麻豆约拍

Read by Simon Trinder聽

One wet Saturday morning, Samuel was helping Mum tidy up. He鈥檇 put all his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, his books were stacked on the shelves and his toys were back in boxes. Samuel smiled to himself. His bedroom looked so tidy.

鈥淚鈥檝e found these old photos鈥�, said his Mum. 鈥淐ould you put them in that drawer, please?鈥�

Samuel looked through the photographs. They were all of a younger him as a baby or as a toddler; with Mum, with Grandpa, and with his big brother, Christopher.聽聽

鈥淎aah, look at my little boy鈥�, cooed his Mum. 鈥淎lways smiling. You were the happiest baby ever!鈥�

鈥淗appier than Christopher?鈥� Samuel asked.

鈥淥h yes, Christopher was just the opposite. He was always crying鈥�, said his Mum.

That really made Samuel smile. His brother was four years older and seemed much better at everything.聽 He was taller, scored more goals at football, read bigger books and did harder numeracy.

鈥淚 smiled more than my brother鈥�, he sang. 鈥淗ooray!鈥�

There was a photo of Samuel on a swing with Grandpa.

鈥淚sn鈥檛 Grandpa鈥檚 favourite song about smiling?鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat one he always sings in the bath.鈥�

鈥淵es, that鈥檚 right,鈥� laughed his Mum. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e smiling, the whole world smiles with you.鈥�

鈥淲ow, imagine the whole world smiling!鈥� said Samuel. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of people showing their teeth!鈥�

He grinned. There was a big gap at the top of his mouth where two grown-up front teeth would soon be.

When it stopped raining, Samuel and his Mum went shopping. The high street was busy with lots of people. Some of them were familiar faces, like the lady at the greengrocer stall and the man in the pet shop where Samuel bought rabbit food. But as he walked along holding Mum鈥檚 hand he practised smiling at everybody, whether he knew them or not, to see if the words of Grandpa鈥檚 favourite song were true. If he looked at someone and didn鈥檛 smile, that person looked away or straight through him as if he wasn鈥檛 there. But if he smiled at somebody, a really big, friendly smile, then they smiled back. People seemed to catch a smile like they catch a cold, but smiles are much nicer to spread around than horrible germs.

鈥淗uh! You look so happy鈥�, said the man in the caf茅 that served the best ice cream in town. 鈥淵ou can have an extra scoop for that lovely smile.鈥�

鈥淥ooh I must say,鈥� said the lady at the supermarket check-out to Mum, 鈥測our son has the best smile in the world. It鈥檚 made my day.鈥�

Now Samuel didn鈥檛 have to practise smiling. He did it without realising. Knowing that you got a bigger ice cream or it helped make someone鈥檚 day - well that brought a smile naturally.

On Monday morning, he grinned and beamed all the way to school. Mrs Rogers had just taken the register when the classroom door opened and in stepped the Headteacher with a girl Samuel didn鈥檛 recognise. He thought she looked nervous.

鈥淓h, Class 2R, this is Hiroko. It鈥檚 her first day at our school. Her family have moved all the way from Japan鈥�, said the Headteacher.聽 鈥淚 want you all to be very friendly and give her a warm hello.鈥�

Mrs Rogers said: 鈥淥h, hello Hiroko. I hope you鈥檒l be very happy in Class 2R. Who do you think you鈥檇 like to sit next to?鈥�

Lots of the class put up their hands. So did Samuel. But he did something else too. As Hiroko looked around the classroom of unfamiliar faces with their hands in the air, she noticed one boy sitting towards the back. She鈥檇 thought she would choose one of the girls. They looked friendly enough. But there was something about this boy and the way he was smiling at her. It was the biggest, friendliest smile she had seen since she had arrived in this new country. Shyly, Hiroko pointed to him.

鈥淥h, that鈥檚 Samuel,鈥� said Mrs Rogers.

Hiroko sat down and smiled back at Samuel. She pointed to the big gap at the top of her mouth where two grown-up front teeth would soon be. Now they weren鈥檛 smiling: the new friends were laughing.

Samuel's Smile was written by Jeff Caple