The Case of the Missing Hat

"Where's my hat?" screamed Fat Elvis. "Where is it?"

Fat Elvis wasn't fat. He was called Fat Elvis because that was his name. His parents named him Fat Elvis (his parents were strange) when he was a baby. Now he was grown up and he sort of liked the name.

He was a short man with a head full of wavy black hair. It was unusual to see his hair, though, because he always wore his favorite hat. It was a red and blue hat and it was covered with diamonds and gold! Elvis loved the way it looked and, of course, it was very valuable.

On this particularly dreary day, Elvis was wearing his hat and was walking downtown. Rusty, a charming old man saw Elvis and the hat and decided to take it. Even though Rusty seemed to be a charming guy, he was really mean. When Elvis looked across the street at a doughnut shop, Rusty saw his chance and grabbed the hat and ran. For an old guy, Rusty was pretty fast!

Rusty and the hat were gone without a trace. At first Elvis was so stunned he did not know what to do. And then, he decided to call his best friend, Beth. Beth would know what to do. She came downtown and asked Elvis what happened. She ran her fingers through her long blond hair and listened as Elvis told her everything that happened. She was smart and really strong, and she had a mean streak. Whoever stole her friend's hat was NOT going to like it when she found him.

Beth went all over town asking about the hat but did not get any clues. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man placing a hat on a mannequin in a Pawn Shop window. It was a red and blue hat. It had gold and diamonds on it. Could it be? There could only be one hat like this! She went inside and asked the owner where he got the hat. he did not know, because he had just gotten to work and his assistant, who was at lunch, had bought the hat earlier today.

Beth found out when the assistant would be back at work, but she bought the hat before she left the shop. She returned it to Elvis and he was delighted! He thanked Beth and asked her to join him for a cup of coffee and a doughnut. Beth and Elvis still did not know who got the hat, but Beth was not the type of person to let this go. She promised she would find the hat thief and bring him or her to justice. And those who know Beth, know that she would not give up until she solved this mystery.

The End of Chapter One.

What happens next? Does Beth catch Rusty? Does Rusty try to steal the hat again? Will the assistant help Beth or is she Rusty's friend? Will Elvis eat another doughnut? Answer these and other questions by writing YOUR next chapter!

Parson's Elementary School First Graders

The Case of the Missing Cow

First Graders at Parson's Elementary School, Suwanee, GA

 

 

It was sunset.  Chris was tired after a full day of playing outside with his giant pet cow.  It was hard for Chris to keep up when the cow ran fast because Chris was so short.  Thank goodness he was young and full of energy!  Besides, the cow was kind of fat, so she didn't run very far.

 

Chris was settling down with a good book.  He LOVED to read!  His mom had taught him how to read when he was just three years old on their home planet.  Chris was an alien living here on earth.  He had made lots of friends since he had landed in Suwanee a few years ago.

 

He had just gotten to the most exciting part of the book when he heard a loud "MOOOO!" and then a door slammed shut.  He ran to the barn where his cow lived and she was gone!  Chris did not know what had happened, but he knew it wasn't good.

 

While Chris was trying to figure out what happened to his cow, his cow was wondering what was going on too!  She had been kidnapped by the evil hippo, Davis.  Davis was taking the cow to give to his girlfriend as a gift. Davis could have bought her a gift, but he loved money so much, he did not want to spend any.

 

Meanwhile, Chris was on the phone calling his best friend Bob, who happened to be a police officer.  Bob was super fast and always solved the crime.  He use a laser beam to track the cow and when he found her, he arrested Davis and called Davis' mom.  Davis was in trouble now!  Davis' mom always said, "If you make poor choices, there will always be consequences!"  Not only that, his girlfriend broke up with him because he stole the cow.  We hope that Davis learned his lesson.

 

Chris and his cow were reunited and they invited Bob over to the barn for a party to celebrate!

 

The End

 

Hey 1st graders!  Can you illustrate the story?  What did our characters look like? Can you write the next chapter?  What happens to Chris and his cow next?  Does Davis REALLY learn his lesson?  What mystery does Bob have to solve now?  It's up to you!

 

 

Tommer Elementary School, Atlanta, GA, K-5

A Complicated Mystery

The Nintendo DS+B was missing.  This was not any ordinary Nintendo DS.  This one was the DS+B model that played games, of course, but it also held books!  That's what the +B stands for! You could read your favorite books on the screen, complete with pictures.

