It was Halloween night in Maple Hollow. Everyone was walking by in costumes. Bacci had a sniffly cold and had to stay home with Nana Saffron. He tried to zoom outside as Hero Bacci. Then: ACHOO! Pop. Just a cat in pajamas again.

"I'm missing everything," Bacci said. LunchyBacci opened his pocket. "I have a pocket for that. Which feeling is biggest?" Bacci pointed to LEFT OUT. Then he said a brave thing: "Grandma, can you help me make a small plan?"

Bacci wanted one giant lantern. LunchyBacci wanted six little ones. So they made both! They switched on the battery lights, one by one. Outside, a lighthouse kid stopped and waved.

"If I can't go to the parade, the parade comes to the hallway!" Bacci was a Pajama Astronaut Cat. LunchyBacci played the pot lid drum. They marched one lap zoomy, one lap fancy, one lap tiptoe. Nana Saffron clapped from the couch.

Nana Saffron called Bacci's friends. "Look at my costume!" said Watermelon. Octopus asked, "Screen hug or high five?" Cozy Corn was home too, in his blanket. "Different nights, same moon," said Phoenix.

Grandma brought a pumpkin and paper leaves. "Every leaf is one thing you're glad about." Bacci wrote Nana Saffron first. He wanted ten candy leaves. They agreed on two.

Bacci missed his cousin Comet, who lives far away. He drew his lanterns and his hallway parade. He wrote, "I had a small Halloween and it was big in the middle."

Outside, a rocket ship kid blinked a flashlight three times. Bacci blinked his lantern back. Blink, blink, blink! He tucked a blanket over sleepy Nana Saffron. "I thought I was missing the magic," he whispered. "But it came right to my window."

Say it with Bacci: "I'm allowed to feel left out. I'm still me. I still matter."

Belly breath: smell the pumpkin pie in, then blow out the flameless candle slowly. Three times.

At recess, Birdie handed orange envelopes to her soccer team. "My apartment only fits six!" Cozy Corn was her art table buddy, but there was no envelope for him. "Oh," he said, very quietly. Birdie wasn't being mean, only excited.

At home, his golden glow was barely a flicker, and a heavy thought floated over him: "Something is wrong with me." Phoenix sat beside him and asked, "Want to tell me what you're feeling?" Together they found the names: left out, sad, a little embarrassed. "When we name a feeling," Phoenix whispered, "it gets a little smaller."

Kiwi lined up six kitchen chairs. "Birdie's party had six chairs, and her soccer team sat in them first." "So there were only six?" asked Cozy Corn. "Yes," said Kiwi, "an invite list counts chairs, not how much you matter."

Bacci burst in with golden sparkles swirling: "I'll march over and tell Birdie!" "Belly breath first," said Phoenix. Bacci breathed, and the sparkles settled. "Birdie isn't a villain, is she?" he asked, and Cozy Corn shook his head. Bacci plopped down beside him: "Then I'll skip mad and stay right here."

Kiwi unrolled a Big Feeling Menu with five glow portals: Draw, Move, Talk, Rest, Create. Cozy Corn drew his feeling as a raincloud with a tiny umbrella. He did a noodle stretch with Bacci, flopped, and laughed! Then he rested under his blanket. When he came out, his glow was back, soft like a nightlight.

Watermelon wanted the BIGGEST party EVER, "Now, now, now!" "I like small," said Cozy Corn, "small is my size." They agreed on a pumpkin painting night with ten minutes of silly dancing. Then Cozy Corn asked Ziggy, the new boy who ate lunch alone, "Would you like to come paint pumpkins with me?" Ziggy lit up: "Really, me?"

Friday night, the living room became a blanket fort full of flameless lanterns. Watermelon led ten minutes of pumpkin dancing, then bounced home. Ziggy painted a pumpkin with glasses, and Bacci painted one with a cape. "This is the best party I've ever been to," said Ziggy. Cozy Corn glowed: "Me too."

On Monday, Birdie said, "I'm sorry I couldn't invite you, and I wished you could come." "Thanks for telling me," said Cozy Corn, "I had my own pumpkin night." "Will you teach me your stripes?" asked Birdie. Cozy Corn's glow shone steady and golden. No envelope gave it to him, and no envelope could take it away.

Pick a glow portal: Draw, Move, Talk, Rest or Create. You can pick more than one!

Verse 1

Sun goes down in Maple Hollow,
Porch lights blinking, one by one,
Pumpkins glowing on the porch steps,
Glow Along Parade, here we come!

Chorus

Glow along, everybody!
Glow along, glow along!
Hold a light and wave a hand,
Everybody's in the song!
Stars up high and wagons low,
Here we go, we glow, glow, glow!

Verse 2

Peacock dreams a velvet curtain,
Watermelon dreams of zoom,
Every idea gets a wagon,
Hook them up, and there is room!

Now sing the chorus again!

Bridge (softly)

If your tummy feels a flutter,
Smell the pie and blow out slow,
Stars on sleeves go sparkle, sparkle,
When the flashlights say hello!

Verse 3

Rocket, robot, cloud and moon,
Sunflower and bumblebee,
Scoot or roll or skip or stroll,
There is room for you and me!

Final chorus (softer and slower)

Glow along, everybody,
Glow along, glow along,
Porch lights wink and say good night,
Pumpkins hum our happy song.
Cozy beds and lights down low,
Home we go, we glow, glow, glow.

(Whisper) Glow along... glow along.

Original Bacci Kid song words. Sing along at home for fun, standing, seated or rolling. Every way is the right way.