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Authors: Betty G. Birney
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I could get better?” Garth asked.
“Sure,” said A.J. “Look at how good Humphrey is at ball!”
And I was very good, indeed. Sweetums would have a hard time keeping up with me now.
Garth’s dad popped his head in the doorway. “We’re ordering pizza for dinner. You like pepperoni?” he asked A.J.
“Sure!”
“If you want to spend the night, your mom said she’d drop your clothes off,” Mr. Tugwell added.
“Okay with you, Garth?” A.J. asked.
“Okay!”
I was glad to hear that Garth answered without a bit of hesitation.
Garth took me out of the hamster ball and put me back in my cage. While the family ate pizza, I took a long nap, and I dreamed about beautiful guitar music instead of space aliens or cats.
The next afternoon, A.J. talked Garth into coming outside. “We’ll just toss the ball around,” he said.
“I won’t be good,” Garth warned him.
“Maybe not, but you’ll get better than you are now,” A.J. said. “Just like the guitar. Or the hamster ball.”
I was happy they left me in the house. Although I had a new technique, I wasn’t anxious to come nose to nose with Sweetums again. She might still be looking for dessert.
Even though I was inside, I could still hear Garth and A.J. laughing and shouting in the yard.
“Nice catch,” A.J. said once. “Way to go!”
I spun on my wheel with pure joy. Even without a Plan, I’d managed to help my friends.
That
was the best trick I’d learned all day.
PRACTICE: Doing the same thing over and over in order to get better at it (and all I can say is, if you play the guitar the way A.J. does, you’d better practice a lot). Practice always pays off, especially when steering a hamster ball.
Humphrey’s Dictionary of Wonderful Words
No Surprises
W ell, well, if it isn’t Humphrey.” That’s what Miss Victoria, the bus driver, said when she picked Garth and me up at the bus stop on Monday morning. “The best-behaved student on the bus!”
That was NICE-NICE-NICE to hear.
Things went so well between Garth and A.J. over the weekend that they sat next to each other and acted like best friends again.
As the bus approached Longfellow School, my whiskers began twitching and my fur began itching. Would Og still be there when I got back? Or had he been whisked away to the faraway planet of Spurling?
I’m happy to say, he was there! Nothing at all had changed in Room 26, thank goodness.
“Greetings, green and faithful friend,” I greeted Og.
“BOING-BOING!” was his response.
Mrs. Brisbane walked over to the table by the window where Og and I live. “Are you guys glad to see each other?” she asked. “Humphrey, I was afraid Og would miss you over the weekend, so I took him home with me.”
Whew! She saved him from an alien kidnapping and she didn’t even know it.
“Lucky frog,” I said. “The Brisbanes don’t have a cat.” I told him the whole story about Sweetums.
So there we were, back on the shelf by the window, and everything looked completely normal in Room 26. But the events of the past week made me realize how quickly things can change. Fire alarms can jingle jangle, best friends can become foes and things from outer space can invade.
During the morning recess, Principal Morales stuck his head in the door and said, “Did you bring it?”
“Oh, no! I forgot again,” Mrs. Brisbane replied.
“Okay. I don’t want to bug you. Maybe tomorrow?”
“I’ll try,” said Mrs. Brisbane, and the principal moved on.
After he left, Mrs. Brisbane said something very surprising. “It was only a little white lie.” She said it softly to herself, but I heard it plainly. A little white lie.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I’d never heard anything good about a lie. Even more confusing was the fact that Mrs. Brisbane would lie at all. She might be sad or even mad, but she was always honest.
I couldn’t puzzle over what she said for long because my friends returned from recess. For the first time
“Sure,” said A.J. “Look at how good Humphrey is at ball!”
And I was very good, indeed. Sweetums would have a hard time keeping up with me now.
Garth’s dad popped his head in the doorway. “We’re ordering pizza for dinner. You like pepperoni?” he asked A.J.
“Sure!”
“If you want to spend the night, your mom said she’d drop your clothes off,” Mr. Tugwell added.
“Okay with you, Garth?” A.J. asked.
“Okay!”
I was glad to hear that Garth answered without a bit of hesitation.
Garth took me out of the hamster ball and put me back in my cage. While the family ate pizza, I took a long nap, and I dreamed about beautiful guitar music instead of space aliens or cats.
The next afternoon, A.J. talked Garth into coming outside. “We’ll just toss the ball around,” he said.
“I won’t be good,” Garth warned him.
“Maybe not, but you’ll get better than you are now,” A.J. said. “Just like the guitar. Or the hamster ball.”
I was happy they left me in the house. Although I had a new technique, I wasn’t anxious to come nose to nose with Sweetums again. She might still be looking for dessert.
Even though I was inside, I could still hear Garth and A.J. laughing and shouting in the yard.
“Nice catch,” A.J. said once. “Way to go!”
I spun on my wheel with pure joy. Even without a Plan, I’d managed to help my friends.
That
was the best trick I’d learned all day.
PRACTICE: Doing the same thing over and over in order to get better at it (and all I can say is, if you play the guitar the way A.J. does, you’d better practice a lot). Practice always pays off, especially when steering a hamster ball.
Humphrey’s Dictionary of Wonderful Words
No Surprises
W ell, well, if it isn’t Humphrey.” That’s what Miss Victoria, the bus driver, said when she picked Garth and me up at the bus stop on Monday morning. “The best-behaved student on the bus!”
That was NICE-NICE-NICE to hear.
Things went so well between Garth and A.J. over the weekend that they sat next to each other and acted like best friends again.
As the bus approached Longfellow School, my whiskers began twitching and my fur began itching. Would Og still be there when I got back? Or had he been whisked away to the faraway planet of Spurling?
I’m happy to say, he was there! Nothing at all had changed in Room 26, thank goodness.
“Greetings, green and faithful friend,” I greeted Og.
“BOING-BOING!” was his response.
Mrs. Brisbane walked over to the table by the window where Og and I live. “Are you guys glad to see each other?” she asked. “Humphrey, I was afraid Og would miss you over the weekend, so I took him home with me.”
Whew! She saved him from an alien kidnapping and she didn’t even know it.
“Lucky frog,” I said. “The Brisbanes don’t have a cat.” I told him the whole story about Sweetums.
So there we were, back on the shelf by the window, and everything looked completely normal in Room 26. But the events of the past week made me realize how quickly things can change. Fire alarms can jingle jangle, best friends can become foes and things from outer space can invade.
During the morning recess, Principal Morales stuck his head in the door and said, “Did you bring it?”
“Oh, no! I forgot again,” Mrs. Brisbane replied.
“Okay. I don’t want to bug you. Maybe tomorrow?”
“I’ll try,” said Mrs. Brisbane, and the principal moved on.
After he left, Mrs. Brisbane said something very surprising. “It was only a little white lie.” She said it softly to herself, but I heard it plainly. A little white lie.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I’d never heard anything good about a lie. Even more confusing was the fact that Mrs. Brisbane would lie at all. She might be sad or even mad, but she was always honest.
I couldn’t puzzle over what she said for long because my friends returned from recess. For the first time
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