The Clippity-Cloppity Carnival

• Mr. Louie’s Farm
• Horsing Around
• A Carnival
• Chicken
• Horse of a Different Color
• For Parents

Mr. Louie’s Farm

The WellieWishers are very excited. Mr. Louie, Aunt Miranda’s neighbor, has invited the girls to come visit his farm next door. They skip along the field and down the hill from Aunt Miranda’s garden, singing to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”:

  Mr. Louie has a farm, E-I-E-I-O!
  And on that farm he has some…

“Chicks!” shouts Willa. And the girls respond “E-I-E-I-O!” Ashlyn says she hopes Mr. Louie has horses because she’s never met a real horse before.

When they arrive, Mr. Louie welcomes them, and says there’s something for everyone to love on a farm. And he’s right. Willa loves the clucking hens, crowing roosters, and cheeping chicks. Kendall loves the tractor, and likes to pretend to drive it. Camille loves to fill the cows water trough and splish splash the water. Emerson loves the wooly sheep and lambs. To the tune “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” she sings:

  Hello, wooly sheep and lamb,
  Sheep and lamb, sheep and lamb!
  Hello, wooly sheep and lamb,
  My name is Emerson.

Ashlyn loves looking at Mr. Louie’s horse in the pasture. It has a dark shiny coat. When Emerson yells out to it, it lifts its head and turns to face the girls. They can see a streak of white on its nose, like a bolt of lightning.

The other girls go to the barn swing when the horse ignores them. But Ashlyn wants to try harder to get the horse to come over. Softly, she whistles “Whee-oh-wheet.” Ashlyn holds out a bunch of carrots over the fence.

And then, the horse begins to trot over to the fence. Clip-clop, clippity-cloppity, clippity-cloppity! Faster and faster the horse comes. Soon, it’s galloping towards Ashlyn and the fence, thundering bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

Ashlyn jumps back, pulling her hands towards her chest. Then, as fast as the horse was running, it stops and yanks a carrot in its strong jaws. The horse swishes its tail and snorts its nose. Ashlyn, afraid, tosses the carrots over the fence and takes off running as fast as she can.

As the girls get ready to leave, they’re all talking about what they loved most of all. And when Kendall says she knows what Ashlyn loved most: the horse! Ashlyn shivers as she thinks about the horse galloping towards her. When Emerson asks her if the horse came closer, her voice wobbles when she agrees.

Horsing Around

The next day, Camille comes running into the garden. She’s holding a box filled with five small plastic horses in it. She says they can each have a horse. Camille offers to let Ashlyn choose her horse first. She picks up an elegant white horse and fits comfortably in her hand. Kendall grabs the black one, Emerson the one with black and white patches, and Willa the spotted white one with black spots, leaving the brown horse for Camille.

The girls play with their hoses all the time, and there’s nothing they love more than horsing around with their hoses. The girls read books and watch movies about horses. They draw pictures and sing songs about horses. They each name their horse, too. Camille names her brown one Giant. Emerson calls her hose Power Pony. Kendall names her black one Tornado, and Willa names hers Cheetah. Ashlyn names hers Snowflake.

The girls wonder if Ashlyn should call her horse Blizzard instead, because Snowflake sounds like the name for a small kitty, instead of a big horse. But Ashlyn disagrees, saying Snowflake is perfect.

The girls make a stable for the horses, too. They divide the box into five stalls, and they add grass for the horses to eat. They fill it with tiny cups of water. Ashlyn puts a little pink pillow in her stall. The girls think this isn’t realistic, and Camille hands her a little rag to put in instead. Ashlyn pushes the rag away, saying Snowflake likes the pink silk pillow.

They pretend the horses are wild, and run around the paths clippity, cloppity. The girls stomp their feet and toss their heads. Snowflake dances and hums a pretty tune. Willa comments that Ashlyn is dancing like a ballerina instead of a wild pony. Ashlyn says Snowflake is quiet and graceful. The girls shrug their shoulders and watch as Ashlyn puts her pony to bed. The girls ask if Ashlyn wants to make her like a real horse, and Ashlyn says, “No. I like her the way she is.”

A Carnival

The girls are enjoying with their plastic horses so much, but they agree it’d be even more fun to see real animals at Mr. Louie’s farm. Camille suggests they can ask Mr. Louie to bring some farm animals to the garden so that their friends and family can see them. The girls ecstatically agree. They can have games and food and a puppet show. It’ll be a carnival!

