`The Day the Dragon Danced'

"SO, Charles, what's a dragon got to do with New Year's? Here it is February already."

Grandma was cranky because she didn't want to go to the parade. I pulled her hand to make her go faster. I wanted to see the dragon dance.

"Dragons I read about weren't any too friendly," she said as we walked toward Main Street.

"These are different dragons, Grandma. These are Chinese dragons. My teacher, Miss Peng, says they are wise and strong and chase away bad spirits or eat them up. That leaves all the good spirits for us. Then we'll have a good year."

I could see the booths set up all around the street now as we got closer. There were Chinese paintings and calendars in the booths, and I could smell delicious things cooking, and there were little tiny trees and bamboo in pots to sell.

"That's what your teacher says, hah?" Grandma said. "We didn't have Chinese New Year parades in our town when I was a little girl."

Grandma kept talking to herself as we walked among the booths.

"Well, look at here," Grandma said. "A taco stand! That's not Chinese."

"Look, Grandma, this is dragon's beard candy. Can I have some? Miss Peng told us about it."

"All right, child."

"And a sesame seed bun?"

"I guess so, long as we've come, but that's all, you hear?"

I pulled Grandma over to the curb with the other people, then looked down the street for the dragon. The parade hadn't started yet. The dragon was going to dance in the New Year's parade.

"First it's your daddy going to that kung fu class. Now it's New Year's parades here in February. Things sure are changing."

Tuesday: Why doesn't Grandma like things to change?

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"The Day the Dragon Danced" is a Kids' Reading Room Classic that first appeared Feb. 11-15, 2002. It was published as a book in 2006 by Shen's Books, Fremont, Calif. The story will be on The Times' website at latimes.com/kids.