Using the read function in a bash script problem

Hi guys hope you can help.

Ive got the following code snippet that is not working when using the read function.

echo -n "Enter the menu1 parent folder name that this menu2 file will reside in. This is used to create the extraction file.";
 /bin/echo;
read parent;
cd /var/www/html/simeswiki/templates;
cp extract_menu_files_menu2to4_x_from_db.php /var/www/html/simeswiki/includes/extract_menu_files_menu2to4_$parent_from_db.php;
dir /var/www/html/simeswiki/includes/extract_menu_files_menu2to4_$parent_from_db.php;;

Problem:
/var/www/html/simeswiki/includes/extract_menu_files_menu2to4_.php

Notice in the above that the $parent part is being shaved off...it is not being displayed.

Any help greatly appreciated.

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