My Wonder Studio

Tristan grabbed the crayon as Chantal was using it, and as he did, he accidentally drew a blue line across Chantal’s entire card.

“Look what you’ve done!” Chantal said, starting to cry.

“What’s the matter?” asked Grandpa Jake.

“Tristan ruined my card!” cried Chantal.

“It was her fault,” said Tristan. “She shouldn’t have taken my crayon.”

“I have an idea,” said Grandpa Jake. “What if I tell you a story about when Shallo and Clip had a problem? Maybe it will help you to understand each other better.”

“Let’s hang these Christmas decorations here,” said Goby.

Old Budder held one end of the colorful seaweed, and Goby held the other end as they put it in place.

“How do you think it looks, Camille?” Budder asked.

“Okay,” Camille replied with a glum look on her face.

“You don’t like it, do you?” Goby said with a worried look.

“It’s fine, really,” she answered.

“Is your tail hurting you?” Old Budder asked.

“Not really ... at least it doesn’t if I keep it still,” said Camille.

“Then what’s wrong?”

Camille sighed. “I wish I didn’t have to be in bed. I want to help decorate, and I want to have fun. But I can’t … because of my silly tail.”

Camille had hurt herself two days earlier while playing by the reef. A large piece of coral had fallen on her tail and injured it. Christmas was always a special time for Camille, but being in bed with a hurt tail wasn’t Camille’s idea of fun. Her friends had come to cheer her up, but she still seemed a little glum.

Suddenly, from out in the courtyard came a “CRASH!” followed by angry shouts.

“What’s happening?” Camille asked.

“It’s Shallo and Clip,” said Goby.

“Looks like they’re having a difficult time with each other,” Budder said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Clip and Shallo had been out collecting empty shells, coral pieces, and colorful sea plants that they would use to decorate Camille’s room. Excited by what they had found, Shallo was eager to show Camille. Meanwhile, Clip had been getting frustrated with Shallo.

“Look what I found!” Shallo had shouted, as they neared Camille’s home.

But as the seahorse took off to show Camille what they had collected, Clip grabbed his tail, which landed Shallo in a big heap. The things that he had been carrying were scattered all over the seabed.

“CLIP!!” Shallo shouted. “Look what you’ve done!”

“Serves you right!”

“Why would you do that?” Shallo was very upset.

“I’m tired of you taking the credit for everything,” Clip said. “Remember, we both collected them, not just you! All morning you’ve been going on about what you collected for Camille, even if I was the one who found it.”

“I have not!” Shallo argued back.

“Have too!” Clip replied.

The crab and seahorse started fighting, shoving and pushing each other.

“Clip! Shallo! That’s enough!” Old Budder said firmly.

Shallo let go of Clip and sat down in a huff. Clip crossed his claws and gave an angry grunt.

“It sounds like you two aren’t getting along so well today,” Old Budder said.

“It’s Clip’s fault,” said Shallo.

“No, it’s not!” Clip snapped back.

“I didn’t ask you whose fault it was,” said Old Budder. “Arguing about who did what wrong is not going to help. We need to find a solution to this problem without fighting or arguing. But to find a solution, you’re both going to have to take the time to listen to each other. Agreed?”

Shallo and Clip nodded their heads.

“Why don’t you explain your problem first, Clip,” suggested Old Budder. “What happened?”

“All morning long,” Clip began, “Shallo has been going on and on about what he’s going to get for Camille and how he’d find much prettier coral than me. I didn’t mind it at first. But then I’d go to collect something, and just as I was going to pick it up, Shallo would be there and grab it first. I asked him to not do it, but he didn’t listen.

“I probably shouldn’t have lost my temper,” Clip continued. “But I was so frustrated that I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I see,” said Old Budder. Turning to Shallo he added, “Did you realize that you were making Clip feel bad?”

Shallo shook his head. “I just wanted to do something nice for Camille,” he explained. “I wasn’t trying to make Clip angry … but I guess I did.”

“Well, this is good news!” Budder exclaimed.

Shallo and Clip both gave Old Budder a puzzled look.

“What do you mean?” asked Clip.

“Well,” began Old Budder, “now that you know why both of you were angry, it’s easier to make up.”

Shallo gave a sigh. “Clip, I’m sorry for the way I was behaving. I didn’t realize it was bothering you so much or else I wouldn’t have done it.”

“I’m sorry too,” said Clip. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you. Please forgive me.”

“Sure,” answered Shallo.

The two friends thanked Old Budder for his help.

“Well, let’s not keep Camille waiting any longer,” Old Budder said.

* * *

“You’re back!” Camille said happily.

“Clip and I found lots of cool things,” said Shallo.

The coral, shells, and colorful sea plants were dumped out on the bed, as the five friends studied each piece and decided where to place them in Camille’s room.

“Thank you so much,” Camille said. “You’re such wonderful friends. I thought that I was going to have a terribly boring Christmas because of my accident, but you’ve made it a lot of fun.”

“You’ve always been there to help us when we’ve had our not-so-good times,” said Shallo.

