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"Let's Count on Sesame Street!"
©&®CTW Muppets ©Henson
William Skinner helps Elmo count With love from, Mom and Dad
2000
Poor Elmo! Everyone was ready for the big hike through the park but him. William Skinner, age 4, from River Vale, New Jersey, found Elmo sitting sadly on the steps of 123 Sesame Street.
"What's the matter, Elmo?" asked Billy, swinging a backpack.
Elmo sighed. "Elmo is supposed to bring 10 sandwiches on the hike, but
Elmo isn't good at counting to 10."
"Come one, I'll help you," said Billy. "Joey, Paul and Kim always help me when I need it. That's what friends are for!"
With help from Billy, the sandwiches were soon ready and everyone set off on the hike. As they walked, they heard a loud growl.
"Yikes!" yelped Bert. "Bears!"
Ernie laughed. "Nope. That's just my tummy telling me it's time for a snack." His tummy growled again.
"Who has the backpack?" asked Billy. "There are snacks inside."
"Elmo has one backpack," said Elmo, as Big Bird pulled some apples from the pack. "Yum, yum, two apples. One for Elmo and one for Ernie's hungry tummy."
The path led to a wide stream.
"Watch me!" shouted Prairie Dawn. "I won't get wet." She jumped across the brook on some stones.
"Elmo, can you count the stones?" asked Billy.
"Yes, yes! Three stones." Elmo hopped across. Hop, hop, hop.
Pop, pop, pop! Three heads popped out of the water. "Look, Elmo," laughed Billy. "Those stones were really turtles!" "Elmo can count turtles, too!" said Elmo. "One, two, three!"
In a sunny spot beside the brook, Billy spotted something else for Elmo to count. "Take a look at those bumps on the log," Billy said.
"Ooooh. One, two, three, four lumpy bumps on a log," counted Elmo. "Four bumps that look like..."
Ribbit, ribbit, croak, croak! The four bumps jumped away.
Billy grinned. "Four lumpy frogs like bumps on a log! Joey, Paul and Kim would sure like to see those funny frogs."
When they reached a bright green meadow, everyone ran and played in the long grass.
"I spy five things, Elmo," said Billy. "Can you guess what they are?" "Where? What?" said Elmo. "Elmo sees lots of things."
"I'll give you a hint," said Billy. "The five things I see are little and green and squiggle a lot."
"Okay, Elmo will look for five little green things that squiggle."
"Hey, Billy! Elmo saw five little green, squiggly caterpillars," shouted Elmo. "You're getting very good at counting, Elmo," said Billy. "Listen, can you hear
the knocks?"
Tap! Tap! Tap! Elmo listened carefully. Tap! Tap! Tap! "Elmo hears six knocks."
"Yes!" said Billy. "See, high in the tree, six birds pecking away."
Next, Billy and his friends hiked to a small waterfall. Billy picked up a shiny pebble and tossed it into the pool beneath the falls. It landed with a mighty splash. KERPLUNK!
Elmo gathered seven stones. But before he could pitch the first pebble, some fish popped up and yelled, "Hey, cut that out!"
"Whoops! Sorry, you guys." Billy gulped. "Uh, how many fish do you see, Elmo?"
"Eight fish," said Elmo. "Eight ANGRY fish. Let's get out of here!"
"Do you want to play a game?" said Billy as they hiked through some tall pine trees. "Let's see who can find the most pine cones."
Elmo looked the hardest. He found more than all the others.
"Elmo has nine! Nine pine cones." Elmo groaned. "Help! Elmo can't carry nine pine cones, Billy."
"Don't worry, we'll help you plant them so they'll grown into trees," said Billy. "Nine pine trees are almost a forest.
By now, everyone was hungry. Billy picked a picnic spot and said, "Let's eat!" Big Bird poured the lemonade. Ernie and Bert passed out cookies. Prairie
Dawn unpacked grapes.
"My tummy's hungry again," said Ernie. "Where are the sandwiches, Elmo? I
hope you brought a lot!"
"Elmo and Billy made ten sandwiches," said Elmo. He counted them out slowly. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!"
"Ten sandwiches sure is a lot," said Ernie, munching happily.
"Congratulations, Elmo," said Billy. "Today you counted one backpack, two apples, three turtles, four frogs, five caterpillars, six birds, seven pebbles, eight fish, nine pine cones, and ten sandwiches, all by yourself."
"Billy is right," Elmo said. "Elmo DID count all that."
Billy smiled. "It'll be fun telling Joey, Paul and Kim about the fun stuff you counted when I get home to River Vale, New Jersey."
"You can tell them one more funny thing Elmo counted," giggled Elmo. "Look, Billy! One sandwich being carried away by ten ants!"
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