was really fun! Can I be your assistant again next year?” Sophie asked.

  Mrs. Mouse burst out laughing. “Let’s wait a few hours before we start planning for next year. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Sophie replied with a smile.

  In the meantime, there would be a reminder of their festival success, hanging front and center in Lily Mouse’s bakery.

  Here’s a peek at the next Adventures of Sophie Mouse book!

  Sophie yawned and sat up in her bed. The early morning light glowed at her window. She squinted and blinked hard.

  Sophie rubbed her eyes. She gasped. Is that what I think it is? she thought excitedly.

  Her vision cleared. White flakes drifted past her window. Snow! It was snowing!

  Sophie leaped out of bed. She pressed her nose and whiskers against the frosty window. Outside, a blanket of white covered the sleeping forest.

  “A snow day!” Sophie squeaked. “At last!” It was the first snowfall since winter had come. Her class at Silverlake Elementary had been on winter break for a week. But now the wintertime fun could really begin!

  Still in her pajamas, Sophie tiptoed downstairs. She went to the front door and pulled it open. A little pile of snow fell onto the floor.

  Sophie looked around. The forest was a glistening winter wonderland! Sophie breathed in the crisp air. Her ears perked up, listening. It was so quiet and still—except for clumps of snow softly falling from trees. Sophie imagined all the animals tucked away in their cozy homes.

  “You’re up early,” said a voice behind her. Sophie turned. Her dad, George Mouse, was coming downstairs. “I can’t imagine why,” he added with a smile.

  Poppy Green can talk to animals! Unfortunately, they never talk back to her. So she started writing in order to imagine what they might say and do when humans aren’t watching. Poppy lives on the edge of the woods in Connecticut, where her backyard is often a playground for all kinds of wildlife: birds, rabbits, squirrels, voles, skunks, deer, and the occasional wild turkey.

  Jennifer A. Bell is an illustrator whose work can be found on greeting cards, magazines, and in more than a dozen children’s books. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, son, and cranky cat.

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  Simon & Schuster • New York

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • www.SimonandSchuster.com • First Little Simon hardcover edition October 2015. Copyright © 2015 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Designed by Laura Roode. The text of this book was set in Usherwood.

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this title is available from the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4197-1 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4196-4 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-4198-8 (eBook)