There's a big rock in the way !

<Stories about Susan, who moves Big things>

One day Susan discovered that there was BIG ROCK in the road. The rock was really in the way. It was a big problem. Nobody knew how to move such a big rock out of the way. The school bus driver didn't know how to move the rock. The taxi cab driver didn't know how to move the rock. The children on their bicycles didn't know how to move the rock. Mommies and Daddies in their cars didn't know how to move the rock. The people working with the garbage truck didn't know how to move the rock.

So the rock just sat there in the middle of the road. The school bus couldn't go. The driver just looked at the rock. The taxi cab couldn't go by. The driver just stared and stared at the rock. Nobody could go anywhere. It was a big problem. Nobody could go ANYWHERE. Everybody was stuck.

Susan said, "Maybe I can move the rock." Some people said she was too LITTLE. Some other people said the rock was too BIG. Susan said, "I'll just think about it a little."

First she walked up to the rock and tried to roll it out of the way. She pushed. She Pushed. She PUSHED ! But that didn't work. The rock didn't even move a little bit. It didn't move at all. In fact, when she was all tired from pushing the rock looked like it was taking a nap. Right in the middle of the road !

Next Susan tried saying please. She walked right up to the rock and said in a strong calm voice, "Rock, please move !" But that didn't work. Nothing happened. As far as Susan could tell, this rock didn't really understand "Please" nor "Move".

Next Susan walked up to the rock and blew on it as hard as she could. But that didn't work. It made Susan dizzy, but the rock didn't move at all. Susan got so dizzy blowing that she almost fell down.

Susan walked away from the rock and sat down. She thought and thought. She looked a that rock, and she looked at that rock again. She tried to imagine something that could move the rock or get the rock to move.

Finally, she got all of her friends together, and they all pushed at once. But that didn't work it was a really Big, Big rock. Then they all counted to 3 and said, "Rock, please move!" as loudly as they could. But that didn't work. Then they all blew as hard as they could at the rock. But that didn't work, either. Some of Susan's friends got so dizzy they fell down, Bump!

Susan sat back down and thought and thought. Then she had an idea. She got her shovel. She got her bucket. She started digging a big hole in the ground right next to the big rock. Her friends asked her how that was going to help. She said, "We'll make a big hole next to the rock; then the rock will fall right into the hole. Bump!" So they dug a big hole right next to the big, big, BIG ROCK. And when they were done, the rock fell right into the hole.

Then the school bus could come, and the taxi cab could go. All the children could ride their bikes. The mommies and daddies could even drive their cars. Everyone was very happy !

(Parents: I've worried that someday my daughter will dig a hole next to a big rock without doing something to keep the rock from falling in, before she gets out. So far, I haven't found a good way to address that on a first telling. However, once we had told the story 15 or 20 times, I was able to make the solution more complicated and add in supporting braces and safety watchers and lots of other stuff. I suggest you may want to take a similar approach.)

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