English Teaching Tools


Freddie's Prize Pie
By Janine Bouyssounouse


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"Stop! Bring the pie back." yelled Mother Rabbit. "Why does Freddie insist on stealing my pies for the bake sale? Every bake sale is the same story." Mother Rabbit asked anyone who would answer. Norton the mouse shrugged his shoulders.

"I got it! I have the prize pie in my hands and nothing can stop me," whispered Freddie the Rabbit. "I will take the prize to my secret hiding place." Freddie ran and ran. Finally he reached the old oak tree. He hurried in the hole caused by a lightning storm many years ago.

Freddie looked at his freshly stolen pie. "Now I'm safe in my secret hiding place with my prize pie."

"Hellllooooo," said an out of sight familiar voice.

"Who's there? I recognize that voice. Who are you?" Freddie cried out.

Mark the Robin peeked around the edge of the hole in the tree. "I found you! I know where your secret hiding place is."

Freddie frowned. "You followed me, didn't you?"

"Yes, and I'm going to tell everyone where your secret hiding place is."

"No!" Freddie exclaimed. "You can't do that."

Mark had an idea. "I won't tell if you bring back Mother Rabbit's pie. Every time there is a bake sale, you steal one of the pies. It's not fair. Kids are trying to raise money from the bake sale."

Freddie looked at his pie. "This is my prize pie. I can't give back my prize pie."

"Why is it your prize pie?" Mark wanted to know.

"I always wanted to win a prize at the County Fair. But I never did."

Mark scratched his head. "I don't understand. What does stealing pies have to do with not winning a prize?"

"Mother Rabbit told me to do something that I am good at. Then I'll win a prize." Freddie started to explain. "I thought and thought and thought some more. One thing I'm good at is walking quietly and sneaking up on people. The County Fair doesn't have a prize for that."

"But Freddie, why do you steal the pies from Mother Rabbit?"

Taking a deep breath, Freddie finally told Mark. "Mother Rabbit's pies are the best in the county. One of her pies is a great prize for walking quietly and sneaking up on her."

"Now I see, Freddie. You made up your own contest with the pie as the prize."

"Yes."

"But Freddie, a contest has more than one person in it. Otherwise it isn't a contest."

Freddie looked at his pie and sighed.

Mark had an idea. "Why don't we make up a contest for your special skill and talent?"

Freddie didn't quite know what to say. He started to smile, but then he frowned again. "What contest could we make up that involves walking quietly and sneaking up on people?"

"How's this? We blindfold someone and have that person stand in the middle of a large area. Everyone in the contest will try to sneak up on the person with the blindfold. If the person in the blindfold points to someone, then they are out of the contest. Everyone freezes until that person has left the area. The person who taps the blindfolded person first, wins the contest," said Mark the Robin in one long breath.

Freddie's eyes lit up. "Could we really make up a contest for the County Fair like that?"

"I don't see why not. Why don't you take the pie back to Mother Rabbit? Apologize to her. I know she'll be happy to get the pie back for the bake sale. You can explain why you took the pie."


Guess who won the prize for Blind Man's Bluff at the next County Fair?


See follow up questions for Freddie's Prize Pie.

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