The Four Answers She Called Everyone
Chapter 1The Garden Cover
Mrs. Stern asked the class to suggest covers for their shared story book.
Esty drew a garden. Four girls at her table leaned over it.
"I like the gate," one said.
"And the bird," said another.
All four said they liked the drawing.
Esty wrote a note beneath her sketch: Everyone wants a garden cover.
She imagined her green gate on the front of the finished book.
Chapter 2The Other Table
When the teacher collected suggestions, Dina handed in a drawing of a little shop.
"Why did you make that?" Esty asked. "Everyone likes the garden."
Dina looked at her note.
"You didn't ask me."
"I asked four girls."
"There are more than four girls in our class."
Esty glanced across the room. Other girls were handing in sketches, too.
Her four answers were real. The word everyone had gone much farther than those answers.
Chapter 3Four Still Counts
Esty wanted to fold the note under her drawing so nobody would see it.
Mrs. Stern came to the table.
Esty explained that she had asked only the girls sitting nearby.
"What can your note truthfully say?" the teacher asked.
"Four girls at my table liked the garden."
She changed the sentence.
It no longer sounded like the whole decision was already finished. It still told the teacher something useful.
The four girls had not changed their opinions because Esty's first wording was too large.
Chapter 4Hearing the Room
Mrs. Stern arranged a class discussion of the submitted drawings. She explained how the cover would be chosen and made sure every girl could give a view without being pressed to agree with a friend.
Esty listened to Dina describe the shop's open doorway.
Another girl wanted a simple row of books rather than either drawing.
Esty still preferred her garden.
She spoke about its gate and bird instead of claiming support from people she had never asked.
Chapter 5The Teacher's Decision
After hearing the suggestions, Mrs. Stern chose a new cover showing books beside a window. She explained that it fitted all the stories in the collection.
Esty's garden did not become the front cover.
Mrs. Stern invited the girls to keep their approved drawings in a class sketch folder.
Esty asked whether she could keep her original at home after the teacher had finished with it.
She could.
Losing the cover choice did not make the garden an ugly drawing.
Chapter 6The Smaller Sentence
Before packing up, Esty showed Dina the corrected note.
"I shouldn't have said everyone. I hadn't asked you."
"I did like the bird," Dina said. "I liked my shop for the cover."
Both things could be true.
Esty carried the garden home flat inside her folder.
At supper, she said four girls had liked it, and the teacher had chosen another cover.
The smaller sentence left room for the people whose answers she had not heard.
