Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen

U.S.A. $16.95 Canada $18.95 U.K. £10.99

IT’S FINALLY PICTURE DAY, THE DAY THAT WILL BE FROZEN IN PHOTOGRAPHS FOREVER.

is the author of The Pout-Pout Fish, a New York Times bestseller and one of Time’s top 10 children’s books of 2008.

She lives in Michigan.

It’s a time for your best outfit, your cleanest face, and your brightest smile. But picture day doesn’t always go so smoothly.

There’s always a kid who has the dirtiest shirt, the messiest face, and the angriest scowl. For him, picture day perfection may seem out of reach . . . But nothing’s set in stone until the camera flashes.

s includae e m a fr own ur for yore day pictu ection! perf

is the illustrator of many books for children, including Oh No! and Kel Gilligan’s Daredevil Stunt Show.

He lives in Southern California.

ABRAMS

z ABRAMS BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS An imprint of ABRAMS 115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsyoungreaders.com

U.S. $16.95 Can. $18.95 U.K. £10.99 ISBN 978-1-4197-0844-2

z

REINFORCED BINDING

Illustrations copyright © 2013 Dan Santat

Printed in China

HNA6825ºr_PDP_Jacket.indd 1

19/02/2013 10:54 AM

Abrams Books for Young Readers, New York

HNA6825ยบPictureDay_INT.indd 3

28/12/2012 3:13 PM

I’d planned for months.

This was going to be the year of the perfect school picture.

But some days, not everything goes according to plan.

HNA6825Âşr_PictureDay_INT.indd 4

06/02/2013 10:30 AM

HNA6825ยบr_PictureDay_INT.indd 5

06/02/2013 10:30 AM

The day started with the worst case of bedhead ever.

HNA6825ยบPictureDay_INT.indd 6

28/12/2012 3:13 PM

Then it took me quite some time to unearth my favorite shirt. I finally found it at the very bottom of the hamper.

You might call it “stained.”

You might call it “wrinkled.”

You might even call it “smelly.”

You wouldn’t be wrong.

HNA6825ºPictureDay_INT.indd 7

28/12/2012 3:13 PM

HNA6825ยบPictureDay_INT.indd 21

28/12/2012 3:14 PM

As I sat and waited, everything that had happened rushed through my mind. The monstrous messes.

The muddles and the mix-ups. The whole day, from the moment I’d rolled out of bed, had gone . . .

HNA6825Âşr_PictureDay_INT.indd 23

21/01/2013 4:46 PM

K C I L C da r a e h hen I w s ’ t ha And t

HNA6825ºPictureDay_INT.indd 26

28/12/2012 3:14 PM

!

K HNA6825ºPictureDay_INT.indd 27

In a flash, all my hard work— my perfectly tangled hair, my perfectly rumpled shirt, my perfectly sticky face, my perfectly composed scowl, that perfect boring background, those perfect paint splatters, that perfect sickly pallor—

28/12/2012 3:14 PM

For my siblings, Tom and Ann -D.D.

For Alek and Kyle -D.S.

ok in this bo s n io t a r t hop. the illus e photos b o d a in e were mad

Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0844-2 Text copyright © 2013 Deborah Diesen Illustrations copyright © 2013 Dan Santat Book design by Chad W. Beckerman Published in 2013 by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

HNA6825ºPictureDay_INT.indd 32

Printed and bound in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Abrams Books for Young Readers are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.

115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com

28/12/2012 3:14 PM