a children's story

For my first assignment, I had to write a picture book. I wrote this in about ten minutes.

Here it is.

My titleless picture(less) book.

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When Maximo woke up on Saturday, it was raining. He sat on the couch by the window, with his knees under his chin all morning, watching the water run down the glass, making it hard for him to see the outside world.

“I guess summer really is over.” He heard his mum say to a friend on the phone.

Maximo sighed.
He knew what that meant. No more trips to the beach. No more hot sun. No more swimming and, most of all, no more sand castles.
Summer was Maximo’s favourite season.
What was he going to do with himself now that summer was over?

“Cheer up Maximo.” His dad said, “It’s not the end of the world.”

It sure felt like it was.

On Sunday, Maximo woke up to the smell of pancakes wafting into his room. He walked into the living room rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, surprised by the sun streaming in through the windows.

“Good morning sunshine!” his mum exclaimed as he padded, bare foot, into the kitchen, “What a beautiful autumn morning! Today, would you like to help rake leaves in the garden?”

“Leaves?” Maximo asked.

“Look outside sleepy head!” His mum pushed him towards the window.

Sure enough, over night, the leaves had started to fall. The trees were glistening from left over rain, and the previously green lawn in front of the house had been covered with what appeared to be a brown blanket.

“Go get dressed!” his mum said, “And don’t forget your rain boots!”

Maximo spent the whole afternoon outside with his mum, his dad, and his older brother, Sacha.

Maximo tried to rake leaves at first, but the rake was too big for him, so he jumped in puddles left by Saturday’s storm instead.

“Hey Maximo, watch this!” Sacha said.

Maximo turned around, just in time to see his brother run full speed towards one of the neat leaf piles, and jump right in, giggling as he did so.

“Now you try!” his dad said.

By the end of the day, Maximo had almost forgotten about summer.
He played for so long that when it was time for bed, he was almost asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Over the next few weeks, Maximo spent his days jumping in leaf piles, carving pumpkins, and playing in the rain.

He even dressed up for Halloween.

“Autumn is my favourite season.” Maximo said sleepily one night, as his mum tucked him in. She smiled and turned out the light.

Then, one Saturday, Maximo woke up and before he even left his room, he dressed himself in his boots and jacket in preparation for playing in the rain that was sure to be falling.

He ran into the living room, but stopped in his tracks when he tried to look outside, but couldn’t see anything.

“Mum!” he cried, “What’s wrong with the windows? I can’t see outside!”

“That’s frost Maximo. It’s winter now.” His mum explained to him.

Sure enough, when Maximo opened the front door to look outside, there were no freshly fallen leaves to rake from the grass. They were all frozen to the lawn.

There were no puddles for him to jump in either. They too, were frozen.

Maximo could see his breath as he slumped his head and closed the door behind himself.

He walked slowly over to the couch by the window.

As he was pulling his knees under his chin, his dad walked past him.

“Cheer up Maximo!” He said. ” It’s not the end of the world.”

It sure felt like it was.

The next morning, as he walked into the kitchen, everything seemed quieter than usual.

He sat down to his hot cereal a little bit disoriented.

“Good morning, Maximo.” His mum said, “Would you like to help shovel snow this afternoon?”

“Snow?” Maximo questioned.

His mum pushed him towards a cleared spot in the frosty window and sure enough, a new blanket had covered the lawn and trees.

This time, it was a white, glistening layer of snow.

“Go get dressed!” His mum said,

“And don’t forget your snow boots!”