A Kiss Goodbye
Authors: Audrey Penn
Published by Tanglewood Press, LLC, April 2007.
Text © Audrey Penn 2007.
Illustrations © Barbara Leonard Gibson 2007.
All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Design by Amy Alick Perich
Tanglewood Press, LLC
P. O. Box 3009
Terre Haute, IN 47803
www.tanglewoodbooks.com
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-933718-04-0
          1-933718-04-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Penn, Audrey, 1947-
A kiss goodbye / Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara Leonard Gibson.
p. cm.
Summary: Chester Raccoon is very unhappy about leaving his home, a tree that has been marked by tree cutters, but his mother tries to convince him that their new home might be even better.
ISBN-10: 1-933718-04-8 (hardcover w/jacket)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933718-03-3
[1. Moving, Household--Fiction. 2. Family life--Fiction. 3. Raccoons--Fiction.] I. Gibson, Barbara, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.P38448Khs 2007
[E]--dc22
2006037882
To all my friends, big and little, who find
their way to the other end of the path.
-AP
For Robert, Caitlin, and Mom
-BLG
Â
Content
C
hester Raccoon sat in the corner of his tree hollow and frowned. “I'm not moving,” he announced stubbornly. “I'm staying here. I want to stay with my tree, and stay with my friends, and stay where I've always lived.”
Mrs. Raccoon patted Chester's worried, furrowed forehead. “I understand how you feel,” she told him in an understanding, motherly voice, “but I'm afraid we all have to move.”
“But I like it here,” whined Chester. “It's my home.”
“It's my home, too,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “And Ronny's. And I know how scary it is to move to a new place. But sometimes, like when you started school and changed classes, you have to do things that are scary and hard at first. I knowâmaybe you could think of moving as an adventure.”
Chester scrunched up his face and grumbled. “I don't like adventures. I had an adventure down at the pond and fell in chasing a frog.”
“I had an adventure up a pine tree and got prickly pinecones in my tail!”
“I had an adventure in Red Rock Cave and got smacked by a bat!”
Mrs. Raccoon laughed. “Well, this will be a different kind of adventure. This time we'll all be together. You and me and Ronny.”
Chester didn't budge. He just sat there with his arms folded and a stubborn expression on his face. “Why do we have to leave our tree, anyway?” he wanted to know. “I like this tree. I'm used to it.”
“A line has been drawn around the trunk,” explained Mrs. Raccoon. “Soon the tree cutters will come and cut it down for wood.”
Chester poked his head out of the hollow and looked around. “There are lots of other trees,” he pointed out. “Why don't they cut down some of the other trees instead?”
“They're cutting down all of the trees in this part of the woods,” explained his mother. “But I've picked out a new tree to live in that's big and comfortable and has lots of holes to look out of.”
Chester sat back down and looked thoughtful. “What if I don't leave? What if I just sit here and never leave this tree again as long as I live? Will they still cut it down?”
“I'm afraid they would,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “But you know, moving isn't so bad. I've moved lots of times. It's hard at first, but you make new friends and fix up your new tree just the way you like it. Besides, don't you think you'll get a little lonely if you stay here? The deer are moving, and the squirrels, and so are the skunks and foxes. Don't you want to stay with your family?”
