Mr. Heron is giving away trees to celebrate Earth Day and Franklin is
so excited he gets up early, digs a huge hole right outside his bedroom window and
heads off to the park with his wagon. He hurries down the path to get his tree before all the big ones are taken. He is planning to build a
tree house and hang a tire swing right away. He is confused when he sees
Rabbit leaving the park without a tree. Rabbit tells Franklin the tree is in
his knapsack, it is called a sapling, or baby tree. Franklin said he was
there to get a tree big enough to play in right away. Franklin made it to
the front of the line and was handed a Sugar Maple sapling the same size as
all the others. He sadly pulled the sapling home in his wagon. He would have
to fill in most of the hole he had dug earlier. When Franklin arrived back
home, the baby tree was gone! He was sad, but since it was so small and he
couldn't play in it today he didn't look around for it too much. When he
told his parents what had happened, they reminded him that he had promised
to care for the tree, no matter its size. Franklin knew they were right, so
he retraced his steps back to the park. On his way, he passed Rabbit, Bear
and Beaver and they were all taking care of their trees. Rabbit was watering
his, Bear had built a fence so his tree would not get stepped on and Beaver
named hers and started measuring its height on a growth chart. Franklin
realized his tree would not grow big or strong if he didn't find it and take
care of it. At the park he told Mr. Heron what had happened and was surprised to learn that someone found and returned his sapling to Mr. Heron.
Mr. Heron shares a story with Franklin about the "tree-house tree" in the
park and how it used to be sapling just like his. Hearing this, Franklin
rushes home to plant his tree. He vows to water and take care of it, so the
tree can grow big and strong, just like Franklin and just like our kids.
This is a wonderful story.
