Author Day Read online

  This book is in honor of

  Jane Martin and Doug McGrath,

  my sister and my brand-new brother-in-law.

  Congratulations!

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  1 THE RAINY DAY

  2 AUTHOR DAY

  3 THE FARTING PUPPY

  4 DEAR MR. BENNETT

  5 JUICY LUCY

  6 THE WINNER

  7 THE DEAL

  8 A PRESENT FOR MR. BENNETT

  9 THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER

  10 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

  11 MS. COLMAN’S BOO-BOO

  12 MR. ROBERT BENNETT

  13 POPCORN

  14 GOOD-BYE, MR. BENNETT

  15 THE FUTURE AUTHOR

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  THE RAINY DAY

  Drip, drip, drip. Drip-drop, drip.

  Ricky Torres looked out the window of his classroom. He was trying to pay attention. But this was hard. It was a rainy, rainy day. The wind was blowing. The trees were swaying. Maybe this was not an ordinary storm. Maybe it was a hurricane. Maybe —

  “Ricky? … Ricky?”

  Ricky blinked. “What?”

  “Pay attention!” whispered Hannie Papadakis, who sat next to him.

  Ricky looked at his teacher. Ms. Colman was standing patiently at the front of her second-grade classroom. Ms. Colman was almost always patient. And friendly. She was not a yeller. She listened to kids. Ricky liked her very much. So did Hannie and the rest of the students. Ricky did not want to disappoint her.

  “I know it is hard to pay attention today, girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman. “But please try this afternoon. Right now it is almost lunchtime. So you may clear off your desks. After lunch, you will come back here to our room for recess. It is too wet to play outside.”

  “Boo and bullfrogs,” Ricky heard Karen Brewer say. Ricky peered down his row of desks. Karen sat at the other end of it. He knew Karen wanted to play outside. So did Ricky. But they could not. They would have to play indoor games.

  When lunch was over, the kids in Ms. Colman’s class formed a line in the cafeteria. Ricky noticed that Karen was at the head of it. She usually was. The kids walked through the hall in their line. They entered their classroom. They saw that Ms. Colman had set out some board games. And some math games. And some paper and markers and scissors.

  Karen dove for the markers. “Hannie! Nancy!” she called to her best friends. “Come here! We can make paper jewelry.” (Karen was so bossy.)

  “No, we are going to make jewelry!” cried Leslie Morris and Jannie Gilbert.

  “There is plenty of paper for everyone,” said Ms. Colman quietly.

  At the front of the room, Hank Reubens and Bobby Gianelli were drawing a picture of Natalie Springer on the chalkboard. Audrey Green was throwing an eraser at Ian Johnson. In the back of the room, Sara Ford and the twins, Tammy and Terri Barkan, were trying to play hopscotch. Chris Lamar was doodling on his sneakers with a marker.

  The room was noisy. Nobody was playing with the games. A paper plane flew through the air.

  Ms. Colman clapped her hands. “Boys and girls! May I have your attention, please? Class? … Class!”

  The kids stopped what they were doing. They looked at their teacher.

  “This is pandemonium,” said Ms. Colman. “You are too loud and too wild. Please go to your seats. I think we need a story break.” When the room was quiet, Ms. Colman said, “Ricky, would you please choose a book for us?”

  Ricky grinned. “Sure,” he said. He hurried to the reading corner behind Nancy and Karen. He knew just which book to choose. Sloppy Sam by Mr. Robert Bennett. Robert Bennett was Ricky’s favorite author. And Sloppy Sam was Ricky’s favorite book by his favorite author. The kids in Ms. Colman’s class had heard it dozens of times, but they would not mind hearing it again. Robert Bennett’s books were so, so funny. Ricky especially liked that Mr. Bennett wrote his books and drew the pictures for them.

  Ricky handed Sloppy Sam to Ms. Colman. “Here,” he said.

  “Goody!” said Sara. “Sloppy Sam again.”

  “Cool,” said Omar Harris.

  And the kids settled down to listen to one of Mr. Bennett’s giggle books.

  AUTHOR DAY

  “Good morning, girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman.

  Sara hurried to her seat. So did the other kids in Ms. Colman’s room. Another Monday was about to begin.