This NDS+B belongs to JaLayla, or at least it did until this afternoon, when it came up missing!  JaLayla is a hippo who loves to read and loves to learn.  She wasn't very pretty, but she was very nice and quite smart.

She was playing at the park with her friends and laid the DS+B on a picnic table while she and her friends turned cartwheels in the grass.  When she came back to the table, it was GONE!

She called her BFF Fudge, a loyal friend who just happens to be a space alien.  Fudge used his super hearing and detective skills to track down the Nintendo and grabbed it from a horse named Devante.  Devante was a nice guy who said he had never been to the park.  He said that this afternoon he was at home listening to his favorite group, Mindless Behavior.  His favorite song is "My Girl" and he was spending the afternoon trying to memorize the words.

Fudge asked where he got the DS+B.  Devante said, "I bought it from a guy for $20."  Fudge got a description of the guy and knew right away who it was.  Fudge explained that it was stolen and then went to find the thief.  When he found him, Fudge turned him over to the police and got Devante's money back.

Fudge invited Devante to go with him to return the Nintendo to JaLayla.  Fudge found out JaLayla likes Mindless Behavior too, but her favorite song is "Girls Talkin' Bout."  Fudge, JaLayla and Devante spent the rest of the afternoon together listening to music and reading books.  The thief, meanwhile, spent the day (and a lot more) in jail.  The three new friends decided to get together again soon and read and listen to music.

Can you write about the friends' NEXT adventure?  What other powers does Fudge have?  What other music groups do they like?  What are their favorite books?  What do the three friends look like?  Can you draw a picture?  Use your imagination and have fun!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 5th Grade

The Strangest Story EVER. Period.

Usually, in a story, the bad guy gets put in jail, or he escapes to do evil another day.  It's not very often that the bad guy in a story gets eaten.  But that's what happens.  You are not going to believe it, but the 5th graders tell me that it's absolutely true.  I'll tell the story and let you decide.

Our story begins with Shelby a cute, little, long-haired guinea pig.  She runs in the tunnels, plays in her activity ball and eats guinea pig food, just like a normal pet.  But Shelby has a secret.  Deep inside the tunnels of her home, she keeps a priceless fried chicken who can shoot laser beams out of its eyes.  But wait!  It gets stranger!

One day when Shelby is running around the living room floor in her activity ball, Bob, a chicken with painted blue stripes down either side of his body, walks into Shelby's house to visit.  Since Shelby is not home, he wanders around and finds the fried chicken with the laser beam eyes.  It's love at first sight! (I told you it got weirder!)  Bob and the fried chicken decide to elope, which means that they decide to run off and get married. 

When Shelby returned, she saw her fried chicken was missing and called her big friend Lisa.  Lisa followed the clues, including a note that Bob left, and tracked down the missing poultry.  She returned Shelby's chicken, but Bob suffered a different fate.  Lisa's favorite food was baked chicken and rice, and she decided to have Bob over for dinner, if you know what I mean.

What a strange and fun story.  But a lot of questions remain.  How did Shelby get the chicken?  Why did it shoot laser beams from its eyes?  Did the fried chicken really love Bob or was she just trying to get away from Shelby?  And was Bob delicious?  You can write some more and find out!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 4th Grade

The Missing Microphone

Every night, at the end of his concert, Steve threw his microphone into the audience.  And every night whoever caught it, gave it back.  Until tonight.

Steve was a rock star who had lots of hit songs and the greatest fans in the world.  He was not your typical rock star.  He was short and bald headed and had buck teeth.  Most rock stars are good looking with long hair and seemed perfect in every way.  Maybe it was because he just looked ordinary that all his fans loved him so much.

He loved his guitar, and he loved his fans, but most of all Steve LOVED his custom made microphone.  A fan in Wisconsin sent it to him.  It looked like and ordinary microphone, but on the top of it, the fan had engraved a perfect replica of Steve's buck teeth.  Steve used it at every concert.

Like he did every night, tonight at the end of the concert, Steve threw the microphone into the audience, expecting an audience member to sing or shout "We live you Steve!" and give it back to him like they always did.  But tonight when tossed it out, he pulled back the cord and the microphone was gone.

BooBoo, a big fan of Steve's, is an old tall guy who smells like a rat.  He attended the concert and when Steve tossed the microphone to the crowd.  BooBoo caught it and took off with it.  The fans booed BooBoo, but he did not stop running until he was home. 

