Zippity sunbeam, it’s springtime! We must absolutely wake up and smell the tulips and the daffodils! Here’s some other things we must do.

1. Have a wheelie good time! The absolutely first thing we have to do is put on our sneakers, hop on our scooters, and ride all the way to Paris to eat a chocolate croissant. Or we ride on to Jakarta and eat lapis legit. And we must visit the cherry blossoms in Japan.

2. Drink strawberry smoothies. Riding a scooter around the world makes you thirsty. That’s why we must make ourselves a strawberry smoothie or seven.

3. Stretch ourselves and jump rope 10 times on one leg. Our manny, George, can jump rope while whistling “God Save the Queen.” Here’s the thing of it. George would absolutely save the Queen of England because he loves her as much as he loves tea and biscuits.

4. Lay in the grass and look at the clouds. George says that this is how he stays sane.

5. Put on our sun visors and take our dolls and dogs for a walk through the wild.

6. Run into a friendly monster and talk about forks and General Motors because monsters like to chit-chat.

7. Put on a parade. We decorate our bikes and zap around the block to show everybody our fancy floats. We decorate Wally too because he loves flowers in his fur.

8. Blow some bubbles. First, George takes 1/2 cup dishwashing liquid, 2 cups water, and 2 teaspoons sugar and puts it in a bucket. Then, we use our bubble wands to make 10,000 bubbles, or we make one giant bubble and try to catch George in it!

9. Turn a cardboard box into the HMS Frederick & Sophie and go fish. Mudskipper Otto always comes with us because he likes to sail.

10. Make as much noise as possible on our piano. We make our own spring songs. They’re about frogs, kites, and rainbows.

11. Do a springtime dance. First you must hop like a bunny, then fly like a bird, spray like a sprinkler, and sway like a flower!

12. Go to the park to have a pirate picnic. Crepes make great snacks. They also make good sleeping masks. When there is a wedding in the park, we usually stay for the reception. 

13. Visit the Zoo and ask Mr. and Mrs. Giraffe for the daily weather report. 

14. Turn off the lights and sleep in a teepee. Please don’t disturb. We must sleep immediately. Tomorrow it’s springtime again! 

Isn’t springtime absolutely terribly exciting?

Frederick & Sophie

Top Illustration: Maya E Shakur for FREDERICK & SOPHIE / Illustration Styling: Priscilla Obermeier