Stretch and Beak

2021-22 6th Grade Public Purpose Books

Clouds pattern

One hot and moist day in the jungle he was hobbling  along when out of nowhere, a bluebird with a huge beak bumped into him, almost causing him to topple over. BOOM! CRASH! "I am so sorry! Are you okay?" asked the bird.

" Yeah, I was just not expecting that," Stretch stated.

Blue polka dot pattern

For my funny and loving dog, Gladys who always wants to be friends with anybody, no matter how different they are

Through their experiences they both realized that being different is good and you can always have unique friends, no matter how different you are from each other. Stretch and Beak are still best friends to this very day, and always will be! 

I will Beak, don't you worry about a thing...

After a couple of days of getting used to each other, they began to know each other better. After a week had passed, they had become BEST FRIENDS! They did everything together and barely left each other's sight. During this time they were joyful and outgoing as ever.

At first Stretch was terrified, but then he realized he was better off being alone, than with a herd that bullied him. He stayed at the abandoned camp for a few days when realized that he needed to move on. He then came to the conclusion that he needed to find a friend or even the mean herd. He couldn't live in the jungle alone the rest of his life. As he thought of finding a friend, he perceived he would never find one. Every animal would be too scared of a 19 foot animal with dots and messed up knees. So he limped along thinking he would never be happy again.

Stretch was an odd ball and always had been since he was born. He was a foot taller than the rest of the herd, and was born with twisted knees, which didn't help with the teasing.

Even though their unkind teasing was daily, it still hurt Stretch's feelings every time. " I need to get away from them where I cannot hear them," Stretch thought. So, he went down to the stream for a break and a refreshing drink.

Frances is a 11 year old middle schooler who goes is in 6th grade in Nashville, TN. She has written and illustrated Stretch and Beak and that is the only book ever created by her. When she heard she was going to be making a book for the children at Head Start, she got really excited. She dedicated this book to her dog Gladys who is funny, adventurous, sweet, and loving!

Stretch then blurted out what had happened over the last couple of days. The bird looked at the giraffe with a sorry look when she added, " My name is Beak, what's yours?"

Stretch answered, " Hey Beak, I'm Stretch," They slept that night under the tree.

"Look at Stretch, he is taller than the tree, so he can barely eat the delicious leaves of the jungle," Houston mocked,

"How can he even eat and drink with those ugly twisted knees?" Houston's twin sister, Dallas added. The giraffe herd cracked up at this because it was honestly true.

"How is this herd my distant cousins? They don't act like them at all. Family is supposed to be kind to you, not tease you," Stretch thought, confused.

After his drink, he took a deep breath and headed back to the herd. When he arrived at their camp, he saw no one. After a few moments of waiting he realized that the herd was not missing, he was LOST!

"Where is your flock?" Stretch questioned.

Looking rejected, she sorrowfully said, "They left me when I was sleeping in the meadow. Somehow I saw that coming. They always made fun of me because of how big my beak is," A switched clicked in Stretch's mind, he was not the only one that was different and teased.

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