Daisy's Perfect Word
To my father, who taught me how to write, and to my family for providing the inspiration â S.V.F.
Contents  
About the Author and Illustrator
Chapter One 
On sunny days, Daisy liked picking lemons off the tree in her backyard to make lemonade. She liked playing kickball with her friends and making long dandelion chains, which she wore in her curly hair. On rainy days, Daisy liked putting on her red boots and stomping through puddles, making big, messy splashes.
Almost every day, Daisy rode her bike around the neighborhood with her best friend, Emma. They often stopped to see Mrs. Bookman, who lived on the corner. Mrs. Bookman always had something unusual to eat, like roasted pumpkin seeds, and something interesting to talk about, like how some people are left-handed. “I'm left-dimpled!” Daisy said, smiling to show off the dimple in her left cheek.
But Daisy's favorite part of any day was when she would sit in the shade of the largest tree in her backyard or curl up in her cozy chair with a book in her hands. Daisy liked books because books were full of words.
And more than making lemonade or wildflower chains or riding her bike with her best friend, Daisy loved words.
She collected her favorite words in a green notebook covered with purple polka dots, and she always took her time deciding which special words should go on each list.
One list was devoted to short words like
fun
,
great
and
big
. Daisy liked using short words when she was excited, which was a lot of the time. These words were on a list in her notebook titled
Wow Words
.
Daisy also liked made-up words.
“
Iska-biska
,” she said to Emma as they walked to school.
“
Ilpa-dilpa
,” Emma answered back, because she liked making up words, too. Daisy had a whole list of made-up words and an explanation of what each word meant, so she wouldn't forget how to use it.
At night when she was sleepy, Daisy liked quiet words. After saying good-night to her little sister, Lily, and being tucked in by her parents, Daisy looked at the list of
Quiet-Time Words
in her notebook. She whispered
hush-a-bye
and
sweet dreams
to the three teddy bears that slept on her bed.
Usually Daisy fell right asleep. But on nights when she had something important on her mind, she had trouble settling down. This was one of those nights.
Daisy's teacher, Miss Goldner, had told the class that she had some big news to share the next day. Daisy couldn't wait to find out what it was.
Emma and Daisy had wondered about it all the way home.
“I bet we're going to have field trips every week for the rest of the year,” Emma said.
“I think we're going to get pizza every day in the cafeteria,” Daisy said.
“Maybe the President is going to ask us to help run the country!” Emma exclaimed.
“Maybe the Queen is coming for tea!” Daisy declared.
Now, as Daisy lay in bed, she couldn't help wondering some more. Her teacher had sounded excited, so it must be good news. The ice-cream truck would be permanently parked outside the school? They would be having two hours of reading time every day? Or maybe it was something even bigger. The space program wanted to try sending kids into space, and Daisy's class had been selected? The chocolate maker in town needed some new flavors and wanted students to be tasters?
Daisy finally drifted off to sleep. She dreamed she was in space having tea with the Queen. Instead of little sandwiches, there were chocolate bars with names like MarsMallow Mash and Sweet Saturn Squares. “Delicious,” said the Queen, dabbing daintily at her mouth with a napkin. “We must start serving these at the palace.”
“Splendid!” Daisy replied, reaching for just one more.
