“I went to school this morning like every day before.
You’ll never guess what happened to me as I walked through the door.
Well a girl came up and pinched me. Why would she be so mean?
She laughed and said, ‘It’s St. Patrick’s Day; you forgot to wear your green’.

Oh no! I’ve got more trouble than man has ever seen,
It’s St. Patrick’s Day and I forgot to wear me green.”

We’ve been singing this catchy Irish tune since January when we discovered the Special Days CD by Brian and Terri Kinder. Today we have on our green and we are ready to celebrate. Rabbit is getting ready too:

Introducing Our Featured Friend: Green Shamrocks
Written by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Joelle Dreidemy

Rabbit marked the days on his calendar until St. Patrick’s Day. With March approaching, he needed to prepare for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. He got out his packet of shamrock seeds, found a yellow pot and planted them. After taking good care of his plants, the green leaves grew just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Tomorrow was the day Rabbit would pick the shamrocks to make his chain to wear for the parade.

“But when he got up in the morning, his yellow pot of green shamrocks was gone.
‘Oh no!’ he moaned.”

 Rabbit ran to squirrel, then woodchuck, and finally to goat asking them if they took his yellow pot of shamrocks. Although Goat didn’t “take” them, the yellow pot sat on his kitchen table. “The wind gave them to me,” declared Goat.

Worried that Goat would eat the shamrocks, Rabbit quickly claimed them. Goat agreed to give him the plants if he could keep the yellow pot. They made a deal. Rabbit made his shamrock chain and Goat wore the yellow pot as a hat and off they went together to the parade! They met their friends and joined right in the fun of the bands, marchers and balloons.

“Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!”

Inviting You To Become FRIENDS with Rabbit & Goat in Our Featured Friend: Green Shamrocks

Select from the questions and activities below . . .

Feel, Relate, Imagine, Explore, Navigate, Develop, Share

F- How do you feel when you lose something you really like?

R- Can you relate to Rabbit when he went searching for his lost yellow pot of shamrocks? What did you lose and how did you find it?

I- Imagine you get to be in a St. Patrick’s Day parade and can make something green to wear. What would you want to wear?

E- Explore fun foods for St. Patrick’s Day like  *RAINBOW JELL-O or RAINBOW CAKE. If you don’t have time to make a treat, go for a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal!

N- Navigate your way through more St. Patrick’s Day books:

D- Develop fun crafts, games, songs, printables and more to celebrate the day:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/patrick/

S- Share a” little St. Patrick’s Day love” by giving a gentle pinch to friends that forget to wear their green!  (Ask your parents first;-)

 *RAINBOW JELL-O: Purchase one small box of Jell-O mix in these colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Serve in a glass container so all the colors can be easily seen. Start with purple at the bottom. Make mix and refrigerate for 2 hours. Add next color. When serving, add cool whip or whipped topping for the clouds. Maybe even include a few yellow round sprinkles for the gold!

Illustrations:

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