Hello friends and welcome to Sleep Tite Stories. Jennifer is sitting in her classroom when the principal arrives with a new student. The boy looks very quiet and shy. And Jennifer starts to think about what she can do to make him feel more comfortable in this new school. Jennifer's new friend Jennifer sat at her desk in Mrs. Patterson's class yesterday afternoon when the door opened and the principal walked in with a boy she'd never seen before. He had a blue backpack with a patch on it, some kind of animal, maybe a bear? And he stood very close to the principal's side, like he was trying to hide behind her, even though she wasn't very tall. Yes, Mrs. Mikey, Mrs. Patterson said he just moved here from… where was it again, Mikey? Mikey said something so quietly that Jennifer couldn't hear it. Neither could anyone else apparently because Mrs. Patterson leaned down and asked him to repeat it. Saskatchewan, he said a little louder this time. Saskatchewan, how wonderful, class, can we give Mikey a warm welcome? Everyone said, hi Mikey, in that sing-song way that happens when the whole class says something together, and Mikey's face turned pink. He looked down at his shoes, they were red high tops, kind of like the one's Jennifer's cousin had, and didn't look up again until Mrs. Patterson showed him to an empty desk near the window. That's when Jennifer decided they would probably be best friends. She wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was because he looked the way she felt on her first day of swimming lessons, kind of scared, but trying not to show it. Or maybe it was the bear patch on his backpack. Jennifer liked bears. At lunch, Mikey sat by himself at the end of the table where the third graders usually sat. Jennifer wanted to go sit with him, but her friends were already calling her over to their usual spot, and by the time she looked back, lunch was almost over. Now it was today, the day after yesterday, and Jennifer was sitting on her bedroom floor with books all around her, and Boo Boo drooling on the carpet next to her feet. The afternoon sun came through her window and made a square of warm light on the floor, and Boo Boo had positioned himself right in the middle of it. She wanted to do something nice for Mikey, but she didn't know what to do. They just met in class yesterday, and she knew they would be best friends already. His name was Mikey, and he came from some far away and maybe exotic place, but she didn't know where. Well, she knew it was Saskatchewan, but she didn't know exactly where Saskatchewan was. Somewhere far away. But I'm sure he would tell her if he had the chance. That's what friends do. They talk about stuff. What do you think I should do for him, Boo Boo? Boo Boo turned his head to one side and just kept drooling on the floor. Sometimes Jennifer would say the word walk inside of a sentence, and Boo Boo would get all excited because he was one of the world's smartest dogs, and could understand almost as many English words as Jennifer did. Should I get him a hot chocolate? I love hot chocolate, and it warms you up when it's cold outside, and it's super cold right now. Don't you think it's cold? Boo Boo looked up and let out a sigh, which might mean he disagreed. Mikey might not like chocolate, you're right, not everyone does. Though chocolate does get a lot of praise from my other friends, I know, maybe I could bring him some cookies. I love cookies, and all my other friends love cookies. Well, except for Joseph, he isn't allowed to eat a lot of sugar. It makes him hypersonic or something like that. Maybe I should think of something else. Jennifer reached over and started petting Boo Boo's head, right behind his ears where the fur was softest. Boo Boo told her once that if she pet him gently, she would be able to think up a lot of great ideas, and it had worked a couple times so far. Well, Boo Boo didn't exactly tell her with words, but she understood him anyway. That's how it worked with best friends. What about one of my stuffed animals? I have so many, and Mikey might not have brought all his toys with him when he moved. Moving is really hard, I think. You have to pack everything in boxes, and sometimes things get lost. Boo Boo's tail thumped once against the floor, but which one? I can't give him Mr. Whiskers. I've had him since I was a baby. And mummy made patch for me special. And what if he doesn't even like stuffed animals? Some kids think they're baby-ish. Joseph said he doesn't sleep with stuffed animals anymore, but I saw one on his bed when I went to his birthday party, so I think maybe he was just saying that. Jennifer looked around her room. On her shelf was the snow globe her grandmother had given her last Christmas. The one with the tiny house inside, and the glitter that swirled around when you shook it. That was pretty special, but Nanny had given it to her, and it felt wrong to give away something from Nanny. Plus, what if it broke on the bus? Then it came to her. She was inspired. She had many ideas all at once. Look at all the books I have, Boo Boo. I have so many books, and I have read them all many times. I could be nice to Mikey by giving him one of my books. Jennifer started looking around her room and at the books on the floor. She pulled the closest one toward her. It was the adventure book about a girl who found a secret passage in her basement. Jennifer loved that one. She dreaded maybe seven times. This one's really good. There's this part where the girl has to