Eric Cakebread the Toy Poodle Boy was top of the class and he always helped the other children when they didn’t understand something. Whenever his sister Melinda saw that, she always wished that she could teach everybody something too. But Melinda was very shy and was afraid to speak in front of everyone.
“I wish I was more like Eric”,
she thought.

“You’re very good at teaching people things”,
said Freya the Chocolate Rabbit girl one day.
“I like to learn too”,
replied Eric.
“Why don’t you all teach me something?”
“Let’s play school, then”,
said Ralph the Walnut Squirrel boy.
“We’ll all teach the things we’re best at.”
“I’ll teach a lesson about flowers”,
said Freya the Chocolate Rabbit girl.
“I’ll be the tree climbing teacher!”
said Ralph.

But Melinda couldn’t think of anything to teach at all. She asked her mother for ideas.
“You’ve been practicing baking cakes”,
said Melinda's mother.
“Why don’t you teach that?”
“I can’t”, said Melinda.
“I can’t bake a cake on my own yet.”
“Yes, you can”, said her mother.
“You’ll be able to bake a wonderful cake.”

Melinda thought about that for a while. She thought and thought about what kind of cake she could make. At last she had an idea! When it was Melinda’s turn to teach the other children, she and her mother went out in the morning to buy ingredients and pick wild strawberries in the forest. When they got home, Melinda began to mix flour and milk in a bowl.

And then the big moment arrived. The other children came to Melinda’s house.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Cakebread!”
they said.
When the children went inside they could smell something delicious. On the table were big stacks of pancakes surrounded by fruit and chocolate, cream and nuts.

“Good morning, class!”
said Melinda.
“Today you will learn how to make pancake toppings. I can’t bake a cake on my own yet, but I’m good at making pancakes.”
“Oooooh!”
said Saffron the Walnut Squirrel girl, who loved to eat.
“They look yummy!”
“I can’t wait to try this!”
said Freya.

The other children listened eagerly as Melinda taught them how to arrange the toppings so that they would not only taste good but look pretty too. Freya put wild strawberries and cream on hers. Saffron put apples and chocolate on his.
“This is so much fun!”
said Tiffany the Silk Cat girl.
“Thank you for teaching us this, Melinda!”
said Freya.
“Can you teach us how to bake when you learn how?”
asked Saffron.
“Sure!” said Melinda shyly.
She was very happy. At last she had taught something of her very own.

THE END