“Merry Christmas, Camille,” Clip said. “And Merry Christmas to all of you, my friends.”

“I shouldn’t have been so selfish,” said Tristan. “I didn’t really need the crayon right then. I could’ve shared it with you.”

“It wasn’t nice of me to grab it from you,” Chantal said. “I could have used a different color until you were done. I’m sorry.”

“You see,” said Grandpa Jake, “there are ways to work things out without getting upset and fighting.”

“Can we finish our cards now?” Tristan asked.

“Absolutely! And I have to say, your cards are beautiful. I’m sure they’ll make your families very happy.”

Moral: Arguing and fighting don’t solve problems, and they only make you angrier at each other. Try kindness instead, and you’ll see how much better things work.

Suddenly with a crash, the tower she'd built with Troy fell to the ground.

“Troy! You broke the tower!” Chantal burst into tears.

When Grandpa Jake entered the room, there were Duplo pieces scattered around the room, and Chantal sat sobbing on the floor.

Troy stood with a puzzled look on his face. Around his waist he wore Tristan's play handyman pouch, with a saw, screwdriver, and other tools. In his hand he held a plastic hammer, which he'd used to knock over the tower.

Grandpa Jake stepped between the pieces of Duplo and sat on Tristan's bed. “Troy, do you want to tell me what happened?”

Troy began: “It had to break sometime, Grandpa Jake.”

“But we'd just finished building it,” Chantal sobbed.

“The tower wouldn't have fit in the Duplo bucket, so it would've had to be broken when we put the toys away,” explained Troy. “I made it come down right away, that’s all.”

“I see,” said Grandpa Jake. “I agree with you, Troy, the tower needed to be put away eventually. But you know, there's something important to remember when you take things apart.”

“What’s that?” asked Troy.

“That there's a time for it. You see, you and Chantal had just finished building the tower. Maybe Chantal wanted to play with it before you put it away. Did you think about that?”

Troy shook his head and looked at the ground. “I didn't mean to break it in a bad way,” he said.

“I know, and I'm not upset at you. You can remember this lesson for next time, though, just like Crusher and Breaker did. …”

Crew and Co. had been assigned to tear down an old house that was no longer safe to live in and then build a new one in its place. Old Demolition Ball had been at work for several hours. Skillfully he swung his large iron ball at the walls and brought them to the ground, sometimes in large pieces, other times in small pieces. Now that his part of the work was done, Demolition Ball trundled away to take a break.

As Demolition Ball left, Crusher and Breaker made their way to the site. Mr. Oversite, the foreman for Crew and Co., explained what they needed to do. “Some of these pieces of wall and stone are too large to load onto the trucks, so I need you two to make them smaller. Dozer and Dee will be here soon to take them to the dump site. Thanks, boys.”

“We’re on it!” said Crusher and Breaker, as Mr. Oversite walked away.

To do his job, Crusher would use his large teeth to break the pieces of concrete, while Breaker would drill into the pieces until they broke.

“Why do we always get such small jobs, Crusher?” asked Breaker. “I wish they'd give us some real work.”

“I know,” grumbled Crusher. “Everyone else gets to work all the time, and we sit around getting bored.”

“Maybe, after we finish this job, we can look around and see what else we can do.”

“Good idea. We'd better start working, though. I see Dozer and Dee coming this way.”

The sound of Breaker's loud drill could be heard all over the work site, along with the crunching of Crusher's teeth. Before long, their job was done.

“We’ll take it from here,” Dee told the two brothers. “Thanks for your help.”

“We’ll take it from here,” repeated Crusher in a mocking whisper. “I don’t like it when they tell us that. All the building vehicles think they’re better than us.”

“Let’s show the rest of Crew and Co. that we’re useful, too,” Crusher suggested.

“Yes. We're a good crusher and breaker team. So what if we can't build?”

The two brothers trundled around the rest of the site, looking for something that they could tear down.

“What about this wall?” Breaker asked Crusher, pointing to a low-standing wall that ran around the back of the house.

“Good idea,” agreed Crusher. “We'll show the rest of them that we're just as good as they are.”

With a few drills and a few crunches, a portion of the wall fell down. Crusher and Breaker stood proudly admiring their work.

“Oh no!” cried Little Digger. “I just finished clearing the rubble … Oh dear, the wall is broken!”

“We were working on the wall,” said Crusher.

“But it wasn't supposed to be broken!” Digger exclaimed. “Mr. Oversite asked me to make sure that all the rubble was cleared from around it, as he didn't want it to be broken. Now we're going to have to build it up again.”

Crusher and Breaker looked sadly at the ground.

“Is there a problem?” Demolition Ball asked. Seeing the broken wall, he understood what had happened.

“We thought we were helping,” Breaker explained.

“I see,” Demolition Ball said. “But sometimes it's better not to work rather than doing the wrong thing. You have a specific job—tearing things down—like I do, but we can't tear down everything; otherwise, we end up destroying the work that others have spent a long time building.”

“We're sorry,” Crusher said.

