Susie And Her Banjo

by

Susie Monick

Susie And Her Banjo

Written and Illustratedby

Susie Monick©2012

Susie And Her Banjo

The clay figure of Susie Banjocreated by the artist

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Susie.

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She was named Susie after a famous song called“Wake Up Little Susie” by the Everly Brothers in the 1950’s.

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People said “Wake up little Susie” to her all the timeand she was afraid to go to sleep.

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She lived in New Jersey, but her parents put her on a busand sent her to New York City for ballet lessons.

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Susie loved ballet lessons.The class was in an old building withan old woman playing the piano,and an old Ballet Master.

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When she grew up, Susie dreamed of dancing the lead in Swan Lake.

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One day, as she was walking to the ballet class,she passed a man playing the banjo on a street corner.He had a top hat, a bow tie, and the largest grin fromhere to New Jersey.

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Susie had seen musical instruments in thesymphony, but she had never seen a banjo.

She asked her mother, “Can I have a banjo?”

“No, Susie, little girls don’t play banjos or drums.That kind of music is for boys.”

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Susie stayed awake all nightdreaming about the banjo.She wanted one so much.

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She tried to make a banjo with a tin foil pie plateattached to a ruler with rubber bands for strings.

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She tried to make a banjo with the big round clock on the wall.

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A tambourine and a broomstickcan be a banjo.

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She would pretend to play her home-madebanjo and look at herself in the mirror.

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She did anything she could to earn money

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doing yard work18

selling lilacs picked from her backyard.19

baby sitting

setting up a lemonade stand

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walking her neighbor’s dog

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She went to the street corner where the man played his banjo.

Where can I buy a banjo?

She had saved twenty-five dollars.

“If you go down the street, there’s a Pawn Shop that might have a used banjo.”

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So she went to a Pawn Shop.

Hanging among the guitars and mandolins, she saw a bright shiny banjo!!!

It had 5 strings on it.

She had just enough money.She was so excited. 23

She went back to the street cornerwhere the old black man playedand she watched him as much as she could.

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She would go home and practice and practice.Her cat would listen and did not howl.

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Susie had seen banjo players on television. The Beverly Hillbillies The Andy Griffith Show Hee Haw

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She went to the library and found a book byEarl Scruggs on “How To Play The Banjo”

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She practiced and practiced and practiced some more

“Oh Susannah, don’t you cry for me”

“I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee”

strum strum strum pluck pluck pluck plink plink plink bum-tiddy-bum-tiddy-bum

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Susie dreamed that she would playbanjo in a bluegrass band.

She would be wearing her pink cowgirl boots29

...maybe play on the stage of the ...Ryman Auditorium

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...Carnegie Hall ...travel to Europe

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That night, Susie went to sleep and had a wonderful dream.

She was playing her banjo so fast and she was so happy.

She played Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

“Wake up little Susie”

She sat up in bed and saw her banjo from across the room.

Dreams do come true.

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Susie and Her Banjo

Susie Monick is a banjo, mandolin, and accordion player. She also creates clay figurines, reliefs, and watercolors. Susie lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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