Read Online Winter According to Humphrey (9781101591222) by Betty G. Birney - Free Book Online Page A

seemed so excited and pleased. I was, too!
    â€œDaniel, why don’t we try the song one time with you playing the ‘Jingle Bells’ music,” Ms. Lark said.
    â€œNow ? ” Daniel asked.
    â€œYes, now,” Ms. Lark replied.
    Daniel shuffled his way to the front of the room where Ms. Lark had her keyboard.
    â€œI’m not used to playing on that,” he said.
    â€œI know,” Ms. Lark said. “But it’s just like a piano. And we’ll have a real piano for the show.”
    She placed the music near the keyboard and Daniel took his place.
    â€œI’ll count to four,” Ms. Lark said. “On the count of four, you start playing. And remember to follow my direction.”
    Daniel nodded.
    â€œOne, two, three,” Ms. Lark counted. “Four!”
    I was relieved when Daniel started to play and the boys started to sing, following Ms. Lark’s hands as she waved them.
    Before long, I realized that something was WRONG-WRONG-WRONG!
    The boys sang, “Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh . . .”
    But by the time they were singing “sleigh,” Daniel was still playing the note for “snow.”
    Not only that, it was the wrong note. It sounded so terrible, my ears twitched and my whiskers wiggled.
    â€œEeek!” I squeaked. No one could hear me, of course, because there was so much noise.
    Ms. Lark kept waving her arms.
    â€œO’er the fields we go,” the boys sang.
    But Daniel played, “In a one-horse open sleigh.”
    He hit a couple more clunkers, too. I never knew how bad music sounded if someone hit the wrong notes.
    And there was another sound: The girls were giggling.
    I couldn’t blame them.
    Daniel wasn’t laughing, though. He turned red and there was a look of panic on his face.
    â€œStop!” Ms. Lark said.
    Daniel froze and everyone stopped singing.
    â€œSorry, Daniel, but you need to keep up with the boys,” Ms. Lark said. “It sounded as if you were performing two different songs.”
    â€œThey were going too fast,” Daniel complained.
    â€œI know it’s difficult to play while people sing if you’re not used to it,” the teacher said. “Have you practiced at home ? ”
    Daniel rubbed his nose. “Sort of,” he mumbled.
    â€œI hope you will spend some time practicing this weekend,” Ms. Lark said. “We’ll try again on Monday.”
    Daniel shuffled his way back to his chair.
    He looked so miserable, the girls stopped giggling.
    Ms. Lark left and Mrs. Brisbane took over the class, but Daniel didn’t look any happier.
    And when they left class for recess, I heard Simon say to Harry, “I hear piano players run in his family.”
    â€œRun far away, I hope!” Harry replied with a laugh.
    Which was kind of funny, except that it was true.

    Later in the day, Mrs. Brisbane let my friends work on their costumes. The girls seemed especially excited to make their snowflakes glitter. But before they got started, suddenly Mrs. Wright walked into Room 26.
    Mrs. Wright is the PE teacher who always wears a shiny (and loud) whistle around her neck.
    She also likes to make sure that everyone at Longfellow School follows the rules.
    â€œMrs. Brisbane, I want to alert you that there is to be
no glitter
at the Winter Wonderland program,” she said.
    Some of the girls gasped.
    â€œOh, no!” Sophie said out loud.
    I held my breath as Mrs. Wright put her hand on the whistle. I crossed my paws and hoped she wouldn’t blow it, because hamsters have very sensitive ears!
    â€œOh, but we need it to make our snowflakes sparkle,” my teacher said. “We were just about to start.”
    Mrs. Wright shook her head. “I’m sorry, but at our planning meeting, we decided there would be
no glitter.
It’s too much extra work for Aldo. And I don’t want to find glitter in my gymnasium for the rest of the