The Purple Trouble

Sarah Elizabeth Ashley and her Mother were cooking up a special lasagna birthday dinner for her Daddy. When they went to Mr. Satterfield's corner grocery store to get the special ingredients, Sarah asked if she could have her most favorite of all, Color-plosion candy. Her Mother said, "No." But still, the Color-plosion was dazzlingly tempting. Somehow it found it's way into Sarah's pocket and caused THE PURPLE TROUBLE. Sarah learned a lesson that day about taking what's not yours that stays with her the rest of her life. This book offers an opportunity to dialogue values with your children.

Sarah Elizabeth strode slowly down the aisle. It just seemed to her that that Color-plosion candy was reaching out to her. “No,” she said. “Mommy said no. Today, I can’t have candy.” She went down to the end of the aisle and picked up the graham crackers, which were right next to the Color-plosion. A box of the candy fell to the fl oor. Sarah Elizabeth Ashley picked it up to return it to the shelf. The colors on the box were dazzling and before she knew what she had done, Sarah Elizabeth Ashley had stuck the box of candy into her pants pocket. Then she placed the graham crackers into her mother’s shopping cart. When it was time for checkout, Sarah Elizabeth stayed by the counter and slid along with her tummy pressed close as the groceries were being totaled. The Colorplosion was making her pocket very, very warm. She really hadn’t intended to steal from Mr. Satterfi eld’s store, but now she didn’t know how to make it right.

Geraldine Alexander Stockham is married and has 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren. She owned and operated an educational child care center in the Atlanta area and is retired from 24 years at the Department of Family and Children's Services. She currently owns and operates a business called Mas ("more" in Spanish) which consists of classes in reading readiness and Spanish that she teaches in various child care centers. She is committed to childhood education and instilling values.