The Blue Crane

The Blue Crane

Written by Kerrie Shanahan Illustrated by Meredith Thomas

At the edge of a lake lived some white cranes.

They all looked like each other.

They all liked the same food.

They all liked the same games.

And they all liked to dance.

They were the best of friends.

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One day a blue crane came to the lake. She came from a lake far away.

“Can I be your friend?” said the blue crane.

“No,” said the white cranes.

“You do not look like us.

You are blue and we are white.

You can’t be our friend.”

The blue crane felt sad.

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The next day the blue crane saw the white cranes eating at the lake.

“Can I eat with you?” she said as she put her beak into the water.

“You can’t eat with us.

We do not catch our food the way you do,” said the white cranes.

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The blue crane wanted to play with the white cranes, but she did not know how to play the way they did.

“You can’t play with us if you do not know our games,” said the white cranes.

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As the sun went down the white cranes began to dance.

The blue crane looked at them as they danced.

“I can dance too,” said the blue crane.

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The blue crane got up and began to dance.

She stretched her neck this way.

She waved her wings that way.

She jumped up and she spun around.

“Look at how the blue crane dances,” said the white cranes.

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“The blue crane can’t dance like us but she can dance very well,” said the white cranes. “It would be good to dance like her.”

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So the blue crane showed the white cranes how to dance the way she did.

They all danced with each other.

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From that day on, they ate with each other and played with each other.

That is how the blue crane and the white cranes became friends.

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