Ling & Ting Reader Collection, page 2
6 Stories
Dedication
1 Surprise Storm
2 Selling Lemonade
3 A Funny Red Leaf
4 Old Chinese Medicine
5 A Funny Flower
6 Twin Rainbows
Ling and Ting are twins. They live together. They eat together. They play together. They are always together.
They are together when the wind blows. Outside, the sky is dark. The trees sway. The rain falls. There is thunder and lightning.
Lightning flashes. Crack!
“Eek!” says Ling.
“Are you scared of the storm?” Ting asks.
“No!” says Ling. “I am not scared! I was just surprised.”
Boom! The thunder is loud.
“Eek!” says Ting.
“Are you scared of the storm?” Ling asks.
“No!” Ting says. “I am not scared. I was just surprised, too.”
Lightning flashes. Crack!
Boom! The thunder is loud.
“Eek!” Ling and Ting say together.
They sit close to each other. They put a blanket over their heads.
“We are not scared,” Ling says.
“No,” Ting says. “We are just surprised.”
Ling and Ting are twins. They are always together. They are surprised together, too.
The sun is bright. It is hot.
“Ting,” Ling says, “I have an idea. Let us make lemonade. We will sell it. We will make a lot of money.”
“Yes!” Ting says. “Let us sell lemonade!”
Ling cuts the lemons. Ting adds the water, sugar, and ice. They take the lemonade outside. They take a little box for money outside, too.
The sun is bright. It is hot. No one comes to buy the lemonade. Ling and Ting wait.
“I would like some lemonade,” Ting says.
“Ting,” Ling says, “the lemonade is for sale. You must buy the lemonade.”
Ting buys a glass of lemonade. She gives Ling a nickel. Ling puts it in the little box.
“Now we have earned a nickel,” Ling says.
“Hmmm,” Ting says.
“I would like some lemonade,” Ling says.
“You must buy it, too,” Ting says.
Ling buys a glass of lemonade. She gives Ting a nickel.
Ting puts it in the little box with the other nickel.
“Now we have earned two nickels,” Ting says.
“Hmmm,” Ling says.
“Ling,” Ting says, “there are two nickels in the box. We have earned two nickels together.”
“Yes,” Ling says. “There is one nickel for you and one nickel for me.”
“I will take my nickel now,” says Ting. She takes one nickel from the box.
“I would like to buy another glass of lemonade,” says Ting. She gives Ling the nickel. Ling puts the nickel back into the box.
Then Ting drinks another glass of lemonade. Ling watches her.
“I will take my nickel now, too,” says Ling. She takes a nickel from the box. Then she gives the nickel to Ting. “I would like to buy another glass of lemonade, too.”
The sun is bright. It is hot. Ling and Ting buy more lemonade. Ling and Ting drink more lemonade. Soon the lemonade is gone.
“Good job!” Ting says. “We sold all the lemonade!”
“Yes,” Ling says. “We did sell all the lemonade. But we did not make a lot of money.”
It is cool outside. The leaves are yellow, red, and orange. They are falling from the trees. Ling and Ting are raking leaves.
“Raking is hard work,” Ting says. She feels hot. She takes off her hat.
Soon all the leaves are in a big pile.
“We are finished!” Ling says.
Ting nods. Then Ting scratches her head.
“Where is my hat?” Ting asks.
Ting looks for her red hat. Ling helps her. They look through the big pile of leaves. Soon there is no pile. They cannot find the hat.
Then Ling looks at the tree. “Look at that funny red leaf!” says Ling. “It looks like—”
“My hat!” says Ting. “We found my hat!”
Ting is happy. But Ling is not happy. Ling looks at the leaves. There are leaves everywhere. There is no pile of leaves.
“Oops,” Ting says. “We must rake again.”
Ling nods. Then Ling scratches her head.
“Where is my hat?” Ling asks.
“It is winter,” says Ling. “Now we must shovel snow. Ting, let us go shovel the snow.”
Ting does not want to shovel the snow. Ting thinks hard. She gets into her bed. She rubs her nose.
“I am sick,” Ting says. “I cannot go outside. I cannot shovel the snow.”
“You are sick?” Ling asks. “If you are sick, you need medicine. I will make you some.”
“You will make me medicine?” Ting asks.
“Yes,” Ling says. “I have a recipe. It is for an old Chinese medicine. It works well.”
In the kitchen, Ling makes the medicine. She cooks onions, ginger, and water. She adds mustard and garlic. She adds sticks and dirt. She adds a sock and a shoelace. Ting watches from the door.
“Almost done!” Ling says. She stirs the medicine. The medicine looks bad. The medicine smells bad.
“Ling!” Ting says. “I think I am better now. I am not sick. I do not need old Chinese medicine.”
“Are you sure?” Ling asks.
“Yes,” Ting says. “It is winter. We must shovel snow.”
“Good,” says Ling. “The old Chinese medicine really does work well.”
The snow is melting. The air is warm. Spring is coming.
“Soon it will be spring,” Ling says. “Soon there will be leaves. Soon there will be flowers!”
“Look!” Ting says. “There is already a flower!”
“It is the first flower of spring!” Ling says. “Let us go see it!”
Ling and Ting go to the flower. They look at it. Ting scratches her head.
“It is a funny flower!” Ting says. “It looks like—”
“My hat!” Ling says. “We found my hat!”
“Ling! Look at the strange weather,” Ting says. “There is sun and there is rain. There are both at the same time.”
“Ting,” Ling says, “this is rainbow weather! This is when we can find a rainbow!”
“It is?” Ting asks. “Let us go look for a rainbow! If we find one, we will be lucky!”
Ling looks behind the house. She does not see a rainbow.
Ting looks in front of the house. She does not see a rainbow.
“I looked behind the house,” Ling tells Ting. “I did not find a rainbow.”
“I looked in front of the house,” Ting tells Ling. “I did not find a rainbow, either.”
“Let us go to the big hill,” Ling says. “We will look for a rainbow together.”
Ling and Ting walk up the big hill. The rain still falls. The sun still shines. When they reach the top of the hill, they look for a rainbow.
“Look, Ting! Look!” Ling shouts. “Two rainbows!”
“They are twin rainbows!” Ting says. “Just like us! We found them together! We are seeing them together! We are so lucky to be together!”
“Yes,” Ling says. “We are so lucky to be together.”
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers began publishing books in 1926.
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ARTIST’S NOTE
The illustrations in this book were painted using Turner Design Gouache on Arches hot-pressed watercolor paper. —Grace Lin
Grace Lin, Ling & Ting Reader Collection
