I just put Aidan to bed. His bedtime story was an impromptu one that Gabrielle and Ethan also sat in for … about Frank. It was the first time I’ve made up an entirely new story for the kids for a long time … perhaps since The Wonderful Colorful House.

After the story, and after our bedtime prayers, Aidan said “I love you 10 feet tall!” I think you’ll understand why, when you see that Frank was a very special baby …

I love you 10 feet tall

Imagine a world in which every single person is 10 feet tall.

Every mommy is 10 feet tall. Every daddy is 10 feet tall. And, yes, every kid is exactly 10 feet tall.

Frank was a baby who was born to a perfectly normal 10 foot tall mother and a perfectly normal 10 foot tall father. But there was a problem. Frank was only 5 feet tall.

Frank’s mother cried and his father held her, but the doctors had no answers for her. They had never seen anybody who was not 10 feet tall before. They had no idea why baby Frank was not 10 feet tall, and they didn’t know what to do about it.

Daddy worried that Frank wouldn’t be able to play sports and Mommy was afraid that he’d never be able to find a nice girl and get married, because he was only 5 feet tall and wouldn’t be able to reach her to kiss her.

But a funny thing happened. When they measured Frank one day after he was born, he was 5 feet and 1 inch tall. Mommy and Daddy wondered what on earth was happening to their very strange son. Again, the doctors had no answers for them – they had never seen anybody grow before. Ever.

On the second day, Frank was 5 feet and 2 inches tall. On the third day, 5 feet and 3 inches tall.

This continued for no less than 60 days until finally, when Daddy measured Frank, he was completely and absolutely normal: exactly 10 feet tall, just like everyone else in the world.

For the next two days Mommy and Daddy were very happy and excited and relieved. They threw a big party and invited all their friends and relatives. Finally their son was normal, and now everything was all right.

But only three days later, Daddy had the strange and terrifying experience of actually having to look up – yes up – into his 65-day old baby’s eyes. Frank was still growing!

So Mommy and Daddy took Frank to the doctors again. The doctors took Frank to the hospital, and the hospital took Frank to more doctors. Then the doctors talked to the other doctors, and phone more doctors who asked other doctors for their opinions. But once again, all the doctors had no answers. Frank was still growing an inch a day, and that was that.

Frank kept growing for another 115 days – every day, one more inch. Every single day, until finally he was 20 feet tall – and not even 1 year old.

The next day, the fire department came to measure Frank with the fire truck ladder – and he was still exactly 20 feet tall. The next day, and the next day, and the next day it was the same: Frank had finally stopped growing.

His Mommy and Daddy still worried about him – what was a 20 foot tall giant going to do for a job when he grew up? I mean, got older?

Frank was not worried. When he was old enough, he got a job at the museum. It had very high ceilings and lots of lights, and he was just the person to change the lights. He didn’t even need a ladder.

And his wife? Mommy had worried that he’d never be able to get married when he grew up. But he did.

Just as soon as he found a girl that didn’t mind climbing a ladder to kiss him goodnight.

(the end)

[tags] stories, bedtime, kids, children, picture books, john koetsier [/tags]