  “Chris, would you take attendance, please?” asked Ms. Colman. Chris walked proudly to the front of the room. Ms. Colman handed him her book. Then she collected homework papers. Finally, she said, “Class, I have something exciting to tell you.”

  Oh, goody, thought Karen. One of Ms. Colman’s Surprising Announcements.

  “In one month,” Ms. Colman began, “we will have Author Day here at Stoneybrook Academy. Several authors will visit. They will talk about their books and about writing. Guess who is going to talk to the second- and third-graders.”

  Natalie Springer raised her hand. “Babar?” she suggested. (Her classmates covered their mouths and giggled.)

  “No, not Babar,” said Ms. Colman. “Babar is a character in a book. An author is a person who writes books. And the author who is going to visit us is … Robert Bennett.”

  “Robert Bennett!” cried Ricky. “He is an author and an artist.”

  “Cool!” said Tammy.

  “Coming to our school?” asked Nancy Dawes.

  “To our classroom,” Ms. Colman replied. “Right to our class.”

  Ricky could not believe this. Nobody could.

  “Will he show us how he draws pictures?” asked Ricky.

  “I think so,” said Ms. Colman.

  “Will he tell us how he thought up the idea for Sloppy Sam?” asked Sara.

  “I think so.”

  “Can I bring my own book by Robert Bennett to school on Author Day?” asked Audrey. “I have a copy of Awful Alligators at home. Maybe Mr. Bennett could sign his name in it for me. I collect autographs.”

  “Unfortunately,” said Ms. Colman, “that is one thing Mr. Bennett will not be able to do. He will be very, very busy on Author Day. He will not have time to sign books.”

  “Boo and bullfrogs,” muttered Karen.

  But Bobby said, “Oh, well. At least we get to meet him.”

  “Where does he live?” asked Jannie.

  “How does he think up all those funny books?” asked Leslie.

  “Those are very good questions,” said Ms. Colman. “And you can ask Mr. Bennett himself on Author Day. I wonder, though, if Mr. Bennett might like to know your questions before Author Day. That way, he can think about the answers to them ahead of time. So in a few days, you will each write a letter to Mr. Bennett. You are also going to be writing stories of your own. You will work in pairs. We will choose one story to make into a big book to read to Mr. Bennett. We will read it to him at a party that the second-graders and third-graders will give Mr. Bennett in the library at the end of Author Day. While the story is being read, several of you will perform it. You will put on a skit. The students in the other classes will plan things for Mr. Bennett, too. We might also want to think about a gift we could make that we could give our guest at the party.

  “As you can see,” Ms. Colman went on, “we are going to be very busy before Author Day. We have lots of things to plan and do.”

  Ricky smiled to himself. He could not wait for Author Day. It was going to be the most exciting thing that had ever happened in second grade.

  THE FARTING PUPPY

  Every morning, the kids in Ms. Colman’s class had reading activities. Sometimes Ms. Colman read to the class. She would choose a good book and read a chapter from it each day. (Omar’s favorite had been
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl.) Sometimes the kids would break into groups and work on different activities. Sometimes they wrote in their workbooks. And sometimes they took turns reading stories aloud from their readers.

  “Class,” said Ms. Colman one morning, “please open your books to page twenty-one. We are going to read the story that begins there.”

  The kids opened their books. They looked at the title on page twenty-one. It was “The Puppy Who Wished for a Girl.”

  Jannie liked the sound of that. So did the other kids.

  “Okay, Hank,” said Ms. Colman. “You may read first.”

  Hank began the story. It was about a puppy who had no home. More than anything, the puppy wished for a home and a family. She especially wished for a girl who would play with her and take care of her. Hank read the first page of the story. Tammy read the second page. Sara read the third page.

  “Ricky,” said Ms. Colman. “Will you read the fourth page?”

  Ricky sat up tall. He cleared his throat. “ ‘The sun was shining,’ ” he began. “ ‘It was a beautiful day. The puppy smiled. She wanted to visit her new friend. So she farted across the lawn.’ ”

  Ricky had read only half the page. He was supposed to finish it. But he stopped. He stopped because all around him the kids were laughing. He looked at Ms. Colman. She was smiling.

