Friday, September 7, 2012

The Story of The Magic Geranium

I remember reading this story in grade school. It's why I named the blog, "The Magic Geranium."
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Mrs. Smith lived in a drab little house with a drab little yard in the middle of a nice little street. Her house was the drabbest in the neighborhood, but she did not know what to do about it. One day, her friend Mrs. Allen came by with a geranium in a pot. "This is a magic geranium," Mrs. Allen said. "It will make your whole house beautiful."

So Mrs. Smith put the magic geranium on the drab little table in her drab little kitchen. The geranium was so bright, Mrs. Smith thought it was a shame it was on such a drab little table. "I'll paint the table, so the geranium has a nice place to rest." So she went to the paint store and bought some bright yellow paint.

Once the table was painted a nice bright yellow, Mrs. Smith looked at it and said, "It's a shame that the chairs look so drab next to the table. I'll paint them, too." So she painted the chairs a nice bright red. When she was finished she stepped back and looked at what she had done. "My table and chairs are so bright, it's a shame they're in this drab kitchen." So back to the paint store she went, and painted her kitchen a nice bright color, and bought nice bright curtains to hang in the windows.

The kitchen was so pretty, Mrs. Smith said, "The kitchen is so nice and bright, but the dining room is so drab next to it." So back to the paint store she went and painted the dining room. When she was done she looked at the dining room and said, "The dining room is so nice and bright, but the living room is so drab next to it."

Pretty soon, Mrs. Smith had painted all the rooms in her house a nice bright color. When she was finished, she said, "It's a shame that the inside of my house is so pretty, but the house is drab. That' s not right." So she painted the house a nice bright color. When she was done, she looked at what she had done and said, "Now the house is nice and bright, it's a shame the yard is so drab." So she planted pretty flowers in her yard and soon had the nicest house in the neighborhood.

Mrs. Allen came back for a visit and was amazed at the changes. "You've done a great job making your house so nice," she said.

"I didn't do anything," Mrs. Smith said. "The magic geranium you gave me made my house beautiful."


17 comments:

  1. have you ever found this story book. I LOVED this story when I was young and think of it often. Was it in a book with a collection of stories? or on its own???

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  2. This is one of my all-time favorite stories, which I remember reading in a little book of stories when I was in grade school. Would give anything to recall the name of the book & get a copy of it. I have thought of this story and used it as inspiration many, many times in my life.

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    1. Me too. But in the story I read she made a lovely meal and made her family clean up for dinner!! I love this story and it has motivated me many times in my 72 years of life to take good care of everything. Would love a copy of the whole story!! I think I read it when I was in third grade and was sick with measels.

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  3. "Read Aloud Funny Stories" is the name of the book, by Jane Thayer.
    This little story, read as a small child, changed my life and made me realize that I could do one small thing to make my life better, and then one more small thing, and another. . .

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    1. OMG - I have been looking for this book forever..Thank you - able to purchase from Amazon!

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    2. That is exactly the beautiful message, but when I read it as a 5 year old, I truly believed the plant had magic. It was one of my favourites.

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  4. Me too, Lilly! My parent's friends gave me this book when I was 9 and I remember this story (and several others in the book) to this day. I found a used copy of this book several years ago on ebay and I treasure it.

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  5. I also remember reading this story over and over. I have often thought of it as well, and am glad to have the name of the book and author. I hope the author had some idea how she inspired so many children with this story.

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  6. I still have the book from my childhood. It's pretty ratty. I wonder if a magic geranium would help it?

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  7. I've been searching for this book on and off for years. I too read it in grammar school, or should I say the teacher read it to the class. I loved this. Where can I buy it? Any ideas? I see it isn't on amazon. Thanks for posting this.

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    1. Oh, I see! It is contained in a book of stories called: Read aloud funny stories by Jane Thayer https://maryloudriedger2.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/the-magic-geranium/

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  8. My mother read this story to me as a child and I always remembered it.

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    1. Me too. Fifty years later I still remember it and use it as a background reminder of the beauty that can happen with one small step.

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  9. It was first published in American Junior Cross Magazine in the 1950s, then included in a compilation by Thayer as Read Aloud Funny Stories

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  10. I’ve been looking fir this story forever. Read it as a child and was trying to explain it to my son as we renovate my childhood home…

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