The Downing Farm

Synopsis: Mr. and Mrs. Downing raise geese on their farm; so many geese you wouldn't believe your eyes, geese here, geese there, honking, noisy geese everywhere. All of the geese families looked forward to the spectacular "Shake Your Feathers Contest," held at the end of the summer inside the big red barn. Every family wanted an opportunity to win the beautiful blue ribbon trimmed in gold. Each participating family enters the barn to shake off all their feathers, the family with the largest pile of feathers wins the beautiful blue ribbon.Eleanor, the newest member of the Downing Farm, a quiet little goose, unlike all the other goose mothers, had only one egg in her nest. The other geese would tease her, especially Mean Melvora, who just happened to have the largest number of eggs, would say, "We don't have to worry about you on contest day." Eleanor ignored their teasing because she knew her one little egg was very special. The eggs hatched and every goose mother paraded their family proudly, around the farm yard, including Eleanor with her son Martin, reminding how special he is. Time passed and soon it was contest day.Autobiography: Sharen Baylor Scott is a retired teacher, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1975, she married and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she raised her two children. She worked for private agencies, as well as the Chicago Public Schools Head Start programs, as a teacher, coach, and parent educator for more than 25 years. Ms Scott still resides in Chicago, Illinois.