Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes

by Laura Rountree Smith

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes were so still they did not wink an eyelash.
They sat on two little stools in the corner.

Grandpa Grumbles said, "You can guess all day and you can guess all night, but you cannot one of you guess what kind of a shop I am going to open."

Then the Seventeen Little Bears begged for Bunny Cotton-Tail's thinking-cap. They put it on in turn and guessed and guessed what kind of a shop Grandpa Grumbles would open.

Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes said, "Will it be a candy-shop?"

Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and grumbled, "I told you, you could not guess. I am going to open a Toy Shop!"

"A Toy Shop!" shouted the Seventeen Little Bears at the top of their lungs. "A Toy Shop!"

"Who is telling this story?" asked Grandpa Grumbles. He began to tell the story in real earnest. He said, "I am going to open a Toy Shop in the woods."

"Not a real Toy Shop," said Snubby Nose. "You don't mean a real Toy
Shop," said Tippy Toes.

Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and grumbled, "Now, I shall have to start all over again."

So he began once more, "I am going to open a Toy Shop in the woods."