Greeny Greenleaf Says, “The Best Gift Ever is in My Bathtub.”

By Pamela Blackmore Collins

Greeny is halfway to being an adult, celebrating his ninth birthday soon, and he just doesn’t want to grow up. But he doesn’t want to be a baby anymore, so he asks his parents for a birthday gift of walking home from school alone.

His mom and dad told him he needed to be ten for that privilege, but Greeny convinces them he can handle it. This unusual gift becomes much more than Greeny ever expected and it changes his mind about everything.

This book for young readers shares a funny, joyful story of a young boy’s journey to growing up and finding God by experiencing a miracle along the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781664292260

Pamela Blackmore Collins

Pamela Blackmore Collins is a retired marriage and family therapist, specializing in work with children and families. Born and raised in the south and a Christian household, she’s had a life-long love for the gospel. This is her first book, a result of God’s command to use her talent, her father’s fictional character from childhood, and her love of children to help them learn of God and his love. Pamela lives in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Pamela Blackmore Collins.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9225-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9226-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023902871

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/15/2023

Contents

Chapter 1 A Pickle of a Mess!

Chapter 2 Half a Kid

Chapter 3 No Surprise Birthday Gift, Please!

Chapter 4 D-Day!

Chapter 5 Piece of Cake

Chapter 6 Big Trouble on Day Six

Chapter 7 Best Laid Plans

Chapter 8 Is God in on This?

Chapter 9 Goodbye Slick

Chapter 10 Best Surprise Birthday Gift Ever

Chapter 11 Growing Up Isn’t Too Bad

About the Author

25756.png

CHAPTER 1

A Pickle of a Mess!

I pushed it over, and it did a belly flop in my bathtub full of water. It was splashing wildly, getting me and the floor soaking wet. I think that means it loves it. Silly thought—of course it loves water.

How did you get here? I asked.

Did I really expect it to answer me? Maybe. It appeared out of nowhere, so why wouldn’t it talk? How could this have happened to me? How did I end up in this pickle of a mess? Well, here’s how it all started.

I was excited about my birthday coming up, but I didn’t need any reminders that I was getting older. You see, I didn’t want to be a grown-up, simple as that. My teacher, Mrs. Thornton, loved the you’re-getting-older stuff. She made us pick two traits to describe ourselves off a list she gave us. These assignments were unnecessary. We were only in the third grade, and we didn’t think about traits. Trains we thought about. Traits? No thoughts. Nada.

She meant well, but it was the last assignment before recess.

I lived for recess. It was like when I smelled my mom cooking a dinner I loved (spaghetti was my favorite) and I got so hungry I couldn’t think of anything else. The clock was my smell for recess. I had to give her something, so I looked at my cheat sheet and blurted out that I was trustworthy and reliable. Lucky for me, the bell rang and class was over. No having to explain my answers—yay.

I couldn’t wait to see Lucas, my best friend and fellow Secret Recess Club member. We were the only two members, and that’s how we liked it. No snoopy kids getting mad or tattling or acting goofy. Definitely no girls.

We also didn’t let bullies like Nate, who was in my class, in our club. He was my never-in-a-million-years friend. No one liked him, except for the other bullies. Today was about the most important topic: my birthday.