Grandpa and Junie sit together on the turned green bench, looking toward a bus, three pigeons by a puddle, and a baby pointing from a stroller.

A PICTURE BOOK

The Bench That Saved a Seat

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The Bench That Saved a Seat

Junie stands beside a green bench at a bus stop. The three-slat bench faces a red brick wall, and its small sign says “PLEASE SIT.”

Every morning, Junie passed a little green bench at the bus stop. It had three wooden slats, curly iron legs, and a sign that said, PLEASE SIT.

But nobody did. The bench faced a brick wall.

“One day,” Junie told it, “I will turn you around.”

Grandpa sits on the green bench facing the brick wall while Junie kneels behind it and points at bolts in the pavement.

That afternoon, Junie brought Grandpa a sandwich at the stop. He sat on the bench and let out a long, careful sigh.

“Oh,” he said. “I can hear the pigeons, but I cannot see them.”

Junie looked behind the bench. Four big bolts held it to the pavement. She could not turn it by herself.

Junie tapes a sign reading “TURN THE BENCH, PLEASE” to the brick wall. A child in a yellow raincoat, a baker with bread, and a parent with a stroller watch.

The next morning, Junie made a sign: TURN THE BENCH, PLEASE. She taped it to the brick wall.

A girl in a yellow raincoat read it. “Why?” she asked.

“So we can watch the street,” said Junie.

“Then I could see the bus coming,” said a baker carrying bread.

“And my baby could see the trees,” said a parent pushing a stroller.

Junie and Grandpa show a large drawing to a smiling town helper at her desk. The drawing shows the green bench facing the street, with a bus, pigeons, trees, and Grandpa.

Junie drew the bench facing the street. Everyone at the stop added something: pigeons, a bus, trees, and Grandpa waving.

They took the picture to the town helper in the corner office.

The helper studied it. “That bench is looking at a very dull wall,” she said.

Two workers lift and turn the green bench away from the brick wall as Junie, Grandpa, and neighbors watch nearby.

On Saturday, two workers came with shiny tools. Junie, Grandpa, the raincoat girl, the baker, and the stroller family watched from a safe distance.

Clink. Clank. Lift. Turn.

At last, the little green bench faced the street.

Grandpa sat down first. Across the road, three pigeons strutted beside a puddle. A bus came around the corner. The baby pointed at a red leaf dancing in the wind.

Junie sat beside Grandpa. The bench was warm from the sun.

Its old sign still said, PLEASE SIT.

Junie smiled. Now it seemed to say, LOOK TOGETHER.