mobilism.

org
I Spy
Art by
Emma Dukes Come play with us! Can you find a path
through this happy, snowy maze?
:[HY[

-PUPZO Answer on page 35.

I S YX JSV YW
/IIT ER I] ;I EVI KS MRK XS VSPP
XLVS YKL XLMW QEKE^MRI [ MX
L ]S Y
2
Max and Kate Art by Brita Granström
Story by Mick Manning

Kate and Max are playing outside with Kiwi,

Mo, and Kate’s dolls.

mobilism.org
3
 3L, FIR
H
WXVE[W ]

Kate finds a plastic tray and fills it with water.

“What's that for?” asks Max.
“You'll see,” says Kate with a grin.
4
 ,·m, FSXXPIGET

They leave the tray and go inside for some

hot chocolate.

mobilism.org
5
 'VEJt WX
MGOW

Later Max sees that the water in the tray has

frozen solid.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “The ice will melt soon.”

6
 0
E +3%
ER H
7LSt


P p WLSX
7 a

“No, I want it like that,” chuckles Kate. “It’s an

ice-skating rink for my dolls!”
Max laughs, too, and zooms a doll over the ice.

7
 \Zd^

@bkZ__^
Abiih

A Piece of Cake
and played together all afternoon.

“Want to play
y again
g tomorrow?”” asked.

“Sure!” said . “But I have chores to do first.”

“I can help,”
, said .

“OK!” said . “Together, it will be a piece off !”

!

Yum! thoughtt .

They waved goodbye.

O O O
by Sarah Meade
Art by Dina Usmandi
8 text © 2021 by Sarah Meade, art © 2021 by Dina Usmandi
 hurried off, thinking, What did ssay

about a piece off ? Should I bring one? Yes!

At home, pulled out a .

H'm, she thought. What kind off should

I bake? Chocolate? Strawberry?

y Pumpkin spice?

Or ? Yes, iis ’s
’ favorite!

made a beautiful .

O O O

\hhd[hhd

\Zkkhm

mobilism.org
9
 The next morning, cut a big piece off .

She carried it carefully to ’’s house.

“Hello!” she called.

“Hiya!” said . “What’s this?”

“A piece off !” said with a grin.

“Yummy!”
y said . ““Let’s eat it after we finish my chores.”

“OK,” agreed.

and got right to work. First they picked up the

and . Next they dusted. Finally they swept.

@bkZ__^

Abiih

insse^ib^\^l mkZbgl

10
 “See, ?” said . “I told you it would be easy!

A piece
p ece of !!”

blinked. So that’s what it means, she thought.

She blushed and felt bashful.

Butt ’’s sweet smile made grin. She grinned

until she giggled. “An easy job is a piece off !”

“Yep,” said . “Now let’s share THIS piece off !”

So they did.

\Zd^

11
 New Year Cheer by Kathleen Bahr
Art by Cyndi Wojciechowski

Blow your horn,

Give a cheer!

Let’s hear it for . . .

text © 2021 by Kathleen Bahr, art © 2021 by Cyndi Wojciechowski

A brand-new year!

12
 Silly Song
Time
Art by John Nez

Won’t you come and join our concert,

Laugh and sing with all your might?
Just don’t be too surprised
If some things don’t seem quite right.
Is that a horn or bubble wand?
Have you looked at the moon?
Take a close look at these pictures,
And you’ll be giggling soon.

I VIRGIW
J
t HMJ RH
;LE n ]Su JM WI
GE In XLI
I #
FIX[ TMGXYVIW
X[o

Answer on page 35.

13
 Hide-and-Seek by Susan Weiss
Art by Kris Aro McLeod

Let’s play a game of

Hide-and-seek.
I’ll hide first,
And don’t you peek!

While you’re counting

One, two, three,
Into the closet,
Can’t find me!

14
Four, five, six, seven,
Almost done.
Eight, nine, ten,
Now, time to run!

Footsteps coming
(Pound, heart, pound).
The door flies open,
EEK! I’m found.