crawl through a tunnel, and she doesn't know if she'll fit, and it's so dark she can't see anything. But then she stopped. What if Mikey was scared of the dark? She didn't know. They hadn't talked about stuff like that yet. She pushed that book aside and picked up the mystery book with the dog detective on the cover. This one's funny, Boo Boo. You'd like it because the main character is a dog, and he's really smart, kind of like you. Boo Boo's ear twitched. But what if Mikey likes cats better than dogs? Some people do. I don't understand it, but some people do. She looked at the chapter book's nanny had given her for her birthday. They had beautiful covers with gold edges on the pages, and they smelled like nanny's house, like lavender and old paper. These were special? Maybe too special to give away. Then there was the motorcycle book from grandpa. Grandpa had read it to her when she was staying at his house last summer, and they'd sit on the porch and he'd show her all the pictures of the different motorcycles, and tell her which ones he'd seen when he was young. That book had memories attached to it. And the science book's daddy had given her? Those were important because daddy said she asked really good questions about how things worked, and maybe she'd be a scientist someday. She couldn't give those away. But which one? I have adventure books, mystery books, and those chapter books that nanny gave me, and the motorcycle book that grandpa gave me, and the science books that daddy gave me. And all those? Oh, I think it's impossible to choose. What if he doesn't like books? It's hard to believe, but everyone has different interests, right? Boo Boo had closed his eyes and looked like he might be falling asleep. Jennifer kept petting him anyway. It helped her think, even if Boo Boo wasn't actually paying attention anymore. She thought about Mikey sitting by himself at lunch. She thought about how his face turned pink when everyone said hi to him. She thought about how he'd dropped his pencil during math, and when it rolled under Sarah's desk, he'd been too shy to ask her to pick it up, so he'd just used his pen instead. Maybe he needed a friend more than he needed a book. But how do you give someone a friend? You couldn't wrap that up in sparkly paper. Then her mother came into her room. Jennifer, have you picked out a book you want to take with you to read? We're leaving soon. No, most, I just have to think of what nice thing to do for my new friend Mikey first. I've thought of everything, like giving him hot chocolate, a book, and stuff. Oh, Jennifer, maybe you don't need to give him a thing at all. Please get ready soon, okay? Okay, mom. Jennifer always called her mom when she didn't give her the answers to big questions. We always made her think for herself. Her mother left the door open when she walked out, and Jennifer could hear her in the kitchen putting dishes away. The clinking sounds were nice. Familiar. So, if I didn't give Mikey a thing, Jennifer sat very still and kept petting Boo Boo. The sun had moved, and now the warm square of light was on her legs, instead of on the floor. Outside her window she could hear some kids playing, probably the twins from next door. They were yelling something about whose turn it was. She thought about tomorrow. About walking into class and seeing Mikey at his desk by the window. It was lunch in the cafeteria, where it always smelled like pizza on Wednesdays, and something mysterious on Thursdays. What if nobody sat with him again? What if he spent the whole lunch looking at his sandwich, and pretending he didn't notice that everyone else was talking to someone? Jennifer looked at Boo Boo, who had rolled onto his back with his paws in the air. This belly went up and down with his breathing, and one of his back legs twitched like he was dreaming about running. And then she knew. Tomorrow at school, she would sit with Mikey at lunch. She would ask him about Saskatchewan, and what it was like there. She would listen when he talked, really listen, the way she wanted people to listen to her when she told them about things that mattered. And she would smile at him when other kids walked by, so they'd know that Mikey wasn't sitting alone. He was sitting with a friend. She'd save a receipt on the bus. She'd show him where the good water fountain was, the one that was cold and didn't spray water on your face. She'd tell him that Mrs. Patterson seemed really strict, but was actually nice if you just asked her questions. She'd let him know that Joseph sometimes said things that sounded mean, but he didn't really mean it that way. Because maybe being new and not knowing anyone was kind of scary. And maybe the nicest thing you could give someone wasn't hot chocolate or cookies or even books. Maybe it was just letting them know they had a friend. Come on, Boo Boo. Jennifer said, standing up and brushing off her pants. We should probably go downstairs. Mumps had been leaving soon. Boo Boo rolled back over and stood up, shaking himself so his ears flopped. He looked at Jennifer with his tongue hanging out, and she could tell he was smiling. Books were good at smiling, even when they didn't show their teeth. Jennifer took one last look at all her books on the floor. She'd put them away later. Right now, she had to get ready. And tomorrow, she had to remember to look for Mikey as soon as she got to school. Because that's what friends do. They show up. And that is the end of our story. Good night. Sleep tight.
