"Outside, gravity seemed to be behaving.
"Looks safe to me," Jacob said.
"Yep," Zuri and Miguel agreed.
"Let's give it a minute," Leda warned.
Suddenly kids
were bumping
and thumping,
bashing and crashing!"
Some lessons are best learned the hard way. For Leda, falling out of bed first thing in the morning is her first hint that gravity is in a bad mood. It has happened before. As she gets ready for her day at school, gravity is her enemy at every turn. She's very upset by the time she has to catch her bus, and is wishing the family would move to the moon where gravity is not such a big deal.
The bus causes problems while getting on and off. Her teacher is unaware of the difficulties Leda is having. It's almost too much when the pyramid she is helping build for math fails. During science class, her teacher explains:
"You already know that gravity is what keeps things anchored
to the earth," Ms. Jameer said. "But did you know that everything
has gravity? Even a feather!"
As the children point out how gravity is working within the classroom, Leda falls off her chair. It seems it might be better when the recess bell rings. It takes no time at all to see the many little disturbances that gravity is causing even while they are outside playing. Bad mood is right!
At lunch, during story time, while rolling the library cart ... it's a bad day all around, thanks to gravity. Might a trip to the children's museum after school with her mom can fix the problem. Leda is certainly happier there! Things seem to revert to normal, and the rest of the day is a breeze. Gravity only brings her down again when it is time to settle in for the night. Perfect timing!
The details included in every illustration, created using analog and digital media, are sure to attract the attention of all young readers. They add meaning to the concept of gravity and will surely appeal to those kids who share some of the same interests, enjoy recess and even the occasional visit to a children's museum.
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