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Children discover the world around them when they play. They discover in nature what they will later learn to call science. Our books feed this joyous approach to life.

 



 

The Case of the Cored Carrot

by Lois June Wickstrom and Lucrecia Darling

A Choose-a-Word Story  (Some nouns and adjectives have been left out of this story. You can pick the ones you want from the column on the right) There are NO wrong answers.
The sweet NOUN of freshly harvested carrots surrounded them as they walked between rows of crates of Orange Forest Rabbit® Carrots. Timmy grabbed a fat juicy one and put the tip in his mouth. He was about to take a sweet crunchy bite when

 

stench

wagon

aroma

toenail

Mrs. Covert pinched his NOUN. “Hey!” Timmy yelled. In no time, the warehouse guard captured them both and dragged them to the Orange Forest Rabbit’s office, where the Orange Forest Rabbit was hard at work in his executive chair atop a platform that put him at eye level with most humans.

“I caught them,” said the guard. “The boy was stealing a carrot.” He led Mrs. Covert and Timmy to human-sized chairs.
nose

buckle

wallet

ear

“I was putting one back,” said Mrs. Covert, as she sat down primly on the leather cushioned NOUN.

cow

leaf

bean

seat

“You mean you stole one first?” asked the Orange Forest Rabbit, pointing one ear intimidatingly at her. He made notes on the computer NOUN in front of him.mouse

cable

screen

robot

“Of course not!” said Mrs. Covert, as she placed her purse in her NOUN. “I would never admit to being a thief. I cored one of your carrots and put something inside it. Then I put it back.”lap

hair

boot

belly button

“Do you remember which NOUN?” asked the guard. He blocked the doorway in case Mrs. Covert and Timmy tried to escape.
banana

warehouse

tree

carrot

“All carrots look alike,” said Mrs. Covert. “Kind of like NOUN.”
books

flowers

rabbits

children

“Not to me,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit. “Each carrot is ADJECTIVE. And so is each rabbit.”unique

delicate

delicious

profitable

“Which crate did you put the cored carrot in?” asked the guard.

“I’ll never tell,” said Mrs. Covert.

“You’ll never find it,” said Timmy. “My grandmother is ADJECTIVE.” Timmy stuck out his tongue.
friendly

polite

generous

clever

“Seal the warehouse,” ordered the Orange Forest Rabbit.

“Every carrot must be ground up under my supervision. We’ll have a sale on carrot NOUN and carrot NOUN and carrot NOUN tomorrow.”

cake

bread

muffins

hair gel

“But what if I hid a bomb in the carrot?” asked Mrs. Covert. “A bomb that explodes if you try to cut it?”

“A bomb could kill one of my NOUN!” said the Orange Forest Rabbit, horrified.
customers

carrots

computers

muffins

“And scare off many others,” said Mrs. Covert. “So you see, if you do find the cored carrot, it could kill you, and if you don’t it could kill your business.”

Just then Robes Pierre walked into the office, flapping his NOUN and wagging his tail. “Has this spy been causing trouble again?” he asked. “I smelled her scent all over your NOUN.”
trousers

ears

warehouse

paycheck

“Can you smell explosives?” asked the Orange Forest Rabbit, making more notes on his keyboard.

“Of course,” said Robes Pierre, licking his nose. “I can smell dynamite and plastic explosives.”

“Maybe my grandmother’s NOUN will explode when somebody smells it,” said Timmy.
bomb

hairdo

boot

purse

“Nonsense!” said the Orange Forest Rabbit.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy,” said Robes Pierre. He trotted off to the warehouse, nose to the ground.

“Should I call the NOUN?” asked the guard.
operator

farmers

police

dog pound

“Let’s wait until we have the evidence,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit.

Soon Robes Pierre returned, holding a carrot gingerly in his jaws, and wagging his tail rapidly. He laid the carrot on the Orange Forest Rabbit’s desk. “It’s not a NOUN,” he said. “It’s a piece of licorice.”
counterfeit

bomb

crate

disguise

“Should I call the police, now?” asked the guard.

“Absolutely not,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit. “We’d look silly reporting a piece of NOUN hidden in a carrot. And besides, I think that licorice in a carrot will taste delicious.” He rubbed his tummy. ” Just think of all the different flavors we could put inside carrots.”

“It’s a poisoned piece of licorice,” said Timmy.

“Thank you for warning me,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit. “I won’t eat this one, but I will start marketing carrots with NOUN inside tomorrow. Thank you for the lovely idea!”
licorice

gold

music

eight

candy

hair

pie

jungle

“It’s not poisoned,” said Robes Pierre. “I can smell poison.”

“Then you may have the licorice carrot as your reward,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit.

“Candied carrot! Oh goody!” shouted Robes Pierre. “Candied carrot!” He wagged his NOUN in fast circles.
tie

lasso

tongue

tail

“Should I let them go?” asked the guard?

“May as well,” said the Orange Forest NOUN
squirrel

tornado

tree

rabbit

“Aren’t you going to punish them?” asked Robes Pierre.

“They broke into your NOUN and threatened you with a bomb.”

wallet

home

warehouse

shoebox

“They also gave me a wonderful idea for a new product to sell,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit. “I’d say we’re even!”

“I’ll get you next time,” said Mrs. Covert. 

“I’ll help!” said Timmy. He stuck out his NOUN and made raspberries at the Orange Forest Rabbit.
tongue

pencil

toe

licorice stick

“Raspberry licorice in a carrot would taste good, too,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit. 

“Nobody in their right mind would buy raspberry carrots!” spluttered Mrs. Covert.

“I’ll escort them out,” said the guard.

“Thank you again, Mrs. Covert,” said the Orange Forest Rabbit. “This has been an ADJECTIVE and ADJECTIVE afternoon. My customers will love their new candied carrot treats at least as much as Robes Pierre.”

Robes Pierre ran off to a corner to eat his licorice carrot in peace.

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