Copycat Casey

Casey woke up one Tuesday morning and stretched her arms way up high. Her little brother Tommy stretched his arms way up high too. "Stop copying me!" Casey laughed. She hopped on one foot to the kitchen. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Tommy hopped behind her on one foot! At breakfast, Casey took a big bite of toast. CRUNCH! Mom and Dad took big bites of toast too! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! "Why is everyone copying me?" Casey giggled. She wiggled her nose. Everyone wiggled their noses! She stuck out her tongue. Everyone stuck out their tongues! This was weird! Casey thought about it all the way to school. Was this really happening? She had to find out! At school, Casey decided to test it. She walked into her classroom backwards. Step, step, step! All her classmates walked backwards too! Her teacher, Miss Apple, walked backwards! Even the class hamster ran backwards in his wheel! "Whoa!" said Casey. "What is happening?!" During art time, Casey painted with her LEFT hand even though she was right-handed. Everyone switched to their left hands! At recess, Casey did a silly dance - she wiggled her hips, waved her arms, and spun in circles! All the kids on the playground did the same silly dance! By the end of the day, Casey knew for sure. Everyone WAS copying her! And she had an idea... After school, Casey made a video of herself doing her silliest dance ever! She spun around! She hopped like a bunny! She waved her hands like an octopus! She made the funniest faces! Her mom helped her press the big button. WHOOSH! The video went out into the world! The next morning, something INCREDIBLE happened. Casey looked out her window and gasped. EVERYONE in the whole town was doing her silly dance! The mailman danced down the street! HOP! SPIN! WAVE! The shopkeeper danced in front of his store! WIGGLE! WIGGLE! People in cars were dancing in their seats! BEEP! BEEP! went the horns! Even the dogs were trying to dance! WOOF! WOOF! "I'm FAMOUS!" cheered Casey. "Everyone loves my dance!" She ran outside and did her dance even sillier. The whole town copied her - even sillier! Casey walked on her tiptoes. Everyone tiptoed! Casey spoke in a squeaky voice. Everyone squeaked! Casey wore her shirt inside-out. Everyone flipped their shirts! This was the BEST day ever! But then Casey wanted to play on the swings. She sat on a swing and started pumping her legs. Everyone sat on swings and pumped their legs too. "Does anyone want to play tag?" Casey asked. "Does anyone want to play tag?" everyone repeated. Casey frowned. Nobody could play WITH her if they all just copied her! She looked at her best friend Emma, who was copying every move. Emma looked... sad. The whole town looked boring with everyone doing the same thing. Casey missed when Tommy did his funny dinosaur walk. She missed when Emma made up silly songs. She missed when her dad told goofy jokes. Casey stood up tall and shouted as loud as she could: "STOP COPYING! Everyone should be THEMSELVES!" She crossed her arms and stood perfectly still. She didn't move. Not even a wiggle. Slowly, something magical happened. Tommy started doing his dinosaur walk! STOMP! STOMP! ROAR! Emma started singing her own made-up song! The mailman stopped dancing and went back to delivering mail - but he whistled his own tune! Everyone in town started doing their own special things again! "Emma!" Casey jumped up. "Do YOUR silly dance!" Emma grinned and did a dance with jumps and twirls - totally different from Casey's! It was WONDERFUL! Casey learned something important that day. Everyone being exactly the same was boring. But everyone being DIFFERENT - doing their own dances, making their own choices, being their own special selves? THAT was way more FUN! The End.

About Copycat Casey

The Ticklish Tree Meaning & Lessons

Being Yourself Is What Makes You Special: Casey thought it was fun when everyone copied her, but then she realized something important - Emma's silly songs, Tommy's dinosaur walk, and Dad's goofy jokes are what made them THEM! When everyone did the exact same thing, it was boring. The special things that make YOU different - the way you laugh, the games you like, the ideas you have - that's what makes you amazing and interesting!

We Need Everyone to Be Different: When everyone copied Casey, nobody could play WITH her anymore. They couldn't chase her in tag or do their own dances. Life is better when people are different because then we can share ideas, play together, and learn from each other! Imagine if everyone liked the same foods, played the same games, and told the same jokes - how boring would that be?

It's Okay to Not Follow the Crowd: Just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean you have to do it too! Emma looked sad when she couldn't do her own dance. Casey learned that the bravest thing is to be yourself, even if it's different from what everyone else is doing. You don't have to copy others to be cool - being YOU is the coolest thing of all!

󠁧󠁢Did You Know?: Did you know that baby animals actually DO copy their parents to learn important things? Baby monkeys watch their moms to learn how to peel bananas. Baby birds copy their parents' songs - that's how they learn to sing! Even human babies learn by copying - when you were tiny, you learned to wave bye-bye and clap your hands by watching grown-ups do it first. Copying can be a great way to LEARN new things, but the coolest part is when you grow up and add your own special twist! That's how baby birds eventually create their own unique songs, and how you develop your own personality and interests. So copying to learn is good, but being yourself is even better! How's this?