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12. Idgah tells him a lot of stories about ugly and terrifying
National Grandparents Day is a secular holiday witches. She also tells her grandson that witches hate
celebrated in various countries, with official recognition children.
in some, and occurring on various days of the year. It Billy: Oh my god! Then what happens?
is celebrated either as one holiday or sometimes as a Kelly: The boy and his grandmother go to a hotel in
separate Grandmothers’ Day and Grandfathers’ Day. England. There, the boy finds himself locked alone in a
Grandma’s Day was celebrated in Poland in 1965 for room with two hundred witches.
the first time. In the United States, Marian McQuade Billy: What do the witches do to him?
has been recognized nationally by the United States
Senate and by former President Jimmy Carter, as the Kelly: Wait… let me tell you. The boy hides behind a
founder of National Grandparents Day. McQuade screen and listens to the witches’ wicked plan.
made it her goal to educate the youth in the community Billy: What is the plan?
about the important contributions seniors have made Kelly: They plan to turn children into mice by putting
throughout history. She also urged the youth to ‘adopt’ Mouse-Maker in chocolate bars in candy shops all
a grandparent, not just for one day a year, but rather for around England. Then, one of the witches finds him
a lifetime. Co-founder Cynthia Bennett, who worked behind the screen. And he is turned into a mouse!
for Marian’s husband, contributed by writing letters Billy: How sad!
of verification. In 1973, a US Senator introduced a
resolution to the senate to make Grandparents’ Day Kelly: But after he becomes a mouse, he manages to
a national holiday. West Virginia’s Governor had escape the witches and reaches his grandmother.
proclaimed an annual Grandparents’ Day for the Billy: But a mouse will never be able to talk to a human.
state, at the urging of Marian McQuade. She organised Kelly: He will because he still has a human voice! Then
supporters and began contacting governors, senators, he plans and puts the Mouse-Maker into the witches’
and congressmen in all fifty states. She urged each soup. All the witches turn into mice and are chased out
state to proclaim their own Grandparents’ Day. of the hotel!
Within three years, she had received Grandparents’
Day proclamations from forty-three states. She sent Billy: Does the mouse become a boy again?
copies of the proclamations to Senator Randolph. In Kelly: Read the book and find out.
February 1977, Senator Randolph, with the agreement
of many other senators, introduced a joint resolution to 16. A Christmas Carol
the senate requesting the president to issue annually a A Christmas Carol is a classic Christmas story written
proclamation designating the first Sunday of September by English author Charles Dickens. The book’s
after Labor Day of each year as ‘National Grandparents’ protagonist is a man named Scrooge, who is bitter and
Day’. Congress passed the legislation and on August greedy, and cares only about money. At the start of the
3, 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the story, Scrooge’s personality is evident in his actions.
proclamation. The day's purpose is: ‘...to honour He insults the people around him, forces his assistant
grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to work during the holidays, and refuses to give to
to show love for their children’s children, and to help charity. It is also clear that Scrooge dislikes Christmas,
children become aware of strength, information, and because he rudely declines his nephew’s invitation to a
guidance older people can offer’. Christmas dinner. That night, when Scrooge is in bed,
he is visited by three ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas
14. New Teacher on the Block Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of
Kelly: I read The Witches written by Roald Dahl. Christmas Yet to Come. The ghosts show him ominous

Billy: What is the book about? visions that make him rethink the way he treats others.
Kelly: It’s about a boy whose parents die in a car crash. By the end of the story, he finds his Christmas spirit
and lets go of his greed.
He goes to live with his grandmother. The grandmother

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