Listen to the boy

Title: Listen to the boy

Author: Donn Byrne

Publisher: Penguin Readers READERS Level:3

Summary:

Three women are waiting at the grocery store. While the first customer is talking to the grocer, a boy runs into the shop. He pushes the customer. He wants to say something, but the grocer stops him. He has to wait his turn. The woman continues to talk to the grocer. The boy tries again but the
grocer doesn’t want to listen. Instead, he asks the boy if he is there for his mother. The boy says no. When the second customer starts saying what she wants, the boy tries to talk again. The others ignore him. The woman wants apples. The grocer suggests her sweet apples. He goes to the car to
get the apples. However, he comes back to the shop without them. He is screaming. The apples are gone, somebody stole them. The little boy then tells him that he saw someone take the apples. The grocer asks the boy why he didn’t say so earlier. He replies that he tried but he wouldn’t listen to
him.

Evaluation: stars 3

This is a common story, that could happen to anyone. I think both the boy and the grocer were a little bit wrong in the situation. The boy shouldn’t have pushed the three customers at the beginning. He didn’t even apologize. The grocer, on the other hand, could have at least listened to what
the boy had to say. If the boy wanted to order something, he could have then told him to wait for his turn. This is a situation of our everyday life. Adults often think what children say are irrelevant.