“Well, I did the same thing when I was younger,” said Demolition Ball, “only I made a much bigger mess, and it took a lot longer to fix.

“You're both needed, and even though you think maybe you're not used as much as some of the other construction vehicles, you're still part of the team. Everyone has a part to play, and you play an important part, too.”

“We'll remember this lesson,” Breaker said. “And we're sorry about the wall, Digger.”

“That's okay,” said Digger. “It can be fixed.”

“We should tell Mr. Oversite what happened,” Crusher said. “Then he can help us fix it.”

“I'm sure he'll understand,” said Demolition Ball.

The two brothers went to see Mr. Oversite and explained all that'd happened. He was understanding and was glad that they'd learned a good lesson.

“Maybe I can find some more work for you two boys to do, so you can feel more useful,” Mr. Oversite suggested. “I’m sorry I haven’t had so much for you to do.”

“That’s okay,” Crusher said. “And we’d be happy to help out wherever we can.”

“Chantal, I’ll build the tower for you again, if you want,” Troy offered. “I’m sorry I made you sad earlier.”

“I forgive you,” she said. “And I’ll help you build it again. I like to build towers!”

“You worked that out nicely,” Grandpa Jake said. “I’m proud of you both.”

Troy and Chantal gathered the scattered Duplo pieces and rebuilt the tower, only this time it was bigger and better.

Moral: There's a time to build and there's a time to break down. If you're not sure what's the right thing to do at the time, ask your parents or teachers.

“AAHHH!” Zippy cried, losing his balance and falling off Trudge’s back into the grass along the pond’s edge.

He was just about to climb back on Trudge’s back when he noticed two big eyes looking at him. “Webber?”

“That’s right. It’s me!” Webber said.

“Did I scare you, Zippy?” Webber asked.

“Oh no! I wasn’t scared … I … uh, well, a bit.”

Webber grinned with his great big frog mouth. “It’s good to be back. I missed you.”

“Want to swim?” Trudge asked.

“Always!” replied Webber.

Before Zippy could say a word, Trudge and Webber dove into the water and swam out to the middle of the pond.

“Wait for me!” Zippy called.

Zippy looked around the pond’s shore, then gathered twigs and a large leaf. He tiptoed into the pond to float the leaf.

Zippy climbed aboard the large leaf he’d dragged into the water. He used the twigs as oars and rowed toward Webber and Trudge.

It’s a bother that I don’t know how to swim, Zippy thought. Whenever Trudge and Zippy play in the water, they forget that I never learned how to swim.

Suddenly, the calm pond water began to stir. Ripples rocked Zippy’s leaf boat. Just then a cold wave came splashing down on his head, washing away both his twig oars.

“Help! Help!” Zippy cried.

But Trudge and Webber didn’t hear him. They were much too busy playing.

“I can make a bigger splash than you,” Webber challenged Trudge. He then jumped off a log, curled up into a ball, and landed in the water with a splash.

Trudge and Webber both laughed.

The splashes got bigger and bigger, while Trudge and Webber continually outdid each other’s last huge splash. Poor Zippy held tightly to the edge of his leaf to keep himself afloat.

And then it happened…

SPLASH!

Trudge and Webber had together made the largest splash yet, and that splash knocked Zippy off his leaf and into the water.

“Help!” he shrieked. He paddled frantically to stay afloat, but he soon began going under the water. Zippy was scared. “Please, God, help me,” he prayed.

Just then Zippy was picked up and pulled quickly from the water. Before he could figure out what had happened, Zippy found himself sitting on the shore of the pond, coughing and sputtering.

Rana, Webber’s sister, had come to Zippy’s rescue.

“Trudge! Webber! You almost lost a friend!” Rana yelled from the shore.

Trudge and Webber swam over to their friend as fast as they could.

“What happened to you?” Trudge asked as he came ashore.

An angry look crossed Zippy’s face. He turned his back on his two friends.

“You guys left me!” Zippy began. “I tried to keep up. I even called out to you!”

“Oh, but we were playing a game,” Webber said.

“I know!” Zippy said angrily. “If it weren’t for Rana, who knows what would’ve happened to me.”

“We’re really sorry, Zippy,” Trudge said. “We forgot that you don’t know how to swim.”

“We’ll try to be more thoughtful next time,” Webber added. “Will you forgive us?”

Zippy sighed. “Of course I forgive you. You’re my friends, after all—and the best friends at that!”

He gave his friends a great big wet hug.

“Next time we’ll think of something to do that will include you, too,” Webber said to Zippy.

“That’s nice of you, but I don’t mind you swimming together. I know you like it. Maybe next time I can do something else, instead of trying to follow you into the water. … That was pretty scary! Thank God for keeping me safe.”

“Thank you for rescuing me, Rana!” Zippy said.

“You’re welcome,” she answered, sporting a great big frog grin, just like her brother’s.

“Maybe we can teach you to swim,” Trudge said.

“I would like that. Thank you, Trudge.”

The four friends set off for the forest, laughing and playing as they went. They had learned to be more considerate of each other, and that made them even better friends.