PET PARADE

Young children hearing this read aloud or reading it alone will be thrilled, not so much by Jonathan's goal but by the success he experiences in achieving it, for the interests and wishes of many children are reflected in Pet Parade. Each year, children exhibit their pets in an annual park parade and compete for the prizes awarded for the best tricks. In this desire to find a pet, Jonathan overcomes his fear of crawly things when he comes upon ""Bashful"", the turtle, on a picnic. With much effort and patience he teaches his pet to grasp onto a piece of meat suspended above his head and hang on ""trapeze-style"". Bashful comes through at the last moment for the judges, and although, Jonathan does not win the silver medal, he does win a big red ribbon for ""out-turtling"" the turtle. But the glowing feeling comes from something quite different. ""All by himself he had found a turtle. All by himself he had taught it a stunt. And he wasn't afraid of crawly things anymore.