POPCORN

“Welcome, Mr. Bennett,” said Ms. Colman. “Welcome to our class.”

Ms. Colman’s room was very, very quiet.

“Girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman, “please say hello to Mr. Bennett.”

“Hello,” whispered the kids.

Hannie did not say anything at all. Her mouth hung open.

Hank just stared. Before him stood a real live author.

Mr. Bennett was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt and a necktie. And sneakers. Chris liked the way he looked. It was very friendly. But he had hoped the author might wear a tuxedo.

Mr. Bennett grinned. “Hi, kids,” he said. “You are awfully quiet. I bet you are not always this quiet.”

“They certainly are not,” said Ms. Colman.

“Well, there is no need to be shy. I have never bitten anybody. At least not anybody I can remember.”

In the back of the room, Karen giggled. She liked Mr. Bennett.

“Now,” began Mr. Bennett. “Let me tell you a little about myself.”

Mr. Bennett told the kids that he had written seventeen books. “My first was Sloppy Sam. I think I look like Sloppy Sam.” He told the kids what his favorite book was. He asked what theirs was. Then he said, “Do you have any questions for me?”

Ricky wanted to raise his hand. He had a lot of questions for Mr. Bennett. But he was still feeling shy. So were his classmates.

“I know you have questions. I read your letters,” said Mr. Bennett.

Finally Ricky raised his hand. “How old were you when you wrote Sloppy Sam?” he asked.

“I was twenty-seven,” said Mr. Bennett.

“Could you draw good pictures when you were seven?” asked Natalie.

“Pretty good ones,” replied Mr. Bennett.

“Are you working on a new story now?” asked Omar.

Mr. Bennett grinned. “I just finished one. It is called Cosmic Kitten. It is in my briefcase.” He pointed to his briefcase.

Audrey raised her hand. “Um, Mr. Bennett, would you like to meet our guinea pig?” she asked. “He is right over there. His name is Hootie.”

Mr. Bennett said he would very much like to meet Hootie. So Audrey let him hold him for awhile.

When Hootie was back in his cage, Mr. Bennett pulled some things out of his briefcase. He showed the kids in Ms. Colman’s class how a picture book is made. He showed them how he wrote his stories. He showed them drawings he had made for Cosmic Kitten. He showed them what a book cover looks like before it goes on a book.

Then he said, “Kids, do you know what people ask me more than anything else? They ask me how I think up my characters. Well, now I am going to show you just how I do that. We are going to create a character together.” Mr. Bennett propped up a huge pad of paper on Ms. Colman’s chair. He put some markers on her desk. Then he said, “Okay. What does our character look like?”

The kids thought for a moment. Finally, Hank said, “Like a chimp!”

“But he has a big poofy tail,” Jannie called out.

“And hooves instead of feet,” said Terri.

Mr. Bennett drew a monkey with a beautiful fat tail and horse hooves.

“And he always wears a hat!” cried Ian. “Because he has to stay out of the sun. He is sensitive.”

“He lives in a castle,” added Sara.

Mr. Bennett drew the hat and the castle.

The kids named their character Popcorn.

Finally Mr. Bennett looked at his watch. “I am afraid I must leave,” he said. “But I will see you this afternoon. I enjoyed talking to you.”

Mr. Bennett packed up his briefcase. He hurried off. But he left Popcorn behind for the kids.

“How special,” said Ms. Colman. “We will have to frame Popcorn. For now, we will put him on the bulletin board.”

Ricky sighed. He gazed at Popcorn. This had been the most wonderful morning of his life.