Mr. Pearson is a teacher of Squeaky’s who pins on runners’ numbers at the neighborhood’s annual May Day races. Squeaky and her classmates nickname him Jack and the Beanstalk because he walks around the park on stilts and tends to clumsily drop the many supplies he carries around. Squeaky refuses to let Mr. Pearson use her nickname since she isn’t allowed to call him Beanstalk to his face, insisting that he call her by her full name—Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker—instead. Mr. Pearson further offends Squeaky when he suggests that she should intentionally lose the 50-yard dash so that other girls—particularly Gretchen, who’s new to the neighborhood—can have a chance. Near the end of the story, Mr. Pearson is involved in the squabble among the race judges as they try to figure out whether Squeaky or Gretchen won the 50-yard dash.
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Mr. Pearson / Beanstalk Character Timeline in Raymond’s Run
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Pearson / Beanstalk appears in Raymond’s Run. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Raymond’s Run
...greets Squeaky by her nickname, which she resents because she’s not allowed to call him Beanstalk (his nickname among Squeaky and her classmates) to his face—so she corrects him that her...
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Mr. Pearson hints that Squeaky should purposely lose the race this year—it would be a nice gesture...
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...like a professional would. Seeing this, Squeaky thinks that she actually likes Gretchen a little. Beanstalk argues with the announcer and a few other men about the times on the stopwatches...
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