Flora's Very Windy Day

Flora's Very Windy Day

by
JEANNE BIRDSALL
|
illustrated by
MATT PHELAN

CLARION BOOKS

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | New York | Boston | 2010

CLARION BOOKS
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003
Text copyright © 2010 by Jeanne Birdsall Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Matt Phelan

Hand lettering by Leah Palmer Preiss. The illustrations were executed in ink, watercolors, and pastels.
The text was set in 14.5-point Horley Old Style MT Light
All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhbooks.com

Clarion Books is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Manufactured in China

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Birdsall, Jeanne.
Flora's very windy day / by Jeanne Birdsall ; illustrated by Matt Phelan.
p. cm.

Summary: When a big wind blows her annoying little brother away, Flora decides to save him despite the many
tempting offers she gets for him from, among others, a cloud, an eagle, the man in the moon, and the wind itself.
ISBN 978-0-618-98676-7
[1. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 2. Wind—Fiction.] I. Phelan, Matt, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.B51197Fl 2010
[E]—dc22 2008056061
LEO 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
4500220982

For Kelsey and Jesse
—J.B.

For all the big sisters I know
—M.P.

"Mommy! Crispin spilled my paints again!" shrieked Flora.

"I told you to keep your paints out of his reach," said her mother.

"I tried," said Flora, "but—"

"Oh, look at this mess. Outside, Flora. Right now!"

"I can't go outside," protested Flora. "The wind is very strong and will blow me away."

"Nonsense," said her mother.

Flora thought for a moment. "Of course, I could wear my super-special heavy-duty red boots. They'll keep me from being blown away."

"Fine," said her mother. "And take Crispin with you."

Now, Crispin did not have super-special heavy-duty red boots to protect him from the wind. His boots were purple and couldn't do anything but keep his feet dry.

Oh, well, Flora thought. It wouldn't be
her
fault if Crispin blew away.

So Flora put on her coat and hat and her super-special heavy-duty red boots.

And her mother put Crispin into his little coat and hat and regular old purple boots.

And when all that was done, Flora's mother opened the door and Flora and Crispin stepped outside.

The wind was indeed very strong that day. It pushed and pulled, and twirled and twisted. But no matter how hard it blew, Flora stayed firmly on the ground.

"Ha ha! You dumb wind," said Flora. "You can't lift me up, because I'm wearing my super-special heavy-duty red boots!"

The wind did not like being laughed at. It doubled its strength and blasted mightily at Flora, but still she didn't budge.