https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-aceEquCtY&t=29s
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brought to you by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. I'm Allison Janney and today I will be reading "Carla's Sandwich" Written by Debbie Herman and Illustrated by Sheila Bailey Carla brought weird sandwiches to school. He was sitting next to Carla at lunch one Monday. "EEEW! What are you eating?" Buster asked. "It's all green and slimy!" "It's an olive, pickle and green bean sandwich," said Carla. Would you like some? I brought extra." "No way!" said Buster, pinching his nose. "It's not gross," said Carla. "It's different. I like to be different." "It's not different," said Buster. "It's gross." And he went to sit next to Leslie instead. On Tuesday Carla's sandwich was long with something yellow and white oozing out the sides "What in the world is that?" asked Leslie. "It's my Banana-Cottage-Cheese Delight," said Carla, "on a tasty toasted baguette." "Bananas and cottage cheese?" asked Leslie, sticking out her tongue. "It's not disgusting," said Carla. "It's creative." "It's disgusting," said Leslie, and she went to sit next to Natie instead. Carla's sandwich was orange and brown and lumpy. It crunched when she bit into it. "Ugh!" said Natie, who was sitting next to her now. "I call it Carla's Crunch," said Carla. "It's peanut butter, crackers and cheddar cheese in a lovely pita bread. I brought extra. Would you like some?" "No way!" said Natie, scrunching his face. "It's not sick," said Carla. "It's unique." And he went to sit next to Marcus instead. On Thursday Carla brought a chopped liver, potato chip and cucumber sandwich. On Friday she brought a sardine and mustard sandwich with sunflower seeds. By Monday, no one wanted to sit next to Carla, At the end of the day, Miss Pimento made an announcement. "Tomorrow we will have a picnic." "Hurray!" everyone shouted. "A picnic! Yippee!" The next day, when the lunch bell rang, the kids ran to get their picnic lunches. "I have peanut butter and jelly," Natie announced to the class. "I have baloney," said Leslie. "Hey Carla, what do you have?" "It's probably a ketchup, spinach and jelly bean sandwich," joked Buster. He and Leslie howled. So did Natie. "Let's have some quiet in here," said Miss Pimento, "or we won't be able to have our picnic." The class was suddenly silent. Then the children followed Miss Pimento, two by two, down the hall out the door and down the block to the park. "All right, everyone," said Miss Pimento. Carla took a bite of her sandwich. "Yuck!" said Buster, pointing at Carla's sandwich. "What is that -- a worm sandwich?" "For your information," said Carla, "It's a lettuce, tomato, raisin, bean sprout, pretzel and mayonnaise sandwich. I call it the Combo Deluxe." "It looks more like a Wormbo Deluxe!" teased Buster. Leslie and Natie burst out laughing. Buster rummaged through this knapsack. "Uh oh," he said quietly. He dumped everything out of his bag. "I can believe it," Bust said sadly. "That's awful," said Leslie, biting into her baloney sandwich. "A real bummer," said Natie, chomping on his peanut butter and jelly. Soon everyone was eating -- everyone except Buster. She looked back at Buster. "You can have one of mine," She offered. "I brought extra." "No thanks," said Buster glumly. "I'm not that desperate." Doris ate her egg salad sandwich and Rufus ate his tuna. Herbert ate his salmon salad sandwich and Barbara ate her turkey. Buster's mouth began to water. Buster look at Carla's sandwich. "Maybe bean sprouts aren't so bad," he thought. "It's really quite delicious," said Carla, catching Buster's glance. Buster quickly turned away. Susan ate her corned beef sandwich and Harris munched his taco. Fabio ate his chicken sandwich and Gordon ate his meatloaf. Buster was growing hungrier by the minute and his stomach growled loudly. "Raisins are kind of fun," he thought, "and who doesn't like pretzels?" Marcus ate his cheese sandwich and Darcy ate her bagel. Buster eyed Carla's sandwich again. "You don't know what you're missing..." Carla sang out. Buster couldn't take it anymore. Everyone was busy eating. "Okay," he whispered to Carla. "Okay, what?" asked Carla. "Okay, can I have one?" he whispered again. "Can you have one what?" asked Carla. Buster blurted impatiently, "Can I please have one of your sandwiches?" Carla smiled and handed Buster a Combo Deluxe. Buster examined the lettuce, tomato, raisin, bean sprout, pretzel and mayonnaise sandwich carefully. He looked at Leslie, then Natie, then Carla. And then he took a very small bite. All eyes were watching as he chewed and swallowed. "Well?" asked Leslie impatiently. Buster didn't say anything. He looked at everyone and took another bite. "I can't believe he's eating it!" said Natie in disgust. "What does it taste like, Buster?" asked Leslie. When the last bite was gone, Buster licked his fingers and smacked his lips. "That was the best sandwich I ever ate!" "It was?" asked Natie in horror. "It was?" asked Leslie in dismay. "It was!" said Buster, smiling at Carla. "I bet you'd all enjoy the Combo Deluxe," said Carla. "Who'd like to try some?" Slowly, Leslie raised her hand. And then Natie raised his. Then Darcy, Susan, Rufus and Fabio. Soon all the kids had their hands in the air. Carla took her last sandwich, broke it into small pieces and handed them out to everyone "Wow!" said Leslie, tasting her piece. I'm going to bring a creative sandwich too," said Leslie. mustard sandwich with baked beans and French fries. What do think of that, Carla?" "Sound good," said Carla. "And it's definitely creative." "I'll bring a spaghetti and soy sauce sandwich," said Buster as he sat down next to Carla. "Yum," said Carla and Leslie together. "I don't know what I'm bringing yet," said Natie, everyone in Miss Pimento's class brought an unusual sandwich to school. There was an asparagus and salad dressing sandwich, a pistachio and tangerine sandwich, and even a pizza sandwich. "What did you bring today, Carla?" "I'm not telling," said Carla. "You'll have to wait until lunch time." The morning seemed to last forever, but finally the lunch bell rang. While Buster was munching away on his spaghetti and soy sauce sandwich, he glanced over at Carla. This time her sandwich was not green. It was not slimy or lumpy and nothing was oozing out the sides. "So, what kind of sandwich is that?" Buster asked. "Yeah, Carla," said Leslie. Natie looked at Carla, waiting for an answer. "Well," said Carla. "Today I have... peanut butter and jelly." "Peanut butter and jelly?" asked Buster in disbelief. "Peanut butter and jelly?" Leslie and Natie asked together. "Peanut butter and jelly," said Carla, biting into her sandwich. "I like to be different." I picked "Carla's Sandwich" because I like the idea of kids learning to celebrate their uniqueness. The things that make you you are you. There's no other person like you in the world and that should be celebrated. I think, at the end of the story, the kids learn to appreciate Carla's uniqueness and I love that part of the story. Thank you for watching Storyline Online. Make sure to check out all of our stories. Keep watching and keep reading.
