The stars were still out when Grandpa came in.
“Get up now, Jalen. The good ones begin
Before the sun does.” He poured out the tea.
The cat was asleep, and so, nearly, was he.
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Fishing with Grandpa
A Ten-Page Story to Read and Color
Ages 4–9 · Black Coloring Books
Ages 4–9 · Patience · Family · Legacy
Fishing with Grandpa
A Ten-Page Story to Read and Color
Grandpa Otis wakes Jalen while the stars are still out, and the two of them drive the old truck down to Pickett Lake. The line tangles. The fish don't bite. The morning drags. Then Grandpa opens his wallet and shows Jalen a photograph of the man who taught *him* — and the rod bends double. Ten rhyming pages, ten detailed line drawings, and one lesson every fisherman's grandchild learns the slow way: the waiting is the part you remember.
- Story spine
- Before sunrise · The tangle · The long wait · The photograph · The big one
- Who you're coloring
- Jalen Carter, eight years old, deep brown skin, short twists, a floppy bucket hat two sizes big, rolled jeans and green rubber boots. Grandpa Otis wears a flat cap, wire glasses, a short gray beard, suspenders and work boots, and he never goes anywhere without his dented silver thermos.
14 pages · 8.5 × 11 PDF · cover, story pages and a blank plaque to finish
Read it first — free
All ten pages
They loaded two rods and the tackle and ice,
The thermos passed over — Jalen handed it twice.
The truck door went WHUMP and the crescent hung low.
“Boots on?” asked his grandpa. “Boots on. Let's go.”
2
Down at the lake there was mist on the wood,
And a heron stood still in the way herons should.
The boards made a knock under two pairs of feet.
The whole world was quiet. The quiet was sweet.
3
“Now watch,” said his grandpa, and held up a worm.
It wiggled. It curled. It began to squirm.
Jalen made a face like he'd bitten a lime.
“You'll get used to it, baby. It just takes time.”
4
His very first cast went entirely wrong —
A nest full of loops about three feet long.
His ears went hot red and he stared at his shoes.
Grandpa just laughed. “Boy, that's mine when I lose.”
5
Then nothing. And nothing. The bobber sat still.
A turtle climbed up on a log by the hill.
Jalen flopped on the boards with a groan and a sigh.
“There's nothing down there.” “There is. Let it by.”
6
Grandpa took out his wallet, cracked open and thin,
And showed him a picture: a man with his chin
Held high by a fish. “That's who taught me to wait.
He sat where you're sitting. He said I'd be great.”
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And then — the rod bucked! And it bent like a bow!
“HOLD ON!” hollered Grandpa. “FEET WIDE! DON'T LET GO!”
The line cut the water. The bucket went flying.
His arms burned like fire and he kept on trying.
8
Up came a catfish as long as his arm,
With whiskers and armor and terrible charm.
They counted the spots. Then they let the thing be.
It slid off his hands and went home to the deep.
9
Going home, Jalen slept on his grandfather's arm,
Hat over his eyes, rolling past every farm.
One day he'll take somebody small to that lake.
— Now draw YOUR big one. Draw the one you will take.
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