When Aunt Miranda agrees, they call Mr. Louie and he says he’ll be happy to bring a lamb and some chickens. The girls get to work right away. Willa puts up a beanbag toss game. Camille sets up the cotton candy machine. Ashlyn makes an organized list of everything that needs to be done. Kendall builds a puppet stage, and Emerson makes puppets and plans the show.

Aunt Miranda comes along and says she spoke to Mr. Louie on the phone. As a special treat, Mr. Louie is going to bring a horse, and all the kids can take turns riding it! Willa, Kendall, Camille, and Emerson shriek with joy. They hug each other and jump up and down. But Ashlyn is horrified. That scary horse is coming here?

Aunt Miranda says the horse’s name is Thunderstorm. Kendall explains they saw Thunderstorm at the farm. It’s a dark gray horse with a white streak on its nose like lightning. Thunderstorm is the perfect name for the horse.

Ashlyn takes a deep breath, and says, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring a horse into our garden.” She explains that the horse will stomp on the flowers and tear leaves off branches. It’ll scare Carrot and the little kids. Emerson says to relax, they know all about real horses.

Ashlyn yells that she’s the only one who’s actually met a real horse. She stomps her feet. She’s tired of everybody thinking they know more about horses than she does. She doesn’t want to come to the carnival.

The girls, astonished, call after her, but it’s too late, she’s already running away.

Chicken

Camille finds Ashlyn crying by the gate. Camille sits down wordlessly next to her and waits until Ashlyn’s tears stop. Ashlyn apologizes for getting so mad. Camille apologizes for being so bossy.

Ashlyn explains the real reason she doesn’t want to go to the carnival is because she’s afraid of Mr. Louie’s horse, Thunderstorm. She explains how Thunderstorm stampeded right at her and scared her at the farm.

Camille is shocked. She empathizes with Ashlyn, saying that behavior would scare anybody. Camille says everybody is afraid of something. She’s afraid of snakes… that’s what she’s chicken about. Camille’s brother was afraid of horses, too. That’s why Camille’s mother bought so many toy horses for him. And her idea worked, because Camille’s brother is no longer afraid of horses.

Ashlyn, starting to feel better, hugs her friend. Camille says that when Thunderstorm arrives, Camille will stand right by her and hold her hand the whole time. Ashlyn doesn’t have to go near the horse.

Horse of a Different Color

On the day of the carnival, Ashlyn and Camille walk into the garden together. Emerson, Kendall, and Willa are so happy Ashlyn changed her mind.

Then, Mr. Louie drives up in his truck, which has a big horse trailer hitched to it. Ashlyn stands near the back next to Camille. But when Mr. Louie opens the door of the trailer, out comes a smaller gray horse!

Ashlyn gasps. Camille tells Mr. Louie they were expecting the big black horse they saw in the pasture at his farm. Mr. Louie shakes his head. That horse is named Flash, and he’s is too high-strung and skittish to be at the carnival.

Mr. Louie offers to let the girls come over to pet Thunderstorm, who’s a sweetie pie. Camille offers Ashlyn to go first. Bravely, Ashlyn reaches out and strokes Thunderstorm’s nose. It’s soft, with long pony whiskers that tickle her hand. Ashlyn smiles.

All the other girls rush over to pet Thunderstorm, too. Thunderstorm steps back hesitantly. Ashlyn explains that so many people at once probably scare her. Maybe only one or two at a time should pet her. Camille laughs, and says that even a pony named Thunderstorm can be a little chicken at first.

The WellieWishers and their families have a wonderful time at the carnival. The kids laugh at Kendall and Emerson’s puppet show. Even Carrot pops out of a hat like a magician’s trick! Willa gets to show off the baby chicks to the crowds. Ashlyn teaches kids how to play the beanbag game, and Camille makes cotton candy for everyone.

But, by far, everybody’s favorite part was riding Thunderstorm. Ashlyn rode her three times! Clippity, cloppity, clippity, cloppity, clippity, cloppity!

After the carnival, the girls thank Mr. Louie profusely—the carnival wouldn’t have been as great without his animals.

After the girls clean up, Camille confesses they wish they had more animals around the garden. Willa suggests getting some chickens. Kendall says they can build a chicken coop! After all, they’ve had enough horsing around for a while.

For Parents

Discusses building bravery when children are scared. Topics include:

• Taking it one step at a time
• Making a bravery path
• Acting it out
• Making up a mantra