'Caruso, the Singing Crow'

Early in the morning when Dad goes out for his paper, Caruso greets him with a loud "CAW-CAW-CAW!" Dad frowns at him and scolds, "Quiet Crow! You'll wake the neighbors!"

Mom gets annoyed with Caruso too. She likes to work in the garden, and she's worried Caruso might eat her seeds and seedlings. She put up a scarecrow to scare him away, but nothing scares Caruso. He just sits on the scarecrow's head and bellows, "CAW-CAW-CAW!"

Jilly doesn't like Caruso very much either. One day she dressed up her kitty, Fluffy, in a bonnet to take her for a ride in her doll buggy. Caruso flew onto a low branch to sing them a lullaby: "CAW-CAW-CAW!" That frightened Fluffy and made Jilly cry.

Poor Caruso! I know how he feels. I don't have a good voice either. When we sing "The Star Spangled Banner" at school, I can't hit the high notes. Kids look at me and make faces. I've learned to move my mouth and pretend I'm singing, but no sound comes out.

This Saturday morning the sun was shining, and my dog Billy and I went out to play. "CAW-CAW-CAW!" sang Caruso as he cheered us on.

Billy started howling along: "OOOH-WOW-WOW-OOOH!" They were a duet.

I tried yodeling like a mountain climber: "YODEL-LAY-E-O!" We were a trio.

Dad heard the fun we were having and chuckled in a deep bass voice: "HA-HA-HA!" We were a quartet.

Then Mom joined in with a high-pitched "TRA-LA-LA!" We were a quintet.

Jilly and Fluffy didn't want to be left out so they sang in harmony: "MEOW-MEOW-MEOW!" We were a septet.

And in the surrounding trees birds began to chirp. We were a chorus. Caruso had put a song on our lips and a smile on our faces.

Bravissimo, Caruso!