15
 The Guitar Pig Mystery

“Why were you in Aunt Kim’s room, Daniel?”

asked Evelyn.
Daniel shut the door behind him. “I’m looking
for her pig.”
“Aunt Kim has a pig?” asked Evelyn, wide-eyed.
“She didn’t show it to me.”
Daniel and Evelyn were cousins. They were at
Grandma’s house for a family reunion. Right now,
people were listening to each other play music on
the front porch.
Daniel said, “Aunt Kim asked me to bring her
pig down to the porch. She said she always plays the
guitar with it.”
by Pamela Love
Art by Terri Murphy
16 text © 2021 by Pamela Love, art © 2021 by Terri Murphy
 The cousins went out the back
door. Their sneakers squished in the
wet grass. They looked all over the
yard. “No mud puddles out here,”
said Evelyn. “And there aren’t any
holes in the fence, so Lucky didn’t
run away.”
Back inside, they checked
around sofas and chairs and
bookcases. “Here, Lucky!” But
they couldn’t find the pig.
Evelyn folded her arms. “I don’t
think Lucky’s in somebody else’s
bedroom. The doors were all closed.
Wouldn’t you see a pig coming in
when you were going out?”
“But Lucky is little. Aunt Kim
told me she looked in her purse, and
the pig wasn’t there,” said Daniel.
“She keeps a pig in her purse?
Lucky must be really small,” Evelyn
said. “Are you sure it wasn’t in Aunt
Kim’s room?”

18
 “My cat hides under beds
sometimes. Maybe Lucky does,
too,” Daniel said. He led the way
back upstairs. On his hands and
knees, he lifted the blue and white
quilt’s edge. “No pig here.”
Meanwhile, Evelyn spotted
something pink and plastic on
Aunt Kim’s quilt. It was shaped
almost like a triangle. “Daniel, did
Aunt Kim ask you to get her guitar
pig? Or did she say guitar pick?”
Her cousin shrugged. “It was
hard to hear her, because Dad and
Uncle Mike were playing their
fiddles. What’s a guitar pick?”
Evelyn held up the pink triangle.
“Yesterday, before your family got
here, Aunt Kim played the guitar
for me. She was using this. I think
it’s called a guitar pick.”
Daniel tilted his head. “Well, it
is pink, and it was on her bed. . . .”

19
 The fiddle music was over when the cousins
walked onto the porch. Aunt Kim was talking to
Grandma. Before the cousins could say anything,
Aunt Kim said, “Oh thanks, you two! I really don’t
like playing without my lucky guitar pick.” Evelyn
handed it over, and Aunt Kim strummed a few times.
“I hope it wasn’t hard to find.”
“It was just where you said,” said Daniel, winking
at Evelyn. She laughed so hard her braids bounced.

20
 Almost Ready by Ann Marie Drury

I’ll have everything I’m painting the

ready in a minute. man on the moon, I thought we
Benny. Look! were going
to play a game.

What are we
playing, Chloe?

I’m putting on the I can’t wait! Almost ready!

finishing touches. Hey, where are
you? Benny?

I’m in our spaceship, Benny!

Let’s fly to the moon!
Olly olly oxen free.
Chloe didn’t find me!
Where is Chloe?

Let’s
go!

art © 2021 by Ann Marie Drury

21
 Old King Cole A Traditional Rhyme and Song
Art by Victoria Assanelli

Now Old King Cole was a mer ry old soul, and a mer ry old soul was

he. He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl, and he

called for his fid dlers three. And___ ev ’ry fid dler

had a fine fid dle, and a ve ry fine fid dle had he. Oh there’s

none so rare as___ can com pare with King Cole and his fid dlers three.

22
23
 Tuesdays

by Rhonda Telfer Art by Tatjana Mai-Wyss

“ I hate Tuesdays,” said Finn. “Tuesdays are the

worst days now.”
“Wait and see,” said his mother. “You haven’t
even met Miss Bea.”
Finn was starting piano lessons. Every Tuesday, at
3:30, right after school. Right when his feet wanted
to run and jump. Right when his hands wanted to
build his new Star-Blaster. (He had the kit with him,
just in case Miss Bea wasn't home.)

