9. How Are Bugs Helpful?

How Are Bugs Helpful? It's a warm summer day in the Wood. Roo jumps with the grasshoppers. Roo, Kanga, and Tigger want to have a picnic. They invite all their friends. Winnie the Pooh brings a big pot of honey. Piglet brings some strawberries. Eeyore brings some flowers. They are ready for the picnic. But Rabbit is late. The friends sit down to eat. Winnie looks at his plate. There are ants in his honey! They are carrying his honey away. Gnats fly around Eeyore. Eeyore shakes his ears. He moves his tail. But the gnats don't leave. There are bugs everywhere! Flies land on the sandwiches. Grasshoppers jump high and low. Tigger sees a stink bug. He holds his nose. "Let's go eat at my house," Winnie says. Everybody runs to Winnie's house. But bees chase them away! The bees are mad because Winnie takes their honey. "Why are there so many bugs?" Tigger asks. "What good are bugs, anyway?" asks Eeyore. The friends run to Owl's house next. But Owl is too tired to help them. "There's a cricket in my house," he says. "He makes so much noise I can't sleep." Winnie and his friends don't like the bugs. How can they make the bugs go away? "I know," says Winnie. "Let's make a big sign they can read." Piglet runs to find Christopher Robin. He can make the sign for them. Rabbit finally arrives for the picnic. "My garden has caterpillars," he says. "I don't want to step on them. So I have to walk slowly. That's why I'm late." "Bugs are bothering us," says Winnie. "So we're asking them to go away!" "I think my garden likes bugs," says Rabbit. "It likes bugs?" Winnie asks. "Yes," Rabbit says. "Bugs help my garden grow. Let's go watch them." "Look," Rabbit says. "Ants and earthworms make the soil soft. That helps my vegetables grow." "What about caterpillars?" Tigger asks. "Caterpillars change into butterflies," Rabbit says. "Butterflies help fruits and flowers." Christopher Robin arrives with the sign. The sign says: BUGS GO PLEASE! "But what about bees?" he asks Winnie. "Bees make honey." "Okay," Winnie says. "Bees can stay." "And grasshoppers, too," says Roo. "I like jumping with them!" "Bugs are great for my garden," says Rabbit. "I can't grow anything without them." "Lots of bugs are helpful," Christopher Robin says. "Even if we don't like them sometimes." Everybody agrees the bugs should stay. They make a new sign. Now it says: BUGS STAY PLEASE! Winnie puts some honey on the sign. "It's for the bugs," he says. "We can all share!"