tin shovel was lying beside a dented kitchen pot.
"Where do you think he might be, Sam?" asked Anastasia.
Sam thought and then pointed. "Right here," he said. "By this bush."
Anastasia dug very carefully with Sam's shovel. Sure enough, just a few inches below the surface, they found King of Worms.
"He beat us home," Sam said happily. "He should have won First Prize for Fastest Slitherer."
10
"It's Monday, Sam," Mrs. Krupnik said at breakfast. "Show-and-Tell day at nursery school. Are you going to take your blue ribbon from the pet show?"
"Nope," Sam said, dragging his spoon through his oatmeal. He liked the way he could open up a ditch and then watch it fill gradually with milk. Sometimes he made Drowning Men out of raisins.
"Why not?" Anastasia asked.
"
Because,
" Sam explained impatiently, "Nicky will be there with a dumb blue ribbon for Most Pets. And Adam will bring his First Prize for Cat with Fattest Tail.
Everybody
will be doing pet show stuff at Show-and-Tell today."
"Oh," said his mother. "I hadn't thought of that. But you're absolutely right."
"What
are
you going to take?" Anastasia asked.
"Secret," said Sam.
But he was fibbing. It wasn't a secret at all. The truth was, Sam couldn't think of anything to take to school for Show-and-Tell. He had this problem almost every single Monday morning.
Sam was good at a lot of stuff. He could count higher and recognize more words than any other kid at nursery school. He knew more songs than almost anybody; he even knew all the words to the songs on his father's Billie Holiday records. (Sam especially liked the part that went, "I get no kick from champagne, Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all"; he always sang that part very loud, even though his parents said, "What will the neighbors think?")
And he was good at somersaults, and coloring, and building very tall castles out of blocks, and bashing the castles to the ground afterward.
But he just wasn't any good at all at Show-and-Tell.
Other kids were. A girl named Rosie had brought, one Monday, her new baby brother to Show-and-Tell. Of course her mother had to come along; but Rosie got to hold the baby all by herself, in front of the other kids. She got to tell the baby's nameâHenryâand when Henry cried, she let all the other kids look into his mouth, so they could see how he had no teeth.
A kid named Kevin had brought things back from a trip to Disney World and took up almost the whole Show-and-Tell time, wearing his Donald Duck hat and telling about the rides and stuff. Kevin had official pilot wings that he got on the airplane; he had them pinned to his sweater, and he wouldn't let the other kids wear them, not even for one minute.
Every Monday, Sam worried about what the other kids would bring to Show-and-Tell. And what he would bring. Nothing he had ever brought seemed to be very good.
Today, after he had finished his oatmeal, he went back up to his bedroom to look around.
There was nothing there but the same old stuff: same old toys, same old books, same old clothes. He didn't even have his pet worm anymore. He and Anastasia had decided that King of Worms probably liked living outdoors, underground, better than in a box in Sam's closet.
Sam wandered down the hall into his parents' bedroom. Maybe
they
had something that would be interesting at Show-and-Tell.
"Sam!" his mother called from downstairs. "Do you have your jacket on? Your carpool will be here in a few minutes!"
"Yes," Sam called back. "I'm coming!"
He looked around. His father's pajamas were on the floor.
Sam imagined himself standing in front of the circle of children at nursery school, holding up big striped pants with a drawstring at the waist. "These are my daddy's pajamas," he imagined himself saying.
No. That was no good. Probably
everybody's
daddy had big striped pajamas.
He looked around some more. On the table beside the bed was something that belonged to his father. Sam picked it up.
"Sam!" his mother called from
"Where do you think he might be, Sam?" asked Anastasia.
Sam thought and then pointed. "Right here," he said. "By this bush."
Anastasia dug very carefully with Sam's shovel. Sure enough, just a few inches below the surface, they found King of Worms.
"He beat us home," Sam said happily. "He should have won First Prize for Fastest Slitherer."
10
"It's Monday, Sam," Mrs. Krupnik said at breakfast. "Show-and-Tell day at nursery school. Are you going to take your blue ribbon from the pet show?"
"Nope," Sam said, dragging his spoon through his oatmeal. He liked the way he could open up a ditch and then watch it fill gradually with milk. Sometimes he made Drowning Men out of raisins.
"Why not?" Anastasia asked.
"
Because,
" Sam explained impatiently, "Nicky will be there with a dumb blue ribbon for Most Pets. And Adam will bring his First Prize for Cat with Fattest Tail.
Everybody
will be doing pet show stuff at Show-and-Tell today."
"Oh," said his mother. "I hadn't thought of that. But you're absolutely right."
"What
are
you going to take?" Anastasia asked.
"Secret," said Sam.
But he was fibbing. It wasn't a secret at all. The truth was, Sam couldn't think of anything to take to school for Show-and-Tell. He had this problem almost every single Monday morning.
Sam was good at a lot of stuff. He could count higher and recognize more words than any other kid at nursery school. He knew more songs than almost anybody; he even knew all the words to the songs on his father's Billie Holiday records. (Sam especially liked the part that went, "I get no kick from champagne, Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all"; he always sang that part very loud, even though his parents said, "What will the neighbors think?")
And he was good at somersaults, and coloring, and building very tall castles out of blocks, and bashing the castles to the ground afterward.
But he just wasn't any good at all at Show-and-Tell.
Other kids were. A girl named Rosie had brought, one Monday, her new baby brother to Show-and-Tell. Of course her mother had to come along; but Rosie got to hold the baby all by herself, in front of the other kids. She got to tell the baby's nameâHenryâand when Henry cried, she let all the other kids look into his mouth, so they could see how he had no teeth.
A kid named Kevin had brought things back from a trip to Disney World and took up almost the whole Show-and-Tell time, wearing his Donald Duck hat and telling about the rides and stuff. Kevin had official pilot wings that he got on the airplane; he had them pinned to his sweater, and he wouldn't let the other kids wear them, not even for one minute.
Every Monday, Sam worried about what the other kids would bring to Show-and-Tell. And what he would bring. Nothing he had ever brought seemed to be very good.
Today, after he had finished his oatmeal, he went back up to his bedroom to look around.
There was nothing there but the same old stuff: same old toys, same old books, same old clothes. He didn't even have his pet worm anymore. He and Anastasia had decided that King of Worms probably liked living outdoors, underground, better than in a box in Sam's closet.
Sam wandered down the hall into his parents' bedroom. Maybe
they
had something that would be interesting at Show-and-Tell.
"Sam!" his mother called from downstairs. "Do you have your jacket on? Your carpool will be here in a few minutes!"
"Yes," Sam called back. "I'm coming!"
He looked around. His father's pajamas were on the floor.
Sam imagined himself standing in front of the circle of children at nursery school, holding up big striped pants with a drawstring at the waist. "These are my daddy's pajamas," he imagined himself saying.
No. That was no good. Probably
everybody's
daddy had big striped pajamas.
He looked around some more. On the table beside the bed was something that belonged to his father. Sam picked it up.
"Sam!" his mother called from
Similar Books