  Ricky thought about what he had just read. “So she darted across the lawn.” No, that was not quite it. He had said, “So she farted across the lawn.” Farted. Ricky had said “farted” in front of everyone in his class. Even in front of his teacher.

  Ricky looked at Hannie. She had covered her mouth with her hand. But Ricky knew she was laughing anyway. At the end of his row of desks, Karen was laughing so hard her face had turned red. At the front of the room, Hank and Bobby were laughing, too. Bobby had slid out of his chair onto the floor. Over by the windows, Leslie had laughed until her gum shot out of her mouth. It had stuck to her desk.

  “Okay, class. That is enough,” said Ms. Colman. (Ricky noticed that she was still smiling, though.) “Class,” Ms. Colman had to say again. And then, “Boys and girls, please. Please settle down.”

  When the kids finally stopped laughing, Ms. Colman said, “Ricky, you may continue.”

  Ricky shook his head. “No.”

  “No?” said Mrs. Colman.

  “No. I do not want to read aloud.”

  “Okay. That is all right, Ricky. Natalie, it is your turn, then.”

  Ricky slumped in his seat. He slumped until his head was touching the back of his chair. He had an idea that he was going to be hearing farting jokes for a long, long time. So Ricky made a decision. He was never going to read aloud again. Not ever. Ms. Colman did not know this yet. And his classmates did not know it yet. But Ricky would show them.

  That afternoon, Ms. Colman wrote a math problem on the board. “Ricky, will you please read the problem for us?” she asked.

  Ricky shook his head. “No.” Then he added, “I am not going to read aloud anymore. Not ever.”

  Ms. Colman looked surprised. But she did not say anything. The kids looked surprised, too.

  Good, thought Ricky. I will teach them.

  Ricky would not read his name from a list on the board. He would not read the lunch menu when Karen asked if they were going to have pizza on Friday. Ricky was mad at everybody. He was especially mad at Hannie, Karen, Hank, Bobby, and Leslie. All the kids had laughed at him that morning. But they had laughed the loudest of all.

  DEAR MR. BENNETT

  It was a sleepy Monday morning. The kids in Ms. Colman’s class were having a little trouble paying attention. Audrey was counting POGs inside her desk. Ian was staring out the window. Leslie had turned around and was watching Omar draw a cartoon picture of a superhero. Jannie was peering through the doorway, trying to see what was going on in Mr. Berger’s class next door.

  But Ms. Colman woke everyone up. “Girls and boys,” she said, “it is time to write our letters to Mr. Bennett.” She handed out paper.

  Terri raised her hand. “What are we supposed to say?” she asked.

  “Class?” Ms. Colman replied. “What could we say in our letters?”

  “We could tell Mr. Bennett about ourselves,” suggested Sara.

  “Like who’s in our family,” said Chris.

  “And if we have pets,” said Jannie.

  “If we have farting puppies,” added Leslie.

  Ricky stuck his tongue out at Leslie. And Ms. Colman said, “Now, now.”

  “We have to remember to ask questions,” said Karen.

  “Right,” agreed Ms. Colman. “Think of questions to ask Mr. Bennett.”

  Chris Lamar stared at the blank paper in front of him. He wrote DEAR MR. Then he stopped. He raised his hand. “How do you spell ‘Bennett’?” he asked. He could hear a “B” sound and an “N” sound and a “T” sound. But he was pretty sure Bennett was not spelled BNT.

  Ms. Colman wrote BENNETT on the board.

  “Thank you,” said Chris. He copied BENNETT onto his paper. Then he chewed on his pencil and thought for awhile.

  Next to Chris, Audrey was staring at her paper. So far she had written DEAR MR. BENNETT, HOW ARE YOU? I AM FINE. Now she was stuck.

  Karen was not stuck. She had lots of questions for Mr. Bennett. She was busy writing. When she finished her letter, it read:

  Ricky thought for a long time. Finally he wrote:

  Ms. Colman made Ricky start his letter over. Ricky did not mind too much. Mostly, he had just wanted Ms. Colman to know how angry he was.

