The Beginning of Brown James and Noel sat on the steps of their new house. It was going to be a hot day, but the boys preferred sitting outside to unpacking more boxes inside. Their mom was unpacking kitchen stuff, and the boys had grown tired of hearing her exclaim every time she unwrapped another of the teapots she hadn't seen in months.

"You'd think she'd have enough teapots by now," said James.

"Yeah," said Noel, "I don't get that excited about my Godzilla collection and that is way more interesting than any teapot."

"And I’m sorry," said James, "but I know way too much about teapots for a boy my age."

James then started listing all the things he knew about teapots. "There's the spout and the pouring angle," he began. But Noel had already tuned James out. The heat was rising and as tired as he was of his mother's teapots, he was more tired of James' complaining.

Besides, there was a raggedy old dog down the street. Noel could tell,