Tania's Costume Party
Tania had just received an invitation. It was for her friend Karishma's birthday party. But this wasn't just any ordinary party. It was a costume party!
Tania asked "Mama, what is a costume party?"
Mama replied "You have to wear a costume to a costume party. You can dress up as a fictional character like Noddy. Or you can dress up as person belonging to a certain profession, like a doctor or a fireman. Or you can go as a fruit or vegetable like a banana, or as an animal like a cat. You can choose whatever you like, as long as you can make yourself look like it."
"Oh! So what should I dress up as?"
"You should think about what you want to go as. Let me know once you decide, and we will figure out how to make the costume together."
"I can dress up as whatever I feel like?" asked Tania.
"Yes. I will try my best to figure out a way to make the costume. You can help me. It will be fun."
The next day Tania was at the playground with her friends Tanisha and Sonali. They were discussing the costume party. Sonali said "I am going to go as a doctor. My papa is a doctor, and I want to be a doctor when I grow up. Papa said I can carry a real stethoscope. He has an extra one. I promised to be very careful with it."
Tanisha said, "My mama said I should go as a bookworm. I love o read, so she thinks it is a cute idea. She is making the costume for me."
Sonali asked "Tania what are you going as?"
Tania said "I have not decided yet. Mama said I can go as anything I like. I love animals, but I can't decide which one I want to go as. Eagles are so majestic, and they fly. So I feel like going as an eagle. But a lion is the king of the forest, and it belongs to the cat family like Kazoo. I can't decide between an eagle and a lion."
That night at dinner Tania told mama of her predicament. She asked mama what she thought would be a better idea: an eagle or a lion? Mama said "I can help you with either costume, but you have to decide which one you want." Tania kept oscillating between the two choices.
Meanwhile, Tanisha's mother was making great progress with her costume. She made a worm by stuffing a sock with paper. She drew bespectacled eyes, a nose and a mouth with permanent markers. Spectacles are a must have accessory for a book worm. She attached the sock worm to a hair-band so Tanisha could wear it on her head.
Tanisha showed it to Tania. Tanisha's mother was also stringing together a garland of
books, pamphlets and magazines for her to wear around her neck. Tania thought to herself, "I better hurry up and decide what I want to go as."
The next day mama gave Tania a book about legendary mythical creatures. Mama hoped the book would help Tania decide what costume she should wear. Tania curiously opened the book and started reading. There were lovely pictures of dragons, mermaids, unicorns, griffins and sphinxes. There was also a brief description of each creature and some information about the origin of the myth. Tania was soon absorbed in the book. By dinner time she had finished reading it.
At dinner, Tania said "Mama, I know why you gave me the book. I know what costume I want to wear. I want to go as a griffin. That way I get to be an eagle and a lion at the same time. Is it a difficult costume to make?"
Mama grinned. "You are very sharp Tania. We can make the costume. You can wear your
brown corduroy pants and white t-shirt. We can make a lions tail with long strands of wool and hang it from the back belt loop of your pants. We can draw paws on chart paper and stick them with tape over your shoes. I can make you an eagle mask and some cardboard eagle wings. How does that sound?"
"That sounds awesome mama. You are the best. I love you. Thank you for the book. I really liked it. I love animals, but these mythical creatures are really amazing. A griffin is so regal. Can we learn more about griffins tonight? I want to know more about what I am going as. The book also gave me lots of costume ideas for future parties. Next time

I can be a mermaid."
Having figured out what costume to wear, Tania skipped off to play with Kazoo. Mama groaned, "Oh no! Maybe giving Tania that book wasn't one of my better ideas. Most of those costumes are a lot of work. I hope she doesn't get invited to too many costume parties."
