Lindy’s Happy Ending
| Author | Valerie Tripp |
| Illustrator | Joy Allen |
| Originally Published | © 2005 American Girl |
| ISBN | 1584859938 |
Lindy’s Nest
Lindy is grinning because Miss Sparks’ eyeglasses are glittering. Miss Sparks is announcing they have a special visitor joining them that day: Ranger Bell. Ranger Bell will be bringing some duck eggs they’ll all take care of, and in twenty-eight days, they will hatch. Then, the class will have ducklings. The children “Ooohhh” and “Aaahhh.” The ducklings will live in the nature corner of the classroom. When they get bigger Ranger Bell will come back and take them back to the Nature Center.
Lindy raises her hand. Maybe they can get some rocks and a tree stump, with hay to spread it around for the ducklings. Miss Sparks holds up her hand. They should prepare for the eggs and ducklings, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves! Miss Sparks puts a list of ideas together of ways they can prepare:
- Dust the bookshelves
- Sweep the floor.
- Wash the cupboards.
- Straighten the desks and chairs.
Lindy and Avery take the task of dusting the bookshelves. Lindy suggests they work to remove all the books off of every shelf. It’ll be fun! Avery shrugs, and they begin to pull the books off the shelves. Lindy dusts some of the shelves, and begins to put the books back. But she sighs… putting the books back isn’t as fun as pulling them off.
Lindy looks around her. The books look like a little nest. Lindy continues to add more books to her nest. When Spencer walks by, Lindy quacks, just like a duckling in a nest. Spencer laughs and quacks, too.
Then, it’s time for lunch. Lindy gets up and walks away with Spencer. Avery calls after her that they’re not finished. So Avery puts all the books back by herself.
After lunch, Ranger Bell comes by. She brings the eggs in an incubator. Miss Sparks says if Ranger Bell agrees they take care of the eggs and ducklings well, they’ll all go on a field trip to see the ducklings in the Nature Center when they are brought back.
Lindy’s Ducky Ideas
The eggs are cozy in the incubator. Every day, Lindy counts ten eggs. When Miss Sparks does their math problems each day, they all are about eggs and ducklings. One day, Lindy suggests to her partner, Gwen, that they could draw out their answers. Gwen thinks it’ll be extra work, but Lindy says it’ll be fun. When the answer is eight, Lindy draws eight ducklings. When the answer is ten, Lindy draws ten eggs.
Lindy takes out her crayons to color in the ducklings. When Delaney passes by, she asks Lindy how they’re drawn. Lindy goes off with Delaney to show her how the ducklings are drawn. Gwen calls after her that they’re not done with their math yet, but Lindy is already gone. Gwen finishes up the math problems all by herself.
Later that afternoon, the children are tasked with an activity sheet. They have to number pictures first, next, and last in the book. Hallie is partnered with Lindy. Lindy suggests they cut out the pictures and glue them in the right order. Hallie questions if maybe that’s extra work, but Lindy shakes her head… it’ll be fun! They get off to a great start. They glue the first picture in place. But now, Lindy has some glue on her fingers. Gluing the pictures is not as much fun as cutting them out. Lindy gets up to wash the glue off her fingers, but Hallie is still working on gluing the second picture. So, Hallie has to finish the activity sheet all by herself.
Avery and Gwen stop by. They know how Hallie feels. Lindy has great ideas, but she doesn’t finish what she starts!
The days pass by, and eventually all the eggs hatch. The children are ecstatic, and the ducklings are adorable. They’re like little balls of fluff. The children take turns cleaning out the ducklings’ box and giving the ducklings food and water. They grow fast, and within a few weeks, they’re teenage ducks. Miss Sparks reminds the kids to always put the lid on the box because they’re big enough to escape now.
On the day before Ranger Bell is supposed to arrive to pick the ducks up, Lindy has a great idea. They can clean up their room, and then they’ll all be able to go on the field trip. Everyone works hard to make the room look extra nice. During recess, Nathan and Lindy stay back to take care of the ducks. Nathan cleans out the cage, and Miss Sparks goes with him to take the dirty newspaper outside to the dumpster. Lindy puts clean newspaper in the box, and gives the ducks food and water.
Perhaps she should wash the water bowl. She removes the water bowl from the box, and goes over to the sink to fill it with soapy water. Then Miss Sparks returns, and lets out a squeal. Lindy turns around to see the ducks are all out of the box!
Duck Disaster
Lindy, Nathan, and Miss Sparks chase the ducks around the room. They move very fast, quacking and hopping and scooting all over the place. One by one, they catch each of the ducks and put them back in their box.
When all the class comes back from recess, they see the room is a huge mess! Papers are knocked on the floor, chairs are knocked every which way. Desks are tipped over, and their insides have fallen everywhere. There are feathers and poop everywhere.
Lindy apologizes for not putting the top back on the ducks’ box. The reason they got out is because of her, so the mess is because of her, too. Lindy volunteers to clean it all up herself.
Miss Sparks shakes her head. Lindy can’t clean it all up by herself. They’ll all help her, and they’ll all be a clean-up team. And Lindy can be captain. Lindy smiles. They should make a list of everything that needs to be done.
- Pick up papers.
- Put the desks back.
- Put the chairs back.
- Clean up poop and feathers.
Lindy and Gwen choose to clean up the poop and feathers. Gwen says she’ll be Lindy’s helper, and she’ll help make sure Lindy stays on track to finish the job she starts. Lindy nods, and they work very hard. But Lindy gets overwhelmed… there’s so many feathers and so much poop! Gwen encourages her to keep cleaning until everything is clean.
When all the items are done, Hallie helps Gwen check things over and put a checkmark next to every job that was completed.
The next morning, Ranger Bell arrives to pick up the ducks. She comments that the room looks very clean, and the ducks look great. The class has earned their field trip! Lindy smiles at her friends, and thanks them for showing her that doing a good job from start to finish is the way to a happy ending.
Dear Parents
Discusses how some children are a lot like Lindy, in that they have great ideas, but sometimes don’t follow through with them to the end. Topics include:
- Putting up a hand with a “stop” gesture when ideas get too big to be feasible
- Divide giant jobs into doable steps by making to-do lists
- Brainstorm different ways to proceed, and then choose which way is best
- Don’t be afraid to jazz it up by playing music during tasks
- It’s ok to take breaks by pushing the pause button, and coming back to it later
- Choose a reward that fits the task when it’s complete
- Allow the child to fully check the task off so they get the satisfaction of finishing the task