Emily Jenkins: Lemonade in Winter

John-John cartwheels while Ms. Gordon buys three lemon-limeades.

Devon makes a sour face, but Derek drinks all of his.

“Remember, fifty cents, that’s two quarters,” Pauline tells John-John. “So three drinks is six quarters, and that’s a dollar fifty.” The money goes in the green plastic box.

But after that, the empty street.

Pauline thinks.

“Maybe we need to have a sale.”

Aidan strolls up, arm in arm with Heather.

“Can I buy you a lemonade, gorgeous?” he asks her.

“Limeade,” she says. “And yes, you can.”

Aidan pays.

Heather kisses him.

“Twenty-five cents a cup now,” Pauline tells John-John.

The money goes in the green plastic box.

But after that, the empty street.

Pauline thinks.

“Maybe we need decorations.”

Rosa from the nail salon peeks out the door. Then she calls her friends.

Five manicurists cross the street in puffy coats.

“Two limeades, two lemon, one lemon-lime, please,” says Rosa.

“Five cups is five quarters, and that’s a dollar twenty-five,” Pauline tells John-John.

The money goes in the green plastic box.

Rosa calls over her shoulder as she heads back to her shop. “You kids are crazy. You know that, right?”

At last, empty pitchers.

Pauline tips the green plastic box and pours their quarters onto the table.

Eleven cups sold.

Five cups for fifty cents is ten quarters.

Six cups for twenty-five cents is six quarters.

“Ten plus six is sixteen quarters, and that’s four dollars,” Pauline tells John-John.

Then she begins to cry.

“Why are you sad?” John-John asks.

“We have sixteen quarters now,” Pauline sniffs, “but we spent twenty-four.”

“Sixteen is money!” says John-John.

“We didn’t make money,” she tells him.

“We lost it.”

“But look at all these quarters!” he shouts.

“Fewer than we had before,” says Pauline.

John-John thinks.

“Will sixteen quarters buy two Popsicles?”

Popsicles!

Two dollars each.

One lemon, one lime.

Sixteen quarters, and that’s four dollars.

One brother, one sister.

One mean wind in winter.

One lemonade stand, now closed for business.

EMILY JENKINS is the author of the popular Toys trilogy: Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party , and Toys Come Home, which Booklist , in a starred review, called “a timeless story of adventure and friendship to treasure aloud or independently.” She has written numerous other books for children, including the picture book Sugar Would Not Eat It and two Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Books: Five Creatures and That New Animal . Learn more and find resources for teachers at emilyjenkins.com.

G. BRIAN KARAS is the prolific and award-winning illustrator of many books for children, including Neville by Norton Juster and Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming. His other books include How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara and Are You Going to Be Good? by Cari Best, which was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. He is also the author and illustrator of Home on the Bayou , a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner. Mr. Karas lives in Rhinebeck, New York. You can visit him at gbriankaras.com.