  When the kids in Ms. Colman’s class had finished their letters and copied them neatly, Ms. Colman said, “Now we are ready to mail our letters to Mr. Bennett.” She put the letters into a big envelope. Then she said, “Ian, Sara, I have an important job for you. If you will take this envelope to the office, the secretary will mail it to Mr. Bennett for us.”

  Ian and Sara grinned. They stood up. Ms. Colman handed them the envelope. And they walked proudly down the hall with it.

  JUICY LUCY

  That afternoon, Ms. Colman said to her students, “Class, today we are going to make our own books. When they are finished, we will choose one to read to Mr. Bennett on Author Day. You will work in pairs — in teams of two people. Each pair will write and illustrate a story of their own. I will choose the pairs. When I say your name, please find your partner. Okay. Jannie and Bobby. Omar and Tammy. Nancy and Hank. Karen and Terri. Ricky and Natalie. Hannie and Chris. Leslie and Ian. Sara and Audrey.” Ms. Colman looked around the room. Her students were scrambling to find places where they could work. Some of them sat at desks. Some of them sat on the floor.

  “Remember,” Ms. Colman continued, “you are making a book. So you need a story and pictures. I will hand out crayons.”

  Ricky looked at Natalie. Natalie was not his favorite person. She was sloppy and she forgot things. But she was okay.

  “Well,” said Natalie. “What do you want to do, Ricky? Write or draw?” (Ricky was not Natalie’s favorite person, either. But he was okay.)

  “Write the story,” replied Ricky. “I like making up stories.”

  “Goody,” said Natalie. “I would rather draw pictures.”

  “Now let me see.” Ricky thought and thought. At last he said, “I know! I will write a story about a goose named Lucy.”

  Ricky bent over the paper. He began to write. He scribbled away.

  “What are you writing?” asked Natalie.

  Ricky shoved the paper at her. “Here. You read it.”

  “No, you. I will start drawing a picture while I listen.”

  “Sorry,” said Ricky. “I do not read aloud anymore.”

  Natalie scowled. Ricky was a big pain. She leaned over to see his story. It was about a fat goose named Lucy. Lucy lived on a farm. She was so fat that the farmer and his wife had nicknamed her Juicy Lucy. They said she would make a tasty goose dinner one day.

  That was all Ricky had written so far. N
atalie looked at the first sentence of his story. It read: “Once there lived a big fat goose named Lucy.” So Natalie began a picture of Lucy.

  Ricky scribbled away.

  “Now what is happening in the story?” asked Natalie.

  “See for yourself,” said Ricky. He handed her another page.

  Natalie read on. Lucy heard the farmer talking about a “dinner date.” She thought she was to be taken out to dinner by a fine goose gentleman. So she began to get ready for her date.

  “Cool,” said Natalie. “I cannot wait to read the end of the story.”

  The other students worked on their stories, too. Jannie and Bobby started one called, “Backwards Day.” Hannie and Chris worked on one called, “Sailing Out to Sea.” Sara and Audrey had trouble thinking of something to write about. Finally they began a story called, “The Little Flower.”

  Natalie drew and drew. She drew a picture of the farmer and the farmer’s wife. She drew a picture of the farmer dreaming of the tasty goose dinner. She drew a picture of Lucy dreaming of the fine goose gentleman who would be her dinner date.

  “May I read the rest of the story, please?” Natalie asked Ricky.

  Ricky handed her the last two pages. Natalie read the part in which Lucy found out she was going to be dinner, not go out for dinner. She read about how Lucy outsmarted the farmer and ran away. Finally she read, “ ‘Lucy ran all the way to a pond. There she found a fine goose gentleman who asked her to stay at the pond with him forever. So she did.’ ”

  “Write ‘The End,’ ” Natalie said to Ricky.

  Ricky added The End to his story.

  “That,” said Natalie, “is one of the best stories I have ever read.”

  “Thank you,” replied Ricky. “And I like your pictures.”

  THE WINNER

  One by one, the teams in Ms. Colman’s class finished their books. Ms. Colman collected them. “During the next two days,” she said, “I will read each of the stories aloud to you. When you have heard them all, you will vote on the one to read to Mr. Bennett on Author Day. Then we will begin the other projects.”