Ricky and Pals in
Size Wise
Story by Kathy Kranking
÷
illustrations by Christian Slade
Sammy caught it. “At least I don’t
have to be tall to catch an apple,”
said Sammy.
Just then, Bizzie Beaver came down
the path. “Hey, guys,” he said. “Throw
the apple to me!”
Sammy tossed Bizzie the apple. Soon
Ricky, Flora, Bizzie, and Sammy were
all playing catch. “First one to drop it
is a rotten apple!” called Ricky.
The four friends began tossing the
apple as fast as they could. The apple
zinged around faster and faster. But
then, when Flora threw the apple to
Bizzie, it flew right by him. Bizzie
didn’t see it because he was looking at
Sammy’s feet.
“Bizzie!” called Flora. “You missed!”
“Look!” he said, pointing right where
Sammy was standing. They could see a
snake poking out from under a bush.
Sammy jumped back, his eyes still on
the snake.
Ricky Raccoon and Flora Skunk were
picking apples from Flora’s apple tree.
They stood on their tiptoes to reach as
many apples as they could. “These will
make a delicious pie,” said Flora.
“Can I help?” asked Sammy Skunk.
“Sorry, Sammy,” said Ricky. “You’re too
short to reach.”
“Am not!” cried Sammy. He jumped
up, trying to grab an apple that hung
above his head. But he couldn’t reach
it no matter how many times he tried.
“Why do I have to be so small?” Sammy
asked grumpily.
“It’s OK, Sammy,” said Ricky. Then he
picked the apple that Sammy had been
trying to reach. “Here, catch,” he said,
tossing the apple to Sammy.
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“That’s funny,” said Bizzie. “It’s like it
just disappeared.”
“Oh, no it didn’t,” said Flora. She was
bending over, looking into a hollow log
on the ground. “It went in this hollow
log.” Flora crouched down and tried to
wiggle into the log. But the opening
was too small. She tried going in feet
first. But she was still too big. “I don’t
fit,” she said.
“But I know who will,” said Sammy.
He crawled headfirst into the log and
disappeared. The log rocked back and
forth a bit. Then Sammy popped back
out. He had the apple in his paw and
a big grin on his face.
“I’m glad I’m growing every day,” he
said. “But in the meantime, there
are still some good things about
being small!”
“Well, if you don’t fit, I sure won’t fit,”
said Bizzie with a smile. “And Ricky
won’t fit either.”
As everyone scrambled, Ricky tried to
get a closer look at the snake. “Wait
a minute,” Ricky said. “That’s not a
regular snake.”
The others stopped. They all looked at
the snake. “I see what you mean,” said
Flora. They all moved a little closer.
“Yeah,” said Sammy. “It’s just the skin
of a snake—without any snake in it!”
The friends gathered around as Ricky
picked up the snakeskin. “That’s cool!”
he said.
Sammy frowned. “But what happened
to the snake?” he asked.
“I can answer that,” sang out a
familiar voice. Just then Mrs. Cardinal
landed on a nearby branch. “That
snake shed its skin because it was
growing,” she explained.
“That’s what I want to do!” said
Sammy. “I want to grow. Maybe I can
shed my skin and get bigger!” He
tugged at his fur.
“That’s how snakes grow,” said
Mrs. C with a chuckle. “Not skunks.
Don’t worry, Sammy. You’re growing,
too. A little bit each day.”
“Really?” asked Sammy with a
happy smile.
“Really,” said Mrs. C. She lifted her
wings, waved, and flew off.
“Let’s finish our game of catch,” said
Flora. “Where did that apple go after
Bizzie missed it?”
“It went over that way,” said Ricky.
They all began looking. But the apple
was nowhere to be seen.
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