A Children's Book

B and D Are Easy for Me

By Emma Pyron

Ben can say his s’s and t’s, and he can actually say all of his letters, but he sometimes mixes up his b’s and d’s. 

Ben goes to Fort Worth Country Day, and his teacher has picked him to be the reader for class this week. He is super nervous. He does not want to mess up in front of his classmates. This is Ben’s first time to read out loud to his class.  

On Thursday, he goes to the playground to practice reading. Suddenly, he sees a falcon flying above him. The falcon lands next to Ben and says to him, “Hi, I am Freddy the Falcon. What is your name?” 

Ben answers, “Uh… my name is Ben.” “Hi Ben,” Freddy says. “I heard you practicing your reading, and I wanted to help. Could you read your story for me?” “I can’t,” Ben says. “I keep mixing up my letters.” “Oh that’s okay,” Freddy says. “We all get mixed up sometimes. Let me help.” 

Ben begins reading to Freddy, but he can’t read the sentence. He slowly tries to read, “Before going to bed, the boy reads a bedtime story,” but it comes out, “Before going to deb, the doy reads a debtime story.” 

Freddy sees what is wrong and begins to look around. “What is that?” he says, pointing his wing at a bench. Ben answers, “a bench.” 

Freddy then points to a ball and asks, “What is that?” Ben answers, “a ball.” Then Freddy points to Ben’s friend Debbie and says, “Who is that?” “Debbie!” Ben exclaims. 

Freddy tells Ben to close his eyes and tell him what color he sees. Ben says, “black.” Then Freddy asks Ben what the last meal of the day is, and Ben says, “dinner.” Freddy sees that Ben can read his b’s and d’s, but when they are in a sentence together, he gets confused. 

Freddy takes Ben over to the sidewalk. He tells Ben to pick up the chalk and write the letter b. Ben gets nervous because he can’t remember which way the b goes. 

Freddy sees that Ben is lost, so he tells him to write a b and d on the ground. Ben writes both letters, not knowing which is which. 

Freddy stands above the b. He says, “This is Ben the b. Which way is Ben’s belly pointing?” Ben says, “his belly is pointing right.” Freddy then stands above the d. He says, “this is Debbie the d. Which way is Debbie’s belly pointing.” “To the left,” Ben says. 

Freddy tells Ben, “from now on, b is for Ben and d is for Debbie.” “Ben always goes right, and Debbie always goes left.” “I have to go now, but I know you are ready and you can do this.” 

Freddy then flies off, and Ben looks down at the chalk. He says to himself, “b is for Ben, and d is for Debbie. Ben faces right, and Debbie faces left.” 

He goes home that night and just keeps saying to himself, “b’s belly faces right, and d’s belly faces left.” 

Friday morning, Ben wakes up very nervous, but he is also ready. On his way to school, he reads to himself. 

Ben and Debbie get to school at the same time, and Debbie says, “I am so excited for you to read today!” Ben says, “I am a little nervous, but I think I am ready.” 

Ben notices his falcon friend watching over him from a tree. “You can do this,” he says. 

Ben and Debbie go to class and sit at their desks. Ben’s teacher then asks him if he is ready to read. Ben stands up and opens his book. 

He begins reading, and he is doing so well. He then gets to that one sentence and reads, “Before going to bed, he reads a bedtime story.” Ben’s teacher is almost as proud as he is. 

When he is done reading, his classmates cheer for him, and Ben has never felt better. Thanks to Freddy the Falcon, Ben can now read his b’s and d’s.