A Day of Wishes By Jacob Grimm Illustrated by Sveta Medvedieva

Text and illustrations copyright 2017 by Institute of Reading Development, Inc. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means known now or later developed without the express written permission from Institute of Reading Development, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. For further information contact: Institute of Reading Development 5 Commercial Blvd. Novato, CA 94949 www.readingprograms.org First Edition Printed by Friesens Corporation in Altona, MB, Canada. February 2017, Job #230343

This is Joe and his sister, Jenny. 3

Jenny and Joe played in the woods every day. Their favorite game was looking for forest sprites. 4

Sprites are little people who live in the forest. They have wings and pointy ears. At least, that is what people said. Jenny and Joe had never seen one. Until one very lucky day 5

They heard a small voice crying. A sprite was stuck in a patch of thorns. Poor thing! said Jenny. We will get you out. Joe pulled the thorns away. Jenny lifted the sprite out. She had scratches all over her tiny arms and legs. 6

I m Joe, said Joe. And this is Jenny. What is your name? Name? asked the sprite. I am a forest sprite. We don t have names. Then we ll just call you Sprite! said Jenny. Come home with us, Sprite! We will clean you up! 8

Jenny took care of her scratches. Joe made her a soft bed of cotton balls. Sprite felt much better. You have been so kind, said Sprite. Now I will be kind to you. I will grant you wishes for one whole day. We ll start tomorrow! 10

Jenny and Joe thought of wishes all night. They could wish for a castle! Or mountains of candy! Then, in the morning, Jenny had a better idea. 12

If they had a lot of money, they could buy all those things and more! Sprite! Jenny called. We have our first wish! We want to be rich! 13

Excellent! said Sprite. I have made many poor farmers very happy with just that wish! She danced a silly dance. Hibbity ho! Hobbity hitch! Make Jenny and Joe richer than rich! 14

The house did not fill up with money. Jenny and Joe checked their pockets. Empty. Then they heard a strange noise outside. 15

They ran to the window. There were goats everywhere! Sprite! Jenny said. We wished to be rich! Why did you give us goats? 16

Sprite was confused. Twenty goats would make a poor farmer rich. I gave you five hundred! Do you need more? 17

No, no! said Joe. He looked at Jenny. What will we do with them all? We can decide later, said Jenny. We have to go to school. 18

Sprite climbed into Jenny s bag. They pushed past the noisy goats. Some goats followed them. Some wandered off. Most just stayed at the house. 19

They were almost at school. Suddenly, Joe stopped. Jenny! he said. We forgot to do our homework! Oh no! What will we do? said Jenny. What is homework? Sprite asked. 20

This is homework, said Jenny. We didn t fill in the blanks. Miss Curb will be angry, said Joe. She is a strict teacher. I can help! said Sprite. Just make a wish! We wish our work was done! Joe and Jenny shouted. 22

Sprite began her silly dance. Shiggle-dee-dee! Shaggle-dee-shanks! Take these workbooks and fill in the blanks! Thank you, Sprite! said Jenny. Always glad to help! said Sprite. Let s get to school! said Joe. 24

Jenny and Joe handed in their workbooks. Miss Curb looked at them. She frowned. Wrong Wrong WRONG! she said. No recess! One week! Jenny and Joe sighed. Another wish had gone wrong. 26

At recess, Jenny and Joe sat on a bench. What s wrong? Sprite asked. Our homework was all wrong, said Joe. You filled the blanks with pictures! 28

Yes! Pretty ones! said Sprite. But we needed answers in the blanks, said Jenny. Oh dear! I should have known! Sprite began to cry. 29

Jenny sighed. It s okay, Sprite. I just wish Miss Curb wasn t so strict. Another wish! Sprite shouted. I will make up for the last one! She danced her silly dance. Lumpity loo! Lappity lick! Let Miss Curb be fun, not strict! 30

They all watched Miss Curb. Her frown twitched. Then it became straight. Then it curled into a smile. She ran over to the swings. 32

The children watched her. She plopped down on a swing. Don t just stand there! Give your teacher a push! Higher! Higher! 33

Miss Curb ran to the slide. Last one up is a rotten egg! Joe! Jenny! Come play! Jenny and Joe ran to the slide. Thank you, Sprite! Jenny shouted. Sprite smiled. It was good to get a wish right! 34

The children and Miss Curb played. And played. And played some more. They played until school was almost over. 36

Miss Curb looked at her watch. Oh my! she said. It s time to go home! Come, children! Come! The children followed as she danced back to the classroom. 37

Jenny, Joe, and Sprite went home. There were goats everywhere. They could not get to their own front door! 38

What will we do with them? Joe asked. Keep them as pets? said Jenny. Five hundred pet goats? No way! said Joe. 39

They sat and thought. You could give them away, said Sprite. No, said Joe. Everyone in town would have to want a goat. That s it! said Jenny. Sprite, we wish that everyone in town wanted a pet goat! 40

Sprite clapped her hands and danced her dance. Ribbity roo! Raggity roat! Let everybody want a goat! 42

Nothing happened. Do you think it worked? asked Joe. Jenny saw a policeman walking toward them. Oh! We re in trouble now! 43

Excuse me, said the policeman. I see you have a lot of goats. I ve always wanted one. Do you think Jenny ran to him. Please! Take a goat! A woman called out nearby. I ll take one, too! 44

People began to line up. Sprite had done it! Everyone in town wanted a goat for a pet. The fire chief wanted four! 46

There were two goats left at the end of the evening. One nibbled Joe s sleeve. It looks like we get pet goats, too. 47

Jenny turned to Sprite. Thank you for the wishes. It s been quite a day! Sprite smiled. She looked up at the rising moon. And the day is done. I must get back to the forest. Goodbye! And take care of the goats! 48

Jenny and Joe went into the house. Their goats followed. Joe turned to Jenny. I wonder what goats eat. Jenny looked at the goats. EVERYTHING! she said. 50