Steve called the police, but they said since Steve gave the microphone to someone in the crowd, that no crime had been committed and they could not get involved.  So Steve called his friend TooTah, a fat ninja private eye.  TooTah interviewed witnesses, followed the clues and went to see BooBoo.  When he found BooBoo and the microphone, he offered the tall, smelly guy a deal.  TooTah was willing to trade some bacon for the microphone.  BooBoo agreed and TooTah took the microphone back to Steve.

Steve was so excited to get his microphone back that he wrote a song about the adventure.  It's destined to become a HUGE hit!

What were the words to Steve's new big hit?  Why don't YOU write the words to it?  What about Steve's other fans?  You could write about the guy from Wisconsin, or even another story about BooBoo or TooTah.  Have fun!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 2nd Grade

The Case of the Missing Cheese

It was a big box of cheese and it was full of mice.  That's why Layla loved it so much.  Layla was a fat grumpy cat who loved to eat cheese, especially when it was full of mice.  What made this cheese so special is that the cheese was also stuffed with cat food!

Not too far away from Layla's house lived Bonnie, a big evil tiger, who loved to read books about bad guys (and girls) who stole stuff.  Bonnie always cheered when they stole the treasure, but she was always upset when they got caught.  And in the books she read, the bad guys ALWAYS got caught.  Bonnie knew that SHE was too smart to get caught.  So she planned the biggest heist ever.  She was going to steal some mice filled, cat food stuffed cheese from a neighborhood cat named Layla. 

While Layla was sleeping, dreaming about cheese and mice, Bonnie crept into Layla's house and stole the cheese.  When Bonnie woke up, hungry for a snack, she discovered that the cheese was GONE!  Oh no!  She called her friend Richard and told him what had happened.  Richard, a dog who loved to help people, came right over.  He sniffed and looked and took notes and said, "I don't know who took the cheese, but I think I know which way the thief went!

Richard followed the clues and the scent and went right to Bonnie's house.  Richard and Layla called the police and they arrested Bonnie and got the cheese back.  Bonnie went to jail, promising that she would get out and would get away with her crime next time!  Layla offered Richard a reward.  She said, "You can have a big piece of cheese!"  Richard looked at the cheese, filled with mice and oozing cat food, and said, "No thank you.  I just started my diet!"

Does Bonnie escape and plot the perfect crime?  Is Richard REALLY on a diet?  How long does it take Bonnie to eat the cheese?  You can write the next chapter and see what happens!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 3rd Grade

Lizards and Aliens

When he woke up that morning, Johnny did not know that before the day was out he would meet an evil lizard, watch a kidnapping and meet a dancing dog.  What a day this would be!

Johnny was a space alien who did not like books.  He didn't like to see them.  He did not like to read them.  He did not like to hear people talking about them.  He did NOT like books at all!  His best friend also did not like books, but they both LOVED hamburgers!

On this day, while the two friends were talking about hamburgers and carefully avoiding getting near any books, Billy Bob, a giant evil lizard jumped out from behind a tree and kidnapped Johnny's friend!  Billy Bob took the friend to his hideout and locked him in the basement.

Johnny called the police and told them that his friend had been kidnapped.  He did not tell the 911 operator that the kidnapper was a lizard.  The police car drove up in minutes, lights and siren going like crazy.  When the door to the car opened, Johnny was shocked to see that the police officer was Rufus, the famous dancing dog!  Johnny had seen Rufus on the TV Dancing Show and thought he was GREAT!  But instead of asking for an autograph, Johnny told Rufus about his friend.

Rufus asked Johnny to describe the bad guy.  As soon as Johnny told Rufus that the kidnapper was a lizard, Rufus said, "This case is already solved!  But we have to hurry.  Billy Bob, the only kidnapping lizard in the state is very evil.  There's no telling what he might do if we don't get to your friend soon."

Off they went to rescue Johnny's friend and to catch an evildoer.  When they got to Billy Bob's hideout, they found Johnny's friend safe, but scared.  There was no sign of Billy Bob.  Billy Bob had changed colors and was blending into the background.  He was camouflaged!  When they walked past him, Billy Bob pushed them down and ran away, saying, "This is not over Rufus.  I'll kidnap another kid soon.  You'll see!"  And then he escaped, leaving Johnny, Rufus and Johnny's friend to wonder what would happen next.

What DOES happen next.  Why don't you write the next adventure?  If you were the illustrator for this story, how would Johnny look?  What about Rufus?