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Mary Smith, age 6, from Hometown, USA, was worried about her friend, Big Bird. He didn't look very happy. "What's wrong, Big Bird?" Mary asked. Today is Clean-Sweep Day, the day we all help clean up the neighborhood." Big Bird sighed. "It's going to be a lot of work."

"Don't worry," said Mary, "Casey and Joe showed me you can make a big job easier by turning it into a game. Let's try it. We can pick up trash starting with each letter of the alphabet."

"That'll be fun!" Big Bird smiled. So Big Bird spread the word about the great idea Mary had and the Clean-Sweep game began.

"Look, someone left a broken airplane here, right next to a stack of beat-up boxes," Mary said. "Amazing, that's our A and B!"

"Hey, this box is full of empty cans," called Big Bird, "C is for cans!"

"Cool, we can recycle them," Mary said. "Wow, we have A, B, and C already! Now let's find something that starts with D."

Just then, Rosita joined them. "How about these dishes, Mary?" she asked, holding cracked dishes from her tea set. "You can have these too," she added, handing over a stack of old envelopes. "I took all the neat stamps off them." "Excellent!" said Mary.

By now, everyone on Sesame Street knew about the Clean-Sweep game.

"Elmo wants to play, to," Elmo said with a smile, carrying as many tattered gloves and bent forks as he could imagine. Elmo looked so silly, Mary had to laugh.

"Those forks are fabulous for F and your gloves will make a great G addition to our trash collection," she giggled.

While collecting Elmo's gloves, Mary noticed a twisted water hose lying on the sidewalk. "Watch out Big Bird!" she called. But it was too late. Poor Big Bird tripped on the hose and fell with a THUMP. Luckily, Big Bird's feathers padded his fall so he wasn't hurt.

Mary ran to help him up. "I'm glad you're not hurt, Big Bird. At least you found something that started with the letter H. This hose has so many holes in it, it must be trash!"

"How about using this to smooth your ruffled feathers, Bird?" snickered Oscar, handing Big Bird an old iron.

"Don't be silly, Oscar! But a rusty iron is ideal for our trash pile so we'll have an I!" Mary exclaimed.

"Boy, I don't know what we'll use for a J," Mary wondered. "I sure wish Casey and Joe were here to help."

"Me help, Mary," Cookie Monster said. "Jars with no cookies go into trash." "Thanks, Cookie Monster! We'll put your jars into our recycling bin, instead of our trash pile," Mary said.

Zoe joined the group. "I found this in the park, Mary, but I don't know what it is." "It's a kazoo, Zoe," Mary said. "But it's broken. See, it's cracked on the side. Let's add it to our trash collection, okay?"

"K" Zoe said with a smile. "Do you want these puzzle pieces I found too?" We are not ready for the letter P yet, Zoe. We've found A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K, so we're looking for L now," Mary explained.

"You know," Mary continued, "the park might be a good place to find more alphabet trash. Let's go!"

Mary was right. She and her friends picked up many things at the park to add to their collection. They found a half-eaten lollipop in some litter on the ground. Someone had left a milk carton on a bench. They collected a net near a nest up in a tree, and even a broken oar by the pond.

"Now that we've got L, M, N, and O, we're ready for your puzzle pieces, Zoe," Mary said with a smile.

"There's Ernie and Bert," Big Bird said. "Maybe they've come to help us clean." "I hope so," Mary said. "We still haven't found anything for Q."

"We heard you were looking for trash," Bert said. "So Ernie and I cleaned out our closet." "Let's see," Ernie said reaching into a large bag. "We have one queen from Bert's chess set. I lost the other pieces. There's my red rocket ship that broke last year. Oh, and here's an old skate."

"And here are some train tracks. Someone left them outside and they got trampled." Bert said. "Now yo have Q, R, S and T."

"Hey, Mary," a grouchy voice called. "Take this umbrella. And here, Telly dropped off this vase. It's cracked.... just like some people I know."

Just then Big Bird spied his wobbly wheelbarrow. "Wow, that's perfect for W. But Mary," Big Bird groaned, "What about X? There aren't any X-rays or xylophones around."

"X is tough. But look, Big Bird," Mary said with a smile. "Two of the umbrella's ribs are making an X. Can you see it?"

"Yes! And look, there's a tangled piece of yarn around one of the wheels of my old wheelbarrow!" Big Bird cried. "Yay! That's our Y!"

"Let's see. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z." Mary sang.

"Oh, no, Mary," Big Bird wailed. "We haven't found anything that starts with Z."

"Don't worry, Big Bird," Mary said. "See, the zipper is broken on my old wallet. I had it in my pocket all the time." "All right!, Mary found Z!" Big Bird shouted. "We went through the whole alphabet, and we made the neighborhood look cleaner than ever!"

"I sure had a lot of fun helping you with your big job, Big Bird. Now I'd better go back to Hometown, USA," Mary said. "Besides, I can't wait to tell Casey and Joe how much fun it is playing games with the alphabet."