24
 Finn’s mother rang the doorbell.
“Maybe she went shopping,”
said Finn hopefully. “Or maybe
she’s too grumpy to give a lesson.
Maybe she needs to take a nap
instead.”
But the door opened, and
there was Miss Bea, at home,
smiling and wide awake. “Hello
there, Finn,” she said. “Come
on in.”
Miss Bea’s piano was black and
shiny. It had a curvy clock, a stack
of books, and a gold lamp on top.
Finn sat on the bench. His feet sure
couldn’t run now. They couldn’t
even touch the floor. He held on
to his Star-Blaster kit.
“That looks like a special box,”
said Miss Bea. “Is it something
new?”
“It’s going to be a Star-Blaster,”
said Finn, “but I have to wait till
I get home.” He tried not to look
grumpy when he said it.

25
 “Ah, so you’re a builder,” said Miss Bea. “That’s
very good. I bet you can figure out how this piano
works. Why don’t you start by pressing some keys?”
Finn pressed some white keys. Then he pressed
some black keys. Then he pressed a white one and
a black one at the same time. It didn’t really make a
song, but Miss Bea said she liked it.
Then, to Finn’s surprise, she took away the
clock, the books, the lamp, and—whoa!—popped
the piano open.
“I didn’t know it had a lid,” said Finn.
“Every piano does. It has hammers, too,” said
Miss Bea. “Stand on the bench and look inside.”

26
 Finn’s mother held him
steady. The hammers weren’t
the kind he expected. They
were pieces of wood with round
ends. The ends were covered
with felt. Some were fat. Some
were skinny. Finn touched the
felt. It was soft and fuzzy.
There was a row of strings
in front of the hammers. The
strings were made of metal.
Some were fat. Some were skinny.
Finn touched a string. It was
cool and tight.
“Now press a key and watch
what happens,” said Miss Bea.
Finn pressed a key and
(bong!) a fat hammer hit a fat
string. He pressed another key
and (bing!) a skinny hammer
hit a skinny string. Pressing lots
of keys at once made lots of
hammers hit lots of strings. It still
wasn’t a song, but Miss Bea said,
“Good job.”

27
 Finn sat down and tried more keys. His left
hand made low rumbles, and Miss Bea said it
sounded like a rocket blast. His right hand made
high twinkles, and Miss Bea said it made her
think of stars.
Then Miss Bea had a question. “If you were
going to build a piano, how many pieces would
you need?”
“H’m . . . fifty?” guessed Finn.
“More,” said Miss Bea.
“A hundred forty-two?” guessed Finn.
“Many more.”
Finn guessed all the way up to nine hundred
fifty-seven, but it was “More, more, more.”
He tried sixty-eight zillion. “Not quite,”
laughed Miss Bea. “But it’s still a big number:
ten thousand pieces.”
“Whoa,” said Finn. “My Star-Blaster only has
sixty-two. But it’s still going to be hard to put
it together.”
“But it will be worth it,” said Miss Bea. “Piano
lessons are like that, too. You work and work to
build a song. You use keys and hammers and
strings. Your songs can be fast or slow, high or
low, soft or loud.”

28
29
 “I want to build a fast loud one,” said Finn.
“You will,” said Miss Bea, “when your fingers
learn to run and jump. But for now, our time is up.”
On the way home, Finn asked his mother how
many songs there were to learn.
“There must be thousands,” she said. “Especially
if you practice.”
“Then I’d better start soon,” said Finn. He looked
at his building fingers. “How many days,” he asked,
“till Tuesday?”

30
 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
New Year’s Eve Countdown
- [r?^kgFnkkr -

Happy r!
a
New Ye

2
1
(

Help the partygoers with their New Year’s Eve countdown. Start with the
number 12 on the clock, and count backwards as you find the numbers
hidden around the room. You can say “Happy New Year!” when you reach
the number 1!
Answers on page 35.
31
 %R H PIX QI WMRK MX

+MZe me oRe soRg 8he soRKFMVd wa]

  
8o sing aPl da]

I lSZe a wMRXIr walk

[hen iX·s snS[MRK
1I, thrII
1I, tSS

-X·s so . . . UYMIX

V K K KZ R R R
RRV
K
I can aPQSWt
LIEr the
WRSw fEPPMRK

32 E\-RKQ6DQGIRUG
 Snowballs
When snow falls,
And cold winds blow,
Snowballs
Are fun to throw.

Scoop some snow

From the ground.
Roll it. Pat it.
Make it round.

Winter snowballs,
Throw them high.
Watch them fall—
Watch them fly!

by Pat Sandifer Borum

34 Art by Joung Un Kim
 LADYBUG magazine (ISSN 1051–4961) is published 9 times a year, monthly except for combined May/June, July/August, and
November/December issues, by Cricket Media, Inc., 1751 Pinnacle Drive, Suite 600, McLean, VA 22102. Periodicals postage
(Md ySu ffMRd aPl the ans[IVs to these puzzlIW# paid at McLean, VA, and at additional mailing offices. For address changes, back issues, subscriptions, customer service, or to
renew, please visit shop.cricketmedia.com, email cricketmedia@cdsfulfillment.com, write to LADYBUG, P.O. Box 6395, Harlan,
IA 51593-1895, or call 1-800-821-0115. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to LADYBUG, P.O. Box 6395, Harlan,
IA 51593-1895.
January 2022, Volume 32, Number 4, Copyright © 2021, Cricket Media. All rights reserved, including right of reproduction
in whole or in part, in any form. Not associated with LADYBIRD Books, Inc. Address correspondence to LADYBUG magazine,
1 East Erie Street, Suite 525, PMB4136, Chicago, IL 60611. For submission information and guidelines, see cricketmedia.
com. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or other material. All letters and contest entries accompanied by
parent or guardian signatures are assumed to be for publication and become the property of Cricket Media. For information
regarding our privacy policy and compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, please visit our website at
cricketmedia.com or write to us at CMG/COPPA, 1751 Pinnacle Drive, Suite 600, McLean, VA 22102. From time to time,
LADYBUG mails to its subscribers advertisements for other LADYBUG products or makes its subscriber list available to
other reputable companies for their offering of products and services. If you prefer not to receive such mail, write to us at
the Harlan, IA, address.
James M. O’Connor, Director of Editorial; Kathleen Andersen, Editor; Emily Cambias, Assistant Editor; Hayley Kim, Assistant
Editor; Suzanne Beck, Senior Art Director; Shavan Spears, Designer; John Sandford, Artist, LADYBUG bugs; Joy Taubl,
4EKI  4EKe 13 Permissions Specialist. View submission guidelines and submit manuscripts online at cricketmag.submittable.com.
Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following publishers and copyright owners for permission to reprint selections
from their publications. All possible care has been taken to trace ownership and secure permission for each selection. Cover
art © 2016 by Richard Johnson; “I Spy,” 2 (BKGD) Alena Razumova/Shutterstock, (maze) Nahhana/Shutterstock, (T) Tanor/

O
 O
 Shutterstock; “Silly Song Time,” art © 2013 by John Nez; “Hide-and-Seek,” art © 2012 by Kris Aro McLeod; “Old King Cole,”
art © 2016 by Victoria Assanelli; “Tuesdays,” art © 2015 by Tatjana Mai-Wyss; “New Year’s Eve Countdown,” 31 yusufdemirci/
O

O

Shutterstock; Artisticco/Shutterstock; Annity Art/Shutterstock, artnLera/Shutterstock, Alena Razumova/Shutterstock, Colorfuel
Studio/Shutterstock; “Snowballs,” text © 2003 by Pat Sandifer Borum, art © 2003 by Joung Un Kim; “Molly and Emmett,” text
and art © 2005 by Marylin Hafner.

 O



O Printed in the United States of America.




 OO

O
 O 
1st printing Quad Sussex, Wisconsin December 2021

O
O Check out our online Teacher Guides at cricketmedia.com/teacher-resources.
To subscribe, call Customer Service at 1-800-821-0115 or visit shop.cricketmedia.com.
4EKe 31

Award-winning
magazines From home or sc
and hool,
An online reading for all ages and interests! kids of all ages an
pr og ra m th at d
writing levels can learn
builds 1:1 eM en to r/
Mandarin and ex
ips in plore
mentee relationsh Chinese culture
cla ss ro om . .
the On with
the Show

Fool
Foo
Fo
Foooo Me
Twic
Tw e
Tw
8/23/21 9:05 AM

1
CLK2111_01_Cover.indd

The Me.
I knew.

SCIENCE t
Who knew
there were
so many
in
battles

WA R
the South?

f FEAR Grea
Cities T H E LU T IO N A RY
O UTH

HAPPY N E W Y E A R!
35