Dream Street

Question 1

Just ask the people who live here.

Question 2

The houses and the dreams inside are different as thumbprints.

Question 3

The sidewalks are wide enough for huge chalk drawings and giant hopscotch boards.

Question 4

Children from all over the neighborhood come to play until the streetlights go on.

Question 5

He’s thinking about how their mom always says, “Don’t leave the house without your crown.”

Question 6

Each morning, unless it’s raining, Mr. Sidney reads the newspaper on his stoop, dressed “to the nines,” Ms. Sarah likes to say.

Question 7

Fancy, fancy!

Question 8

He tips his big brown fedora and greets everyone with, “Don’t wait to have a great day. Create one!”

Question 9

“Everything has a right to be free,” she says.

Question 10

“And every butterfly is different.”

Question 11

She says there’s a special name for it: a lepidopterist.

Question 12

That girl can really jump some rope!

Question 13

She can do Double Dutch on one leg at a time.

Question 14

She can turn around and touch the ground.

Question 15

She can jump by herself with two ropes.

Question 16

When she flies down the street, swinging her rope, she lifts her long brown legs as high as the sun.

Question 17

Her voice is only a whisper, but there are stories between the lines of her face that she’ll share when you come close.

Question 18

While other kids talk or laugh, he tells them “Shhh!” because doesn’t everyone know you are supposed to be quiet in there?

Question 19

I have a feeling this is your cup of tea.

Question 20

Can boys be librarians?

Question 21

He flashes a bright smile and continues his journey through the pages of the next book.

Question 22

In her notebook she scribbles down the things she hears when they don’t know she’s listening.

Question 23

Meanwhile, her cousin, Tari, pays attention when new folks come around so she can make up stories about them.

Question 24

Ede lives at the top of the hill and searches for treasures that others throw away.

Question 25

Those boys are more than a handful, some say, but the brothers know not to act up or show out.

Question 26

On Sundays before church, their daddy, Mr. Phillips, lines them up on the front porch for inspection, from hats down to shined shoes.

Question 27

Uh-oh, looks like little Duke forgot his bow tie!

Question 28

Her magnolia trees smell like milk and honey and make your eyes feel heavy, as if they want to close.

Question 29

Sometimes she and her grandbaby, Little Song, fall asleep together.

Question 30

Now she teaches African dance at the rec center, her head wrapped round and round with bright fabric until it’s high as a pyramid.

Question 31

Her feet move lightning fast, slap, slap, slapping and tap, tap, tapping the floor, keeping pace with the drummer’s hands.

Question 32

You might get dizzy if you stare too long.

Question 33

Sometimes when the rhythm takes hold, her wrap unravels and falls to the ground.

Question 34

She never stops moving, even as she stoops down to pick it up.

Question 35

He might miss something important.

Question 36

He hugs his teddy bear, Tyler, who isn’t ready for sleep either.

Question 37

Instead, they count the stars that sparkle through the bedroom window and listen to laughter outside from the big kids who don’t have to go to bed yet.

Question 38

There is no need to worry or to rush.

Question 39

They take their time, growing and playing, learning and living, and soaring skyward toward all the adventures that await them.