Daisy's Defining Day by Sandra V. Feder, Susan Mitchell Page A

the sentence have to start with the same letter or sound as the animal’s name,” Miss Goldner said. “That’s called alliteration. Let’s have fun with all the letters, starting with
A.
For instance, you might write ‘Angry Alligators Ate Apples’ or ‘Bossy Beavers Bit Bark.’”
    Daisy thought the animal sentences were fabulous! She started with “Awesome Antelopes Are Athletic” and was all the way to “Handy Hippos Hammer Houses” when the bell rang signaling the end of the day.
    Emma and Daisy talked about the assignment all the way home. “I love how the words sound together,” Daisy said, sharing her favorite sentence of the day. “Elegant Elephants Eagerly Eat Éclairs.” Daisy couldn’t wait to enter the animal sentences into her notebook.

Chapter Three

    But when Daisy turned to go up her driveway, Grant was standing there. Although she now liked having Samantha living next door, Daisy wished Grant could live somewhere else.
    â€œLook! It’s Lazy Daisy,” Grant said.
    Daisy tried her hardest to ignore him as Samantha had suggested. Daisy remembered that she had used the same technique last week when Will, who sat next to her at school, took her favorite lavender mechanical pencil and twirled it around in his hand. Daisy simply ignored him and took out a new pencil. After recess, she noticed that her pencil had been returned unharmed.
    But something about Lazy Daisy really bothered her. Maybe it was because she had always thought her name was quite wonderful. It was fun to say, not too long or too short, unique and, of course, flowery.
    So after thinking for a minute, she took off her backpack, went into the side yard and dragged out a large garbage can.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Grant asked.
    â€œMy chore,” Daisy answered.
    â€œBut no one told you to do it right now,” Grant said.
    â€œI know,” Daisy responded, “but I want to get it done. I don’t want to be
lazy
and put it off until later.” She hoped he would get the message.

    Grant nodded. Daisy felt a bit of relief as she pulled the garbage can to the curb. Grant played basketball while Daisy went back into the side yard and carried out a large container filled with paper and cardboard to be recycled. Even though she wanted a snack, she wanted to make her point even more. So she decided she wouldn’t stop until Grant had gone inside. Back into the side yard she went to bring out the plastic recyclables and the compost bin. Finally, Grant hugged his ball to his chest. Then he turned and called out, “Bye, Lazy Daisy,” as if it were so clearly her name that he didn’t even have to think twice before saying it.
    â€œArrgh!” Daisy groaned, before she stomped inside.
    To make herself feel better, Daisy turned to her favorite things — words. She thought about alliteration and tried to come up with words that not only started with the same letter or sound but also fit well together. Soon she had a list called
Perfectly
Paired Words
.
Bouncy balls
and
chunky chocolate
were on the list along with
flying flags
and
summer sun
.
    Daisy was so pleased with her list she decided to share it with Mrs. Bookman, her neighbor.
    â€œHappy hello, nice neighbor,” Daisy said, waving her hand, when Mrs. Bookman opened the door.
    â€œHello, Daisy,” Mrs. Bookman said. “Would you like a snack?”
    Daisy was always happy when Mrs. Bookman offered her a snack. Mrs. Bookman often had unusual foods to eat. Today, she passed Daisy a bowl full of edamame, which she said were soybeans.
    Daisy opened one and munched it.
    â€œCrispy and crunchy!” she declared.
    Mrs. Bookman smiled. “I can’t help but notice you are using alliteration today,” she said.
    â€œYes, I am,” Daisy said. “We learned about it at school.”
    Then Daisy thought for a minute.
    â€œIt’s fabulously fun!”