ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a nice boy and his name was Gideon. He lived in a nice house, and he had nice parents and lots of toys.

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Lester Underwood
5 years ago
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FLORENCE PARRY HEIDE is the author of a great many acclaimed books, including The Shrinking of Treehorn, which was illustrated by Edward Gorey; Princess Hyacinth, illustrated by Lane Smith; and

He lives with his wife and their two cats in Syracuse, New York. He doesn t think of himself as a hero, but he does take out the trash without asking, and he once saved a little bird s life.

Publishers Weekly, starred review Heide s tale bubbles with effervescence, drawing readers into the fantasy with a lively, conversational text.

Lemony Snicket Well-deserved woe unto adults who do Dillweed wrong!... His parents are off voyaging, and he s poetically jealous: Dillweed liked to go places. He liked to have adventures.

Kirkus Reviews, starred review Jacket illustrations 2016 by Chuck Groenink. Jacket design by Kristine Brogno. Manufactured in China. www.chroniclekids.com $16.99 U.S./ 10.99 U.K. Heide/Groenink HOW TO BE A HERO Words by F LORENCE PARRY HEIDE CHUCK GROENINK Pictures by COPYRIGHTED: ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a nice boy and his name was Gideon.

1 FLORENCE PARRY HEIDE is the author of a great many acclaimed books, including The Shrinking of Treehorn, which was illustrated by Edward Gorey; Princess Hyacinth, illustrated by Lane Smith; and Dillweed s Revenge, illustrated by Carson Ellis. CHUCK GROENINK has illustrated books on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and on one side of the Pacific. He lives with his wife and their two cats in Syracuse, New York. He doesn t think of himself as a hero, but he does take out the trash without asking, and he once saved a little bird s life. PRAISE FOR PRINCESS HYACINTH Heide s prose takes off just when Hyacinth does. Kirkus Reviews, starred review Heide possesses the ability to tell a moralistic tale without a hint of didacticism. Publishers Weekly, starred review Heide s tale bubbles with effervescence, drawing readers into the fantasy with a lively, conversational text. School Library Journal, starred review PRAISE FOR DILLWEED S REVENGE The story is unnerving, the characters are unpleasant, and the artwork is unsettling. I am going to read this book again and again. Lemony Snicket Well-deserved woe unto adults who do Dillweed wrong!... His parents are off voyaging, and he s poetically jealous: Dillweed liked to go places. He liked to have adventures. He liked to have a good time. His parents went places. His parents had adventures. His parents had a good time. The parents. Not Dillweed.... Good, macabre fun. Kirkus Reviews, starred review Jacket illustrations 2016 by Chuck Groenink. Jacket design by Kristine Brogno. Manufactured in China. $16.99 U.S./ U.K. Heide/Groenink HOW TO BE A HERO Words by F LORENCE PARRY HEIDE CHUCK GROENINK Pictures by COPYRIGHTED: ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a nice boy and his name was Gideon. He lived in a nice house, and he had nice parents and lots of toys. But Gideon wasn t satisfied. He wanted to be a hero. You know, a hero, with his name on the front page of the newspaper. That sort of thing. So how does anyone get to be a hero, anyway? You have to be strong. You have to be brave. You have to be clever. Don t you? With wry humor, Florence Parry Heide and Chuck Groenink explore how we choose our idols in a witty story that leaves the real nature of heroism for the reader to choose.

For Florence s readers, past and present, and of course for all the future ones, and for Florence herself, who was a hero to so many from Florence s children For Oma C. G.

2 For Florence s readers, past and present, and of course for all the future ones, and for Florence herself, who was a hero to so many from Florence s children For Oma C. G. Text copyright 2016 by Florence Parry Heide. Illustrations copyright 2016 by Chuck Groenink. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Heide, Florence Parry, author. How to be a hero / by Florence Parry Heide ; illustrated by Chuck Groenink. pages cm Summary: Gideon is a little boy who wants to be a hero and get his picture in the paper but first he has to figure out just what a hero is. ISBN Heroes Juvenile fiction. 2. Fame Juvenile fiction. [1. Heroes Fiction. 2. Fame Fiction.] I. Groenink, Chuck, illustrator. II. Title. PZ7.H36Hr 2016 [E] dc Manufactured in China. Design by Kristine Brogno. Typeset in Old Time American. The illustrations in this book were rendered in pencil and Photoshop Words by Florence Parry Heide Pictures by Chuck Groenink Chronicle Books LLC 680 Second Street San Francisco, California Chronicle Books we see things differently. Become part of our community at

3 ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a nice boy and his name was Gideon. COPYRIGHTED:

4 He lived in a nice house, and he had nice parents and lots of toys. COPYRIGHTED: There. That s enough for anyone.

5 Well, it wasn t enough for Gideon. Gideon wasn t satisfied. He wanted to be a hero. You know, a hero, with his name on the front page of the newspaper. That sort of thing.

6 So how does anyone get to be a hero, anyway? he wondered. COPYRIGHTED: You have to be strong. You have to be brave. You have to be clever. Don t you?

7 Gideon knew many, many stories where someone got to be a hero. He thought about those stories a lot, looking for clues about being a hero. For instance: That one about a princess imprisoned in a tower and she has a weird name like Rapunella and very long hair and this guy sees her and says let down your hair and she does and he climbs up her hair and rescues her so he s a hero.

8 And the story where a witch gives a girl a poisoned apple and when she takes a bite she goes into a deep sleep which is sort of like being dead but not really and nothing will get her awake except a kiss and someone does see her sleeping there and he kisses her and he s a hero, just like that. COPYRIGHTED:

And Gideon thought about the one where someone has a mean stepmother and mean stepsisters and they make her dust and sweep and scrub so she never gets to go to parties but a fairy godmother gives her

9 And Gideon thought about the one where someone has a mean stepmother and mean stepsisters and they make her dust and sweep and scrub so she never gets to go to parties but a fairy godmother gives her a party dress and glass slippers and she goes to a big party and loses one of her glass slippers and this guy finds it and gives it to her and that makes him a hero. And just because he found that slipper. COPYRIGHTED:

10 He noticed that some of them got to be heroes just by kissing someone. Gideon didn t much like the kissing part, but he d probably do it if he could get to be a hero that way. Once the babysitter fell asleep watching television and he wondered if that would count, if he kissed her, but he didn t think so and he didn t do it.

One of his favorite stories was the one about this kid finding some seeds or beans or something like that and they grow up to be a great big vine and he climbs up

11 One of his favorite stories was the one about this kid finding some seeds or beans or something like that and they grow up to be a great big vine and he climbs up and finds some neat things. There s a giant up there but he s asleep so the kid takes home all the good stuff, and he s a hero. And he doesn t have to kiss anybody.

Gideon thought about how all those guys turned out to be heroes, and he decided they hadn t really had to do anything or be anything. They didn t have to be strong.

12 Gideon thought about how all those guys turned out to be heroes, and he decided they hadn t really had to do anything or be anything. They didn t have to be strong. They didn t have to be brave. They didn t have to be clever. COPYRIGHTED: They just had to be at the right place at the right time. That s how you get to be a hero: you have to be at the right place at the right time.

13 And you had to pay attention, you had to keep your eyes open, or you wouldn t see someone who was sleeping or someone with unusually long hair, or you wouldn t see any glass slipper or any beans or seeds or anything. So Gideon paid attention. And he kept his eyes open.

14 He kept his eyes open and that is how he saw the big Super Market. Seeing the Super Market reminded him that he wanted a candy bar. His nice parents had just given him his allowance, so he had enough money. COPYRIGHTED:

He noticed there were balloons and flowers and cakes, and as he paid for his

16 Gideon picked out his candy bar and waited patiently in line behind several other customers. He noticed there were balloons and flowers and cakes, and as he paid for his candy, people suddenly surrounded him, taking pictures, clapping him on the back, congratulating him. Congratulating Gideon for what? What for?

Well! Gideon was the ten thousandth customer to buy something at the Super Market. Everybody was excited. People patted him on the back. A girl kissed him on the cheek.

17 Well! Gideon was the ten thousandth customer to buy something at the Super Market. Everybody was excited. People patted him on the back. A girl kissed him on the cheek. (For a minute he wondered whether that might turn him into a prince or maybe a frog, but nothing happened.) The manager said he could come in for a candy bar anytime he felt like having one. His name was on the front page of the newspaper. His picture was on the front page.

18 He was a hero. And all because he had managed to be at the right place at the right time. Good!

COPYRIGHTED: NOT AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION. Sakai. emily s. balloon. Emily s Balloon. by Komako Sakai $7.99 U.S./ 5.99 U.K.

COPYRIGHTED: NOT AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION. Sakai. emily s. balloon. Emily s Balloon. by Komako Sakai $7.99 U.S./ 5.99 U.K. Sakai emily s balloon Emily s Balloon by Komako Sakai $7.99 U.S./ 5.99 U.K. One day, Emily gets a balloon. By the end of the afternoon, the balloon is no longer just a plaything. Emily and the balloon