'Read Across Manatee' at Miller Elementary School

Lauren Allen's second-grade class at Miller Elementary School was waiting.
It was the annual "Read Across Manatee" day at the school and I was still in the school library trying to find a book or two.
Richard Gonzalez bailed me out.
He was one of Allen's students escorting me to her classroom.
So I let him do the honors.
Richard didn't mess around.
He picked "The Little Red Hen" by Paul Galdone and "Seven Blind Mice" by Ed Young.
When we got to the classroom and I had everyone's attention, I made it a point to give credit to young Mr. Gonzalez.
If you don't like these books, I jolked, don't blame me.
Kidding aside, it was a treat reading to the children.
Always is.
I think they got something out of the books, too.
The first had to do with a lazy cat, dog and mouse who shared a nice little house with the hen, but let her do all the work until she turned the tables on them.
The seven blind mice was about little rodents who met up with an elephant, but didn't figure it out it was an elephant until the end.
The last page read, "The Mouse Moral: Knowing in part may  make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole."
Hmmmmm.
That Richard Gonzalez is a smart little boy.