Tetsuya Saito sat up wide awake in
his bed.
The sun was just coming up in
Isesaki-city.
He could tell that it was going to be a
gorgeous day.
He glanced out his bedroom window.
Tetsuya remembered exactly where
he was planning to go today with Chiba,
Yuka, Shin and Maki

Tetsuya  had been so excited for
the past week.
With Yuka, Shin and Maki, he
had made a game of finding the
most circus posters all over town.
Today was the big parade and
that meant the start of all the
circus activities.
Tetsuya had even tried to go to
sleep as fast as he could last night
to make the morning come more
quickly.

Tetsuya  began to think about all
the fantastic fun he would have.
Last year, his favorite act was the
clown with the invisible dog.
Tetsuya wondered if the clown
would be there again today.
Then Tetsuya  thought about the
child who would be selected by
the mayor this year to lead the
parade.
Who would that lucky person be?

From the helicopter, Tetsuya could
see the circus parade beginning to
assemble at the edge of town.
The helicopter landed and Tetsuya
ran to the mayor.
On their way to the shiny, red fire
truck at the head of the parade,
they walked　past all the practicing performers and anxious animals
that would be following Tetsuya.
Tetsuya was thrilled.

Someone shouted,
''Look, Tetsuya Saito is leading
the parade this year!''
At that very moment, a big drum roll
was heard.
Tetuya carefully climbed aboard
the fire truck next to the driver who
was dressed like a clown.
Tetsuya enjoyed the marvelous,
marching music played by the band
as the fire truck drove down the
main street of Isesaki-city.

Immediately behind the band was a
beautiful bareback rider. Her two
magnificent, prancing horses were
so well trained that the rider could
balance on both their backs while
standing up.
Testuya imagined that the fine,
fancy feathers on the noble horses'
heads were bobbing to the beat
of the music.
He bobbed his head also.

The circus elephants followed next.
As he watched the playful pranks of
thedarling baby elephant, Tetsuya daydreamed about taking him home.
When the elephant fanned his big
floppy ears, Tetsuya could almost picture him flying through the sky
with the greatest of ease.
If the baby strayed too far, the
mother elephant would lovingly
wrap her trunk around his.

A jolly juggler on a unicycle juggling
five full bottles fascinated Yuka,
Shin and Maki.
He pedaled so fast that there were
times when it was hard to keep up
with him.
It was incredible that he never
dropped a bottle, no matter how
fast he pedaled.
Yuka, Shin and Maki knew
it took practice to be that good.

Tetsuya was amused by the antics
of the slippery seal.
The seal would flip the ball
backwards and then, with his hind flippers, smack it right back to the
tip of his nose.
Everyone loved watching the seal
clap after each trick he performed.
Yuka, Shin and Maki had fun
imitating his funny, barking noises.

The acrobatic troupe was next.
Their tumbling and flipping routines
had the crowd cheering.
Tetsuya was enjoying his place of
honor, but was really tickled when
the driver told him he would have
a chance to watch the entire
parade pass before him as each
act entered the big top circus tent.

A majestic lion with all his marvelous
mane was in the last wagon.
He was so-o-o-o big, and his roar
was so-o-o loud that Tetsuya
could hear him from the very front
of the parade.
The mild-mannered monkeys on top
of his cage did not seem at all frightened of the ferocious feline.

The fire truck stopped at the entrance
of the big top circus tent.
Tetsuya talked to the circus stars
as they went inside.
It made him feel like an important
star to be so close to them.
Then Tetsuya joined Yuka, Shin
and Maki in his special section
inside the tent.

When the circus was over,
Tetsuya was escorted outside by
the mayor and the ringmaster.
Tetsuya did not want this special
day to end.
As he turned to look one last time,
some performers were waving
goodbye.
Tetsuya waved backand smiled,
for he knew he would neverforget
the day he led THE BIG PARADE!

In THE BIG PARADE, there were
many different characters.
Can you unscramble
the following names?