00:30illustrated by Genevieve Godbout.
00:37One gloomy morning,
00:39Theodore found a bright, shiny penny
00:41on the way down to breakfast.
00:44There was Abraham Lincoln, face up!
00:47What luck!
00:52Oh, thank you, Mr. Famous President,
00:55Theodore said,
00:56and he tucked that shiny new penny in his pocket.
01:03You make the best pancakes,
01:06Theodore told Mama when she kissed him goodbye.
01:09The gloomy rain stopped
01:11and the September sun came out.
01:17Theodore and Louisa raced each other
01:19to the bus stop on Cherry Street.
01:22Number 19 was on time,
01:24and so were they.
01:29There was Slim,
01:31Theodore's favorite bus driver,
01:33with his morning news.
01:35I heard a rumor that next week,
01:37the zoo is bringing real penguins to school!
01:41Hooray! Hooray!
01:43Number 19 got really noisy
01:46until Slim hushed everyone.
01:52Then the bus pulled up at Riverside School,
01:55the best school in the whole world,
01:57as Theodore was always telling his friend Georgia.
02:01He counted the puffy white clouds
02:03floating right over the yellow line of buses.
02:06The sky was blue,
02:08such a lucky blue!
02:11Theodore and Georgia swung their backpacks
02:13and waved to other kids who were in their class.
02:21Right away, Mr. Leland called on Theodore
02:24to show the class the day of the week
02:26and the date on the big wall calendar.
02:32And later, during writing time,
02:35Mr. Leland read Theodore's poem out loud.
02:39Lucky little clouds high in the sky,
02:42floating by, floating by.
02:48At recess, Theodore swatted the tether ball
02:51again and again and again and again and again
02:55without missing once.
02:58His friends all cheered for him
03:00while Georgia ran off to tell Mr. Leland.
03:06Then the end of recess whistled blue
03:09and everyone lined up to go inside.
03:12Theodore was chosen to be the line leader.
03:15And all the time he was carrying that penny,
03:18that shiny lucky penny in his pocket.
03:21He took a quick peek at Abraham Lincoln
03:24and whispered,
03:25Thank you, Mr. Famous President.
03:31After science, the class walked up the hall
03:34to the media center.
03:36Mr. Leland said to be as quiet as kindergarten mice.
03:40And Theodore got to type his own words
03:43on a brand new computer
03:45and check out a giant book about penguins.
03:52Then Mr. Leland picked Vijay and Abigail
03:55and Eduardo and Leia and Theodore
03:58to help Miss Walker, the art teacher,
04:00hang the kindergarten's Matisse pictures
04:02in the school lobby.
04:04Miss Agresta, the principal,
04:07strolled out of the office
04:08and said the paintings were so jazzy
04:11that she was going to show them off
04:13at the Riverside Family Night the next week.
04:20Then Mrs. Cooper, the school secretary,
04:23announced on the loudspeaker
04:24that students in grade three
04:26were to meet in the gym
04:27to practice their special welcome song
04:30for Family Night.
04:32So on the way back to his kindergarten room,
04:35Theodore walked as slowly as a turtle
04:39so he could wave to Louisa
04:41because she was a third grader.
04:44That's why Theodore knew the words
04:45to the special song, too,
04:47and could hum along.
04:51Later in math,
04:53when Mr. Leland showed the class
04:54how to add numbers,
04:56Theodore reached in his left pocket
04:58just to check on...
05:00Oh, no!
05:01And he gulped a big gulp.
05:03Where was his...
05:05Then Theodore remembered
05:07he'd put the penny in his right pocket.
05:13When Mr. Leland asked the class
05:15how many puppies were in a litter
05:17of one puppy plus six puppies,
05:20Theodore raised his hand and said,
05:23Seven!
05:27The Riverside buzzer rang at 3.25 p.m.,
05:32and there was Theodore's bus,
05:34good old number 19,
05:36revving its engine,
05:37ready to take students home.
05:40Theodore couldn't wait to tell Slim
05:42about the wonderful things
05:43that had happened to him.
05:45He sat in the row behind Slim's driver's seat,
05:48and he showed Slim his penguin book,
05:51and they talked about the luck in the world
05:54and how sometimes it's just waiting
05:56for you to find it.
06:01When number 19 rumbled up Cherry Street
06:04and Slim put on the brakes,
06:05Theodore took his Lincoln penny
06:07out of his pocket, his right pocket,
06:10and held it for a minute, thinking.
06:16Then, quiet as a kindergarten mouse,
06:19Theodore slid his penny face-up
06:21on the floor next to Slim's seat.
06:24Louisa and Theodore got off at the corner
06:27and waved goodbye.
06:32The September sun was still shining,
06:35and the sky was still blue,
06:37and there were still little white clouds to watch.
06:40The day hadn't been so gloomy after all.
06:44Theodore had found his own luck
06:46in a shiny penny,
06:48enough to give to a friend,
06:50and enough for tomorrow, too.
06:55I hope you enjoyed that story.
06:57If you would like to see these books uploaded daily,
07:00go ahead and subscribe,
07:01and don't forget to check out all the other stories
07:03that are already uploaded.
07:05Thank